News — female entrepreneurs

Valerie Moran was born into a family of five children. Originally from Zimbabwe, her parents were successful entrepreneurs. Her mother was a beautician while her dad owned many businesses including a school uniform factory, bakery, and a property investment firm.

Besides her parents being entrepreneurs, several of her uncles and aunties were university professors and deans at universities. Education was highly promoted in her family. She went to college to study COBOL/Fortran/C (programming language) and graduated to become a talented Systems Analyst. While in Zimbabwe, there was no work for a Woman-In-Tech, so Valerie moved to London, she said in an interview with Anne Marie Ruby.

She co-founded Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), which specializes in financial technology with her husband Noel Moran in 2008. As a couple, they own 81.5% shares in the company. Valerie solely owns a 16.3% stake in the company.

She became the first employee of the firm, serving as its Implementation Project Manager after quitting her paid job. She managed to put the company on the global Regulated Financial Services map. Today, her firm is one of the most successfully managed fintech organizations in the world, posting profits for 10 conservative years.

Valerie moved to London in 2003 when Zimbabwe went into recession. She now lives in Ireland with her husband Noel. They are jointly worth $278 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020. In 2019, Valerie became the first and only Black woman in the top 1,000 people of The Sunday Times’ annual Rich List, which ranks Britain’s super-wealthy.

Valerie and her husband had started PFS at a kitchen table in London. In its first year of operation, PFS lost $43,000. They also unsuccessfully tried multiple ways to raise funds. They fell back on their savings to keep the company running. They eventually landed a big client and moved into an office space at London’s Hanover Square. Their company is now operating in 25 countries, 12 years on. The firm, in 2018, posted a profit of $9.8 million, according to the Irish Times.

The company has also won multiple awards. It was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2017 by HRH Queen Elizabeth II and the British Government. In September 2019, the couple also won the Business of the Year Award from the European Business Awards.

Valerie told IdeaMensch that her typical working day lasts about 15 hours, from 9 am until midnight. “During the working day, I spend time trying to catch up with Team Managers to help things move along, especially where they are waiting on decisions from me. After the normal working day, I then get time to catch up on emails and my own workload,” she said.

Her long working hours also tie with her work ethic of listening, learning, and accepting feedback. For aspiring entrepreneurs who want to be like her, Valerie said they should commit 100% to whatever they are doing.

“Work hard and give 100% to your work effort. Leave no stones unturned so that at least if you have to walk away you know you have given it your best shot,” she said.

Leparua, Isiolo County, Kenya – it takes three hours to snake downhill on a motorbike, skirting gingerly around mud puddles, but for Salome, it feels like days.

Riding side-saddle, she exhales sharply over each bump on the track and rubs her heavily pregnant belly protectively.

In the driver’s seat is traditional birth attendant, or TBA, Afro. He squints through the monsoon rainclouds, carefully inching the motorbike forward. His gaze remains fixed on the horizon until, at last, the hospital comes into view.

Deep in Kenya’s interior, health facilities are sparse, with some located up to 100 kilometres from the communities they service. For pregnant women like Salome, reaching it can be perilous, particularly during the rainy season, when dirt roads flood and bridges become submerged.

“I know many women who went into labour and started to walk to the hospital alone,” she says, slumping down on a plastic stool at the hospital entrance. “But it is too far to walk with labour pains, so they had to deliver the baby in a bush.”

Fortunately, Salome is in safe hands, thanks to birth attendant Afro and his motorbike, or piki-piki, as it is known locally.

As she goes in to register, Afro leans heavily on a curved crook outside, exhausted. He explains why traditional birth attendants continue to play a central role within the Masai’s tribal structure.

“It is a great honour for us to deliver the new members of our tribe. This role gives us status within our communities.”

But with the arrival of the motorbike, he says, the role of the traditional birth attendant may be changing.

“In the past, I had to deliver the baby at the woman’s home with no medical knowledge. When there were complications, there was nothing I could do. Now I can bring the mothers here on my piki-piki and take the tiny babies back home when they arrive. So, we still play a significant role.”

