Entrepreneurship program offers financial aid to women of color

Despite African Americans large representation in buying power (over $1 trillion dollars), they are still underrepresented in the business sector when it comes to entrepreneurship and accounting only representing 7 percent according the 2007 Census.

Black women entrepreneurship

Programs like the Venture Capital Access Program, in partnership with Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY) and The National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) , aim to curve that percentage greatly.

Entrepreneurship is on a rise within African Americans, however the funding is still lackluster.

Black borrowers face “a perception out there that African Americans have an inferior skill set and expectations,” argues R. Donahue “Don” Peebles, chairman and CEO of Peebles Corp., an African American real estate developer. “How do you start a business if banks won’t lend?” asks the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Smaller nonprofit players such as Seedco Financial, which extends money and technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs, may help some deal with the funding gap.

VCAP will provide capital to minority women, as well as linking them to other women entrepreneurs.

Application

Entrepreneurs can apply through The Marathon Foundation website at www.marathonfdn.org.

VCAP applicants will be reviewed in a series of screenings conducted by the Marathon VCAP selection committee, HBSAANY, and NAIC board members. Finalists will be announced Monday, June 18th and will present their business plans to HBSAANY angel investors at a Pitch Night in New York City on Wednesday, June 27th.