Tag: Finance & Investing

25 Black women entrepreneurs from across the U.S. awarded $10K in funding and yearlong mentorship

The BOSS Network, an online community of professional and entrepreneurial women who support each other through digital content, programs, and event-based networking, and Sage (FTSE: SGE), the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, have announced the 25 awardees of the 2023 Sage Invest in Progress grant to support Black women entrepreneurs in their first five years of business.

The BOSS Network and Sage “Invest in Progress” grant is a three-year, commitment by Sage (via the Sage Foundation) to support the BOSS Impact Fund, which is focused on raising investment funding for 500+ black women-led businesses and preparing entrepreneurs to build scalable, growth aggressive companies.

Laine Bradley, a 32-year-old Haitian-American woman from Raleigh, NC, has helped small businesses and nonprofit organizations secure over $15 million in grant funding. She is the founder and CEO of Vraiment Financial, a full financial firm focused on providing innovative client solutions. In addition, she is the creator of the Grant Capital Society, a funding resource community for new and existing small businesses and organizations that provides information, resources, and training to become grant ready.

As a wife and mother of four, Bradley prides herself in educating small businesses and organizations to consistently establish the foundation they need to win grant funding.

In 2019, Bradley won her first business grant of $4,000 for her financial firm. She was able to invest the funds into growing her business with a business coach and paying a few months of operational expenses. From there, Bradley has won over $250,000 in grants for her company by applying consistently every month. She became a certified federal grant writer in 2020 and began assisting other small businesses and organizations for free during the pandemic. By the end of 2020, Bradley was able to secure over $1.2 million.

Fast forward to 2023, Bradley has been monumental in providing grant management services to corporations, local agencies, and organizations. She is known on Instagram and TikTok as the go-to expert for grant alerts. In addition, her grant education trainings are easy to understand and give start-up businesses and organizations the confidence they need to apply for grant funding to help grow their companies. Her community members have stated that her Grant Application Walkthrough sessions are their favorite thing about the Grant Capital Society Community. Her goal is to assist 100 new businesses and organizations in winning their first grant in 2023.

Bradley’s VIP services include:
• Program Plan & Design
• Program Management
• Project Management
• Grant Research
• Grant Writing
• Grant Management
• RFP, RFI, RFQ Writing

Her community, The Grant Capital Society, includes:
• Grant News & Updates
• Weekly Grant Tips
• Daily Grant Alerts
• Daily Scholarship Alerts
• Grant Discussions
• Monthly Grant Application Walkthroughs
• Monthly Grant Q&A Sessions
• Quarterly Workshops
• Guest Speakers
• Quarterly Giveaways and Grants

For more information, visit her official website at LaineBradley.com

Also, follow her on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok

For press inquiries, contact contact@laineb.com

Meet Arlo Washington, the founder and CEO of People Trust Community Federal Credit Union, an accredited, full-service credit union in North Little Rock, Arkansas that provides access to capital to low and moderate-income communities. It is the first and only Black-owned financial institution in the entire state of Arkansas.

Growing up in the city of Little Rock, Washington experienced his own financial struggles. He was left to support his 2 younger sisters when his mother died. He moved to New York and started working as a fashion model and barber at the age of 19. But he eventually decided to return to his hometown to attend college. Using some of his student loans, he managed to open his own barbershop after 2 years.

Washington said it was his first encounter with loans and he had no financial education then. He soon opened more barbershops as he learned more entrepreneurial knowledge. Nearly a decade later, he opened a total of 7 barbershops as well as his own barber college.

In 2009, when the last payday lending storefront in Arkansas closed for business, Washington saw a lot of people coming to the barber college seeking loans. That’s when he realized the need for financial services in the community.

He started by offering low-interest, small-dollar loans using $1,000 in funds that he set aside from the barber college’s monthly profits. That eventually expanded into the People Trust Community Loan Fund, which is a not-for-profit community development financial institution.

Still, it was not enough to meet the growing banking needs of the community. It inspired him to start a credit union that allows loan fund customers to open savings accounts. Although it was not easy to establish a credit union, Washington pushed through and became just one of the 4 new credit unions chartered in the US in 2022.

People Trust Community Federal Credit Union aims to help many of those who were unable to open accounts at traditional banks. It will provide them with services such as checking and savings accounts, new and used auto loans, personal loans, credit cards, and more.

“People Trust will challenge the disparity of access in financial services for minorities,” Washington said, according to Talk Business. “People Trust is excited to focus on eliminating economic barriers by providing underserved and underbanked individuals with financial opportunity. When we provide equal access to minorities for financial services, we ultimately are empowering our entire community.”