Unfortunately, many women in Kenya do not have access to the same level of medical care as Salome. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation, more than 6,300 women died in childbirth last year, one of the highest in East Africa. It is estimated that more than 800 of those deaths occurred in Isiolo County.

Traditional birth attendant Afro, Leparua, Isiolo County, Kenya, 2016 Photograph: Nicola Kelly

With long distances, poor infrastructure and no licenced medical professionals nearby, women in this part of the country have relied on TBAs for generations.

In 2005, Kenya’s Ministry of Health banned traditional midwifery practices, saying TBAs had adopted increasingly risky methods of delivery. They focused their investment instead on training and equipment.

Nurse Julia describes how the ban further entrenched high-risk practices in Masai culture. “Many TBAs felt abandoned at that time. They felt they had no choice, so they continue to use these natural remedies. For example, they take a part of a tree commonly found here, boil the root and give the liquid to the pregnant woman to encourage the uterus to contract.

“But many midwives give the mother too much of the liquid. Sometimes, the ladies overdose, start fainting during labour and even lose their babies. It is traditions like this that we must prevent.”

She points to a small plastic bag filled with blood on a tray nearby and explains that this had been extracted from a goat by another TBA to increase the haemoglobin levels of an 18-year-old mother.

“Clearly, she needed a blood transfusion, but the TBA saw no alternative,” she adds. “This is how tetanus, hepatitis B, HIV and many other infections are being spread.” Afro says that, while these traditions will endure, he encourages his fellow TBAs to integrate their practices with skilled medical care.

“We used to deliver the babies with no protective gloves, but a lot of birth attendants contracted HIV. Now we know that it is not safe to do this. We have agreed not to assist women at home anymore.”

International development agencies believe that providing funding for motorbikes as part of the Rural Transport Network scheme, rates of maternal mortality in Isiolo County will improve. “By giving motorbikes to rural communities, we can ensure emergencies are quickly referred for specialised obstetric care,” Samuel Nyutu, Health Programme Officer for Christian Aid in Kenya, says.

“They allow TBAs to reach areas it would be difficult for an ambulance to get to and they are easy and cheap to run.”

Alongside the health benefits for the mother, there are a number of other incentives for the traditional birth attendants. They receive a small stipend, protective clothing and some also undergo midwifery training, working alongside nurses like Julia.

Afro hopes that more vehicles will be supplied to TBAs in the surrounding villages to ensure women in rural areas make the arduous journey to their local health facility.

“I see that my motorbike has helped to save lives. It helps the mother and the baby – and it also helps me!” he says, patting the saddle of his piki-piki fondly.

There is nothing more rewarding and inspiring than to see women of color set new standards and trends through entrepreneurship. African American women were among the fastest-growing groups launching and owning new businesses according to Forbes. Tenisha Williams, CEO of Elite Realty Partners, is no exception. She has established and grown the largest Black woman-owned real estate brokerage firm in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale (South Florida) area—breaking $100 million in sales in just over two years.

While this is an impressive milestone, Williams and her Elite team show no signs of slowing down but are staying focused by remaining positioned and purpose-driven to help more individuals and families achieve their goals of homeownership and real estate acquisition. Currently, there are 140 agents with virtually no marketing efforts. Much like Chick-fil-a customers, agents keep on pouring in—what a wonderful problem to have.

Williams, a former county worker, knew from the onset that she was not there to stay. While fellow employees were content with great benefits and the future hopes of retirement, her sights were set on higher aspirations. In 2017, during a mother-daughter trip to St. Lucia, she was settled after speaking with her husband that she was not returning to work. She was convinced that she found her purpose through the love of real estate, and she had made her first six figures working part-time.

When asked to what she attributed the accelerated growth of Elite Realty, Williams credited it to her faith and favor from God. She was determined to put in the work and remain faithful. Although she manages a large team, there is a culture of family where no agent is an island. The benefits are the friendships that have been established, the collaboration of agents, the joys of winning together, and the willingness of helping one another succeed.

