Women

Seven Podcasts for Entrepreneurs to Explore

Posted on by Case Foundation

Everyone loves a good story of innovation, and entrepreneurs tend to have especially fascinating ones. In her best-selling book, Be Fearless, Jean Case uplifts the stories of entrepreneurs and changemakers who used innovation to change the world. She examines the core qualities of great innovators, past and present, and identifies five surprising traits they all have in common. It isn’t wealth, privilege or even genius. In fact, it is that every leader who broke through and brought forward transformational changes made a “Big Bet,” took bold risks, learned from their failures, reached beyond their bubbles and let urgency conquer fear. 

However, sometimes hearing—not just reading—stories can be uniquely powerful. So, we asked the Case Foundation team to share some of their favorite stories of entrepreneurship, as told by podcasts. While there are many great stories out there, we compiled a list of episodes that stand out. 

We hope these podcasts inspire you on your entrepreneurial journey. And if you’re interested in more content on inclusive entrepreneurship, we regularly share stories of female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color in our weekly newsletter, Breaking Good. Sign up here!

 

1. GirlBoss Radio, Building a Business Around Sustainability with Sarah Paiji Yoo of Blueland

GirlBoss Radio dives into what it takes to be a successful female founder through conversations with innovative women in business. Whether you are looking for advice on advancing your career, tips for scaling a business, or just a laugh, this podcast has you covered. Hosted by Sophia Amoruso, CEO and founder of Girlboss and Neha Gandhi, editor-in-chief and COO of Girlboss.

In this episode, host Amoruso interviews co-founder and CEO of Blueland, Sarah Paiji Yoo. Blueland is aiming to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in the cleaning product industry by building concentrated cleaning solution tablets that are water activated. Listen to this episode to learn more about the growing market for environmentally sustainable businesses and how entrepreneurs are tackling global problems while making a profit.

 

2. Being Boss, First Year of Business at Almanac Supply Co

In this podcast, hosts Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon examine what it takes to make money doing what you love. The podcast is geared towards full-time founders, those thinking about their first fearless step and anyone looking to learn from entrepreneurs who have turned their passions into a profiting business. 

In this episode, host Emily reflects on the one year anniversary of launching her product-based business. She highlights how she dealt with the challenges along the way, made failures from her past business ventures matter, and developed the skills necessary to be CEO. Emily’s firsthand knowledge and Kathleen’s advice offer a useful case study for those wondering about getting a business off the ground.

 

3. How I Built This, Live Episode! Walker & Company: Tristan Walker

In this podcast from NPR, host Guy Raz profiles entrepreneurs, changemakers, and innovators whose companies are making significant impacts on the world. The episodes examine the evolution of well-known brands and how successful founders turn ideas into movements.

Guy Raz interviews Tristan Walker, an entrepreneur and CEO of Walker & Co., a company that was recently acquired by Procter & Gamble (P&G), in this special live episode. Walker explains how his frustration with the way razors irritate those with curly hair turned into his first business, a subscription shaving system and personal care product line. His company attracted millions of customers and eventually was sold to P&G. Listen to this episode for an inside look at what it takes to build momentum around your business idea. *Bonus: Check out another episode of How I Built This with Case Foundation Chairman Steve Case!

 

4. How Success Happens, Tech Pioneer Jean Case on How to Change the World With Your Big Idea

How Success Happens features host Robert Tuchman as he converses with successful entrepreneurs in an effort to learn from their stories. Episodes focus on both successes and failures that the entrepreneurs have faced, and how challenges they encounter along the road can ultimately transform into steps towards progress and profit. 

In this episode, Jean Case discusses her bestselling book, Be Fearless, dives into the five universal qualities of great innovators, shares tips for startups pitching to investors, as well as how to turn an idea into a life-changing endeavor. This podcast is perfect for anyone looking for a roadmap for their next breakthrough in business.

 

5. RISE Podcast, Serving Your Community With Your Business with Charis Jones

Hosted by New York Times best-selling author Rachel Hollis, the RISE podcast aims to offer actionable items to listeners for both business and life outside of work. Through conversations with innovative entrepreneurs and personal development experts, RISE will arm you with real-world takeaways that you can implement directly in your own life. 

In this episode, Rachel interviews entrepreneur Charis Jones, founder and CEO of Sassy Jones Boutique. Jones discusses how staying connected to a loyal fan base has been crucial for the success of her business, allowing her to scale the boutique into a seven-figure enterprise. If you are looking to start or expand your business, listen to this episode for useful marketing tips that will help you connect to customers.

 

6. Side Hustle Pro, How To Get Your Niche Brand Into Major Retailers with Aycee Brown

Hosted by Nicaila Matthews Okome, Side Hustle Pro features stories of Black female entrepreneurs who have turned their side hustles into full-blown, successful businesses. Every week, Black female entrepreneurs such as Lisa Price of Carol’s Daughter and Myleik Teele of CurlBox highlight their startup stories and offer advice for burgeoning side hustlers. 