Learn more about the People Trust Credit Union via its official website at PTCFederal.org

Dr. Cameka Smith, founder and CEO of The BOSS Network, an online community of professional and entrepreneurial women who support each other through digital content, programs and event-based networking, announces the return of her organization’s 2nd annual BOSS Impact Fund. The Fund focuses on investing in Black women led businesses and preparing these entrepreneurs to build scalable, growth aggressive companies. Its goal is to raise investment funding for 500+ Black women entrepreneurs over the next three years.

Following up on the success of the Fund’s inaugural launch in 2022, the BOSS Network will continue its partnership with Sage (via the Sage Foundation) — the global market leader for technology that provides small and medium businesses with the visibility, flexibility and efficiency to manage finances, operations and people — for its three-year $1.5 million commitment to support the Fund with the “Invest in Progress” grant. To register or for more information, visit BOSSImpactFund.com. The deadline for submissions is February 25.

The BOSS Network has had a long-standing commitment to women entrepreneurs. Dr. Smith says that the mission of The BOSS Network, which stands for “Bringing Out Successful Sisters,” is to promote and encourage the small business spirit and career development of women of color. The BOSS Network is changing the way enterprising women are viewed among the masses and becoming a resource for companies seeking female minority influencers as their target market. It has supported the careers and small business developments of more than 200,000 women of color nationwide through initiatives such as BOSS Business University—a digital platform that provides comprehensive mentorship programming through industry business experts.

Through the Sage “Invest in Progress” Grant Program, 25 Black women entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to receive a capital investment of $10,000 toward successfully starting and growing their business in addition to an entrepreneurial mentor program in support of Black women-owned small businesses. The Sage “Invest in Progress” Grant will also provide coaching, curriculum, and connections while removing capital barriers to help this group achieve success. The grant application process is powered by Hello Alice, a grant funding platform designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

This year, the Sage “Invest in Progress” grant includes a 12-month program of entrepreneurial mentorship and education focused on knocking down barriers to business success and guiding these businesswomen to reach their full potential. Each Sage Invest in Progress grant awardee receives:

• $10,000 USD in funding

• Quarterly business training courses through BOSS University sponsored by Sage, focusing on Marketing, Finance, Customer Service, and Business Strategy

• Access to The BOSS Network online community

• Complimentary Sage Business Cloud Accounting software

“The BOSS Network is excited to once again partner with Sage on the second year of our ‘Invest in Progress Grant.’ Last year, through our BOSS Impact Fund, we received such an overwhelming response from innovative entrepreneurs and business owners across the country. The grant has greatly impacted our thirty-five grant winners—who hailed from a variety of industries, and each received $10,000 in funding,” says Dr. Smith. “This year, we look forward to benefiting our next round of BOSS mavens as we continue to provide critical resources and funding to innovative entrepreneurs through this three year program.”

“Starting and growing a business is a proven route to long-term employment, high job satisfaction, and wealth creation, but many people lack the financial support to seize this opportunity for their business ideas,” said Steve Hare, CEO of Sage. “Sage provides strong digital and financial foundations for businesses and start-ups run by underrepresented groups to help tackle economic inequality. Through our ongoing work with The BOSS Network, via both monetary and mentoring support for black female entrepreneurs, we can help knock down barriers to address inequalities and build sustainable communities. I am eager to launch the second round of this important partnership.”

Last year, the overwhelming response of more than 12,500 applicants nationwide after the inaugural launch encouraged Sage and The BOSS Network to expand the program with 10 additional grants in the Sage Invest in Progress program from 25 to 35 grants. These 35 awardees represented entrepreneurs from around the country and in various industries, including Beauty & Self-Care, Consumer Goods, Professional Services, Healthcare/Wellness, and Food and Beverage. (For winner testimonials click here. For winner reaction videos click here.) For more information, please visit: BOSSImpactFund.com.

The BOSS Network will also launch its #InvestInProgress campaign across all social channels beginning in January 2023. The campaign demonstrates its commitment to a broader conversation on leveling the playing field for Black women entrepreneurs to gain access to capital to grow their businesses. In order to see real change for Black female founders #InvestInProgress. Join the conversation with @thebossnetwork and @SageUSAmerica and apply to the #InvestInProgress grant at BOSSImpactFund.com.