Williams says that she is more than a CEO, but a coach at heart that pours into her team keeping them pumped and empowered to crush their goals. Her passion to help and develop other agents are innate. However, the ability to manage so many personalities synergistically was initially a struggle. As a former correctional officer and teenage mom, her strong personality seemed curt at times. She quickly learned to master the right delivery in communication and messaging without hurting or offending others in the process.

“The pressure is unimaginable. Sometimes I cannot sleep at night because my brain will not stop thinking of ways I can add more value to my team,” Williams says of the pressure of running a top brokerage firm in South Florida. “I truly am invested in their careers, so I take the responsibility seriously. This is not a task for the weak at heart.”

Of course, striking a delicate balance between work and family is vital, so self-care is a must and Sundays are exclusively reserved for family.

Elite Realty Partners is also considered a ministry (serving the needs of others) to many agents and customers. There has been an overabundance of customers and agents breaking through various hardships and setbacks, bouncing back to victory with the help of the brokerage. For example, some agents did not sell one house at their former brokerage, and after coming on board with Elite, they become top producers selling millions in real estate.

“Some agents come through the doors timid and withdrawn, then evolve into bold and assertive real estate warriors. It is beyond amazing to witness,” she says.

As the head of the largest Black woman-owned brokerage firm in her area, Williams remains humble, grateful, and thankful to the Lord for being chosen and entrusted with such a huge role. Her mission is to change the narrative and diversify the faces in real estate throughout the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. She and her team are always ready to do the work and reap the rewards that lie in the days ahead.

Black women are made of gold and Jennifer King is made of that and more. She is a football history and a shining example to all the little Black girls who dare to dream. King is now the first-ever Black woman to get a full-time coaching job in the NFL. The Washington Football Team on Tuesday added King to their roster as assistant running backs coach.

This announcement comes off the back of her internship during the 2020 off-season at the Washington Football Team under head coach Ron Rivera and running backs coach Randy Jordan.

According to Rivera, nobody is more deserving of this promotion than King because aside from her experience playing football for 12 years, she always puts in the hard work and can connect well with everyone on the team with her excellent communication skills.

“She demonstrated all of the qualities that are needed to work full-time on my staff. She is a hard worker, a great communicator, and a quality person. Coach King is always eager to learn and has shown tremendous growth since starting here last season.”

“Coach King is well deserving of the promotion,” Rivera added. “She earned this opportunity with her hard work. The sky is truly the limit for her.”

Aside from spending time interning in the offseason with the Carolina Panthers in 2018 and 2019, King also worked with the Arizona Hotshots of the AAF in 2019 as an assistant WRs coach and was an offensive assistant at Dartmouth that same year. “I am very pleased to have Coach King back to assist me full-time in the running backs room,” RBs coach Jordan said.

He also reiterated what head coach Rivers said and went on to praise King’s work ethic. “She was extremely helpful last year in seeing the game from a different perspective, and she was a tremendous communicator in our room. I look forward to continuing to collaborate as we move forward in our program and as she moves forward in her coaching career,” he added.

During her 12 years as a player, from 2006-17, King, 36, was a seven-time All-American quarterback, receiver, and safety and with two national championships under her belt with the Carolina Phoenix and New York Sharks, according to NFL.com.

There is a new movement in NFL for women coaching and King is at the helm of this wave together with the first woman to be appointed assistant coach, Lori Locust, who was made the assistant defensive line coach for Tampa Bay in March 2019.

King, Locust and assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar made history as the first female coaches to face off during a playoff game. The three were among a record six female coaches on teams to play in the post-season, BBC said.

In a statement on the Washington Football Team website, King said: “It’s a direct testament to those coaches who are forward thinking and opening up the entire pool when they’re looking for people, to hire people to make their programmes better.

“I don’t think it’s an oddity that those play-off teams had so many female coaches involved because those coaches created cultures of growth and inclusion, and those things generally create wins,” King, who also has experience coaching basketball, added.