In this episode, Nicaila interviews Aycee Brown, Goodnight Darling Co.’s Chief Sleep Officer. Under Brown’s direction, the niche sleep company has created partnerships with luxury boutiques and companies like West Elm to expand their in-store presence and increase the visibility of their brand. Listen to this episode to learn how Brown scaled her business into a trusted authority in the self-care field and for tips on getting your product onto the shelves of major retailers.

 

7. The Failure Factor, Bluemercury Co-founder and CEO Marla Beck On Failing Her Way To Success

How do successful entrepreneurs respond to failure? The Failure Factor: Stories of Career Perseverance examines how the low points of careers can motivate entrepreneurs to reach highs that they had never dreamed of. Host Megan Bruneau sits down with founders to identify how they were able to leverage their experiences of both success and failure to overcome obstacles and ultimately reach their full potential. 

In this episode, Bluemercury co-founder and CEO Marla Beck talks about the severe downturn the company faced early on and how she was able to turn the company around. Spoiler alert: Bluemercury ultimately secured a $210 million acquisition by Macy’s. Beck explains failure in two distinct ways: how she deals with failure herself and how she responds to failure as a manager overseeing staff. This is a great listen for any entrepreneur looking to make failure matter.

 

Celebrating Because of Her Story: Smithsonian’s Groundbreaking American Women’s History Initiative

Posted on by Case Foundation

I remember the day my daughters discovered I had a profile on Wikipedia. It was as though I had somehow risen to a whole new level of relevance in their eyes. Even at their young age then, they had been true champions of my work and, as their mom, I knew they were proud of my accomplishments. But that day, as my youngest daughter gushed: “Mom, now you are part of history!” it occurred to me at that moment—it isn’t necessarily what we do, but rather where and how it is recorded that can change perceptions and open minds.

Today, Wikipedia has over 18 billion pageviews per month, making it one of the most visited websites in the world. There are those of us who use it routinely, and some who access it daily. Yet, only 18 percent of the 1.6 billion Wikipedia biographies in the English language are about women. Clearly, this has an impact on the results that we get when we access Wikipedia and can shape the way we see the world.

It is no longer a secret that the contributions of women have simply been left out of much of our history. Too often, the story of women in numerous fields were simply either never written or left on the cutting room floor. Using today’s parlance, one could even go so far as to say in some cases, the history that was recorded and documented is “fake news” because too often it is an incomplete or distorted picture of who did what.

The time has come to commit ourselves to the diligent effort of finding and spotlighting the stories of leaders and innovators, no matter their gender, to ensure that history and the news stories we see every day are true reflections of how we got to now, and who played a role along the way. It is for this reason that the Case Foundation is proud to support the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, Because of Her Story, which is spearheading an effort to ensure the untold stories of women pioneers and trailblazers that shaped American society and changed the course of American history are given a proper place across all of the Smithsonian museums, exhibits and digital properties. My husband, Steve, Chairman of the Case Foundation, has long been active in the Smithsonian, now serving as Vice Chair of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, and has long been a champion of the Smithsonian’s efforts to incorporate a digital-first approach to increase their impact and reach 1 billion people a year. This initiative incorporates this thinking as it will launch one of its most extensive digital undertakings to document, research, collect, display and share the rich, complete and compelling story of women in America.

This initiative shows the Be Fearless principles at work as the Smithsonian makes a Big Bet—pioneering a new way of illustrating women’s pivotal roles in American society through a digital-first approach. We know the power of technology to break down barriers and are excited to support the Smithsonian as they roll out new ways to share the stories of women across the Smithsonian network. This effort will create new avenues for telling stories and add further fuel to the Smithsonian’s initiative to reach 1 billion people annually by 2020. 

Of course, the digital work will be supported by multiple traditional exhibits at the Smithsonian and we have already seen a number of exhibits open with a focus on the role women are playing, including the National Portrait Gallery’s Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, which shines a light on the more than 80-year movement for women to obtain the right to vote as part of the larger struggle for equality that continued through the 1965 Civil Rights Act and today.

No matter the medium, we look forward to supporting the Smithsonian as they kick off this extraordinary effort, increasing their ability to bring stories of women to the forefront and—we hope—inspiring other institutions to also make a commitment to ensure the roles of women in history, science, art and all historical narratives are front-and-center.

I so strongly support this powerful new effort being undertaken at the Smithsonian that I have also agreed to co-chair, along with Smithsonian Chairman David Rubenstein, the institution’s American Women’s History Initiative National Advisory Committee, representing a committed group of leaders who will bring outside guidance and inspiration for the Smithsonian as they embark on this effort. I am excited about the people joining me and David for this work with the Smithsonian and the impact we will be able to make. All of us believe the incorporation of more stories of women is integral to understanding our history and setting examples and