About the BOSS Network
Founded by Dr. Cameka Smith, BOSS™ is an acronym for “Bringing Out Successful Sisters,” and the network’s mission is to promote and encourage the small business spirit and career development of women. The BOSS Network is an online community of professional and entrepreneurial women who support each other through conversation, online, and event-based networking. To find out more about The BOSS Network, please visit TheBOSSNetwork.org. The BOSS Network was named as a Forbes “Top 10 Career and Entrepreneurial websites for Women.” More than 200,000 active women members throughout the United States are engaged through our social and digital programming. The BOSS Network latest initiative is the BOSS Impact Fund, with a focus on grant funding for 500+ Black women entrepreneurs, over the next three years. In addition, each grant recipient will have a 1-year scholarship to our BOSS Business University, a digital mentorship program that will provide a comprehensive entrepreneurship curriculum, to assist in long-term business growth.

About Sage
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small- and mid-sized businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitizing business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.

For press inquiries, contact Sheila Harris, Harris Brand Management + SHPR, at 646-470-4179 or send an email to info@sheilaharrispr.com

Dr. Shawanda Moore aka “The Tax Docta” who is the founder and CEO of Royal Financial Services based in New Orleans, Louisiana has created a Tax Preparation curriculum for aspiring entrepreneurs that includes a textbook, a workbook, and hands-on teaching for her students. She made history last year after grossing $1.5 million in three months, and now she wants to help others to be able to do the same.

Her Tax Preparation curriculum is embedded into a course that is an 8-week program held twice weekly via Zoom during the late evening hours to accommodate interested ones who may still have day jobs. During the winter season so far, she has had over 30 individuals from across the United States enroll in her course.

Dr. Moore and her colleague, Shante Williams (C.A.O.), have worked diligently to ensure that every individual enrolled in the program became knowledgeable on Taxation. They hosted a completion ceremony for those individuals who wanted to participate to ensure a habit of celebrating every milestone they accomplish is developed. Dr. Moore also assisted every individual who successfully completed the program with the opportunity to start up their very own tax business by providing them with copies of her tax software.

Dr. Moore received great feedback from each participant of the program as they ensured her that the knowledge gained through her program exceeded their expectations. One participant, Ms. Kandy Hall, was in tears at the graduation as she thanked “The Tax Docta” and her staff for educating her, empowering her, and motivating her to step out on faith to move forward with starting her very own tax company.

Other participants of the program were very appreciative of the warm and welcoming personality of the “The Tax Docta” and Ms. Williams and believe they made a wise choice by enrolling in the program. Furthermore, Dr. Moore will be offering this program twice a year and welcomes all interested individuals to contact her company for more details.

Dr. Moore has been credited with many accomplishments which includes being an author of children’s financial literacy books, tax preparation books, a tax software provider, a business growth coach, a speaker on several topics, and a community service host of several annual outreach events. Dr. Moore is also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

Dr. Moore will began offering franchise opportunities for Royal Financial Services in May 2023. For more information on how to become a franchisee, visit TheTaxDocta.com/franchise or contact 833-769-2549 ext. 700 or send an email to drshawandam@royaltaxbox.com

Also, be sure to follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram

For press release inquiries, please contact pr@royaltaxbox.com

Tiffany James, a 27-year-old African American woman from New York City, turned a $10,000 investment in the stock market into $2 million in just 2 years. Later, she founded Modern Blk Girl, which helps educate women with her investing strategies to help them build wealth.

In 2019, James was struggling with her student loan debt while making ends meet when she followed a coworker’s advice to invest in Tesla stock. The shares at that time were only $60 to $70 each. She decided to take the risk and started gradually investing $4,000.

James, who was then 25 years old, invested a total of $10,000 in long-term LEAPs, S&P SPDR exchange-traded funds, and the stock market, including Tesla and semiconductor chip stocks. Since then, she has grown her portfolio to 2 million dollars.

However, she noticed that the investment and trading community is still dominated by white men. James, who is a daughter of Jamaican and Haitian immigrants, aimed to change that by launching Modern Blk Girl. In this online community, she gives practical investing advice that is encouraging and accessible. With more than 225,000 women, she is happy to share her knowledge with others.

“If you educate a woman, you educate a village,” she told CNBC. “If a mom starts investing, she tells her kids.”

James advises those who want to get started to constantly get ready to invest and think broadly about where to put the investments. She also encourages women not to be afraid, saying that “investing is a necessity, not an option” and it will open doors to greater financial freedom.

“There are scarier things we deal with every day as women,” James said, emphasizing that by making money in the market, “We can live the lives we want to live.”

Learn more about Modern Blk Girl on ModernBlkGirl.com

Also, be sure to follow the brand on Instagram @ModernBlkGirl