Kampala, Uganda is serving a healthy dose of Girl Power amid a covid-19 pandemic that sees several women — who found themselves in months-long lockdown and unemployed, take on both new careers and self-defence training by way of Diva Taxi, a new female taxi driver service in the city..

Company founder, Gillian Kobusingye, is proud of her employees, "Our ladies are extremely hard working, very motivated and I like their sense of pride when they are doing this work they are doing it with one heart compared to other people. And that's the difference we have to the competitors."

Diva Taxi now boasts over 70 drivers and claims an industry-low fare commission rate of 25% in order to see the women thrive.

Donna Ochen, a Diva Taxi driver, is happy with the means the professional opportunity financially affords her, "When I saw the Diva Taxi company reaching out to all females who could be interested I decided to take it up because it would be an opportunity for me to serve and earn and support my family with the earnings that I'd get from driving."

Diva Taxi has a fleet of around 100 cars that serve as taxis, special school pick-ups and drop-offs and even functions like weddings. An unexpected and resounding successful start for the company that almost wasn't.

Rebecca Makyeli, the manager and self-defence trainer at Diva Taxi, shares the very early days of the company's journey, "They thought of the idea of why would we have our cars just parked in a compound and yet we can transport people and services from one place to another. So, coming up with this idea it started off as a joke, supported by friends, close friends and family, but eventually, the idea picked up and in June 2020 the company was registered and officially came into being."

With its 72 drivers averaging 30 rides a week, Diva Taxi expects its service app — downloaded around 500 times to reach 2000 active users this year in the city of three million inhabitants.

With an endeavor to spread her culture and heritage across all homes in the United States, Jojo Pierre started her own home décor company named Lakay Designs and she never looked back. Over the years, Lakay Designs has grown exponentially, not only offering financial stability to Jojo and her family but also creating employment opportunities for other people in her community. Currently offering an extensive catalog of products, the company is working proactively to expand the repertoire, offer more innovative products, and keep reaching more homes in America.

Currently, Lakay Design is in more than 26,000 homes across the United States, and that number is growing every day with pleased buyers referring Lakay Designs to their family and friends. The current range of products available at Lakay Designs include African art sculptures and figurines, African wall art, bathroom accessories, comforters, bedding sets, curtain designs, dining room accessories, kitchen accessories, King and Queen pillowcases, and much more. From resourcing materials to manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and everything in between, Lakay Designs abides by business practices that ensure the utmost product quality, while also providing benefits for everyone in the value chain.

A spokesperson for the company made an official press statement, “Here at Lakay Designs, our business values are essential for us, and so is our commitment to our clients. Lakay Designs became successful because our clients supported Jojo’s ideas and resonated with the African aesthetic that she put out there. Now we must serve our clients with the utmost integrity. Even during the pandemic, the Lakay Designs team has worked around the clock to fulfill all orders. We are currently offering custom design bedding, so we urge everyone to take advantage of the offer while it lasts.”

“I just received my comforter set. I love it! However, I just want to brag on [Lakay Designs] as a company. From the communication at the conception of my order to the follow-ups about shipping, to the personalized that you that came with my beautiful set! Sis, you are truly black girl business perfection! Keep it up. I’m coming back for more,” stated a happy customer while providing testimony for the African print comforter she purchased from the Lakay Designs official store.

The spokesperson further added, “The word Lakay translates to Home is Haitian Creole, and that is the vision behind Lakay Designs. There are certain African aesthetics that Jojo grew up around her home. For Jojo, these African prints and décor pieces bring about a feeling of coziness and being at home, which is how she wants every house in America to feel like: a cozy home. With a mission to reach one million homes in America with signature Lakay Designs products, Jojo and her family are getting close to that mission every passing day.”

Architecture is an extremely difficult field to enter, especially for people of color. In a 2018 report from the National Council of Architectural Registration Board, nonwhite architecture professionals are 25% more likely to stop pursuing licensure with a nonwhite professional representing 45% of participants in the Architectural Experience Program. Black women are an even smaller margin when it comes to diversity within the sector. One woman decided to take her savings to start her career in architecture and is now celebrating 30 years in the business.

Deryl McKissack is the owner of McKissack & McKissack, a firm responsible for overseeing construction projects including the Obama Presidential Center, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Lincoln, and several Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials. In an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, McKissack shares her story about getting into the architecture field and the importance of diversity in the sector.

BE: What inspired you to get into architecture?

McKissack: Architecture was in my blood. I’m the fifth generation in our family to go into the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) business. My great-great-grandfather, a freed slave, was a builder, as was his son, my great-grandfather. His son, my grandfather, was the first Black registered architect in Tennessee. And my father, also a registered architect, would take me and my twin sister to work with him when we were 6, prop us up on his drawing boards and teach us how to draw details, do schedules, use Leroy lettering, make legends, and everything else. By the time we were 13, he was using our drawings.

My sister and I both went to Howard University on academic scholarships as double-majors in architecture and engineering. But I was more drawn to the practical side of things—how buildings work—and eventually made engineering my major. After I graduated, I went to work at an engineering firm.

How did you get your start working in the field?

My first job after school was evaluating flood insurance studies for Dames & Moore, and I quickly realized it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be out in the field managing major construction projects, not sitting behind a desk in an office all day. So six months later I landed a job doing exactly that at Turner Construction Co. But on my first day on the job, I showed up in a proper gray skirt suit my mother bought me, looking like a Southern Belle. The construction manager on the site looked at me in shock and said, “You’re Deryl? I thought you were a man!” I told him not to worry; I had my jeans and construction boots in the car, and marched right out there and changed.

Five years later, I was recruited by Howard University to run facilities for 18 months. When I finished that job, I decided it was time to start my own business. After being in corporate American, where I felt my voice wasn’t heard, I wanted to found a business that would be diverse and inclusive and everyone would be heard.

What were the challenges you faced as a Black woman entering this field?

It is definitely a double-whammy, so the challenges have been many and varied.  But as Black women, we are always second-guessed and often not taken seriously on projects. Also, as a Black woman, I was often the only person in the room, or at the table, who never had a voice.  And it’s equally hard to get in the room or get a seat at the table if you’re a Black woman.

The issue is really unconscious bias, which comes from systemic racism. People want to work with the people they’ve always worked with, and let’s face it—AEC is overwhelmingly white and male. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Blacks and women are profoundly underrepresented in architecture, engineering, and construction; 88% of construction workers and 84% of architecture and engineering professionals are white, and only 10% of construction workers and 26% of architecture and engineering professionals are women.

Another issue is that it’s hard to be constantly questioned about your capabilities—even after you’ve proven yourself time and time again. For instance, we’ve done major work on landmarks and the nation’s most popular museums. They’re all on the National Mall. And because McKissack & McKissack is headed by a Black woman, we’re still questioned about our capabilities when we go after large jobs. I feel like a lot of the industry is always looking for us to make a mistake, so we’re held to an almost impossible standard—flawless and excellent performance. But the majority of firms make mistakes all the time; they even default. But if I make one mistake, I feel like I’m hurting all the women- and minority-owned firms who come behind me.

Getting financing is another huge challenge. About a dozen banks turned me down early in the history of my business. Finally, one bank came through, but they made my husband, who has nothing to do with my business, come to the bank with me. He knew nothing about my business at all. Banks put minority firms through a lot more scrutiny to borrow much less money.

What is your advice to other Black professionals who want to get into the field?

To not underestimate themselves, because people will always underestimate them. So they must be confident and chart their own path, which really goes back to what my ancestors taught me. People ask us how we made it through slavery, Jim Crow, and all the civil rights uprisings across the country in the ’60s, and I always say it’s because we didn’t allow others to define us. We defined ourselves as leaders, as builders, and as architects, and we charted our own paths.

Stephanie Hart, the owner and founder of Brown Sugar Bakery in Chicago, is buying out a historic 84-year old candy factory called Cupid Candies. To finalize the acquisition, she is using the funds from a $500,000 small business grant that she recently received from the state of Illinois.

In 2004, Stephanie opened Brown Sugar Bakery, which quickly became one of the most popular destinations for Black food culture in the city. It started with one location but has since grown to three locations in the local area

Stephanie had been planning to grow her business even more so when she heard that John Stefanos, the owner of Cupid Candies, wanted to sell the business, she immediately began taking steps to make the purchase. According to The Chicago Sun Times, she applied for a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and was approved for the maximum state grant of $500,000 – the exact amount needed to seal the deal.

Wth the funds, Stephanie is able to acquire, not just the rights to the company’s brand and products, but also the equipment and the building. Ultimately, she will combine the two brands together which is why she is keeping all 20+ employees on staff. Their new job will be to continue to produce all the ice cream and chocolate products of Cupid Candies, as well as the cakes of Brown Sugar Bakery. They will also integrate some of the ideas to create new dessert ideas.

Before the pandemic struck, Vanessa Braxton was handling business as the founder, CEO and president of Black Momma Brands, producing artisan vodkas, gourmet teas, hemp oils and other products for customers around the country and world.  

As COVID-19 continues to ravage communities across America and beyond, Braxton is still taking care of business but her model has shifted. In response to the national shortage of hand sanitizer, the Black Momma Vodka brand is now actively producing about 1,000 orders per day of the clear gel, which uses a key ingredient that her Long Island, New York distillery already had on hand: alcohol.

“I started this [around 2 weeks] ago after learning that the government was asking distilleries nationwide to help make hand sanitizer. That was an epiphany,” Braxton told ESSENCE. “I said, ‘Let me call my lawyer and ask if I had the permit to do this.’ Since that time, the demand is not just high, it’s astronomical.”

Braxton, 50, is a wife and mother of three who launched Black Momma Vodka in 2013. Since that time, it’s grown into a $2 million dollar enterprise.

The entrepreneur is an engineer who holds a Construction Management/Engineering degree from Pratt Institute. Her curriculum vitae includes a Harvard executive program on negotiation and managing multi-million dollar construction and engineering contracts for New York state government before she retired from that arena.

That’s not all that distinguishes the Brooklyn-born businesswoman, a daughter of first-generation immigrants who hail from Guyana.

Braxton told ESSENCE she is the first African-American woman distiller and `Master Blender,’ to be an owner-operator and manufacturer of a nationally distributed vodka in the U.S. She also owns what is reportedly the country’s only Black-owned tea and beverage manufacturing facility.

Her manufacturing and distilling expertise is key as she and her employees (currently, a skeleton crew of about six) produce Black Momma Hand Sanitizer using an official “recipe” from the FDA. An 8 oz. bottle of the product sells on the company’s website for about $13.99.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health experts have advised use of hand sanitizer as one tool in the effort to flatten the curve and spread of the coronavirus. As supplies have dwindled amid the pandemic, the Distilled Spirits Council notes online that “hundreds of distillers across the United States are producing hand sanitizer to help fight COVID-19.”

Braxton is grateful that her operations can keep people employed, while aiding public health and the community at large.

“If I didn’t own a distillery and manufacturing facility I would not have been able to pivot so quickly from producing vodka to making hand sanitizer,” she said. “We are evolving and reinventing our business to work with government agencies, hospitals and others to protect those on the frontlines fighting this pandemic.”

Pre-health crisis, Braxton was focused on her latest venture, Black Momma Tea & Café (BMTC), a forthcoming 4,600 square-foot café that will be headquartered in Wheatley Heights, New York. Black Momma Tea & Café will sell teas, organic flavored agave, vegan and organic food and more. Braxton said the site will also serve as a training facility for future franchises (she envisions hundreds) nationwide.

Braxton raised $2.1 million via Wefunder, an equity crowd-funding site. She intends on taking Black Momma Tea & Café (BMTC) to the New York Stock Exchange.

Braxton credits the Obama Administration’s Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), and champions government programs that can offer tax credits and resources. “I’m negotiating right now to buy a property for $1 dollar,” she says, noting future plans to build additional manufacturing facilities.

Her ultimate goal: creating wealth for her family and others. She believes in education, hard work and proudly notes that her husband and two adult sons are fellow engineers. Daughter Alissa Braxton (a high school student) is the graphic designer behind the Black Momma Tea and Black Momma Hand Sanitizer signature labels. 

Braxton’s advice to entrepreneurs, especially women and African Americans, is thus: “Buy a building or warehouse. Own your equipment. Hire in the `hood. Invest and reinvest. Most of all, own your own stuff.”  

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian Feminist, Novelist, and Author who is known as a fierce campaigner for equal gender rights and women empowerment. Adichie has been involved in several political movements and campaigns against sexual violence including the #metoo movement. In 2012, Adichie gave a powerful talk at TEDxEuston in London titled “we should all be feminists” which had over 5 million views. In the video, she shared her experiences on being an African feminist and her views on sexuality and gender construction.

Bogolo Joy Kewenedo is currently the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry for Botswana. Her zest in translating policy into action and goal of improving the living conditions of her people made the new President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, to appoint her to his cabinet. At the age of 31, she is celebrated as Africa’s youngest minister. Last year, she was appointed by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres to serve as a member of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.

Bethlehem Alemu is a fierce entrepreneur from Ethiopia who started her footwear company, SoleRebels in 2005 to provide eco-friendly, fair trade jobs to her community. Her firm converts tires into smart shoes. SoleRebels has been expanding rapidly since its founding and currently, it has 18 stores around the world, including the USA Japan, Austria, Spain, and Switzerland, among others. Bethlehem was the first female African entrepreneur to address the Clinton Global Initiative and was also named as one of the top 12 women entrepreneurs in the last century by CNN.

Wanjira Mathai is the daughter of late Wangari Mathai, the famous Nobel Prize winner and environmentalist who spent her life campaigning for sustainable development, democracy, and peace. In the same vein, her daughter is well known for continuing her mother’s legacy and thus, as a board member of the Green Belt Movement, she recently campaigned to plant over 30 million trees. She is also a senior adviser at the World Resources Institute and for the Partnerships for Women’s Entrepreneurs in Renewables (wPOWER).

Ilhan Omar is a 36-year old Somalian who lived at a refugee camp in Kenya for around 4 years. She is the first naturalized African and Somali-American elected to the United States Congress. Before her political position, she has been a fierce campaigner for affordable housing, healthcare, and a living wage. In 2017, she was one of the 46 women to feature in Time’s Magazine’s report, “Firsts: Women who are changing the world.”

In an effort to specifically support Black women-owned small businesses, Visa is extending their partnership with IFundWomen through a new series of grants and educational resources. Ten $10,000 grants will go to Black women in the U.S. to help them run and grow their businesses.

Through this program, Visa is committed to providing Black women entrepreneurs with access to the capital, coaching, and connections they need to grow their businesses during this challenging time.

The program criteria are as follows:

• Must be a Black women-owned business
• Must be located in the United States
• Must have a minimum annual revenue of $24K or more
• Must have been in business for 2+ years
• Must be a business that has a product or service in market and generating revenue
• Must be a growing business
• Must be a consumer product or service (B2C)
• Must have a compelling digital presence and supporting media

“The $10,000 is not a random number,” says Suzan Kereere, Visa’s global head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring told Forbes. “For many entrepreneurs, when they look for seed funding or funding to go from proof of concept to launch, the sweet spot is about $10,000. The $8,000 to $14,000 range is the amount of capital you need to get an ordinary small business off the ground. One of the reasons so few businesses make it into the venture capital stage is the majority will need about that much capital to get started. We’ve got to give them the kind of capacity and elasticity they need that works at the scale the majority live in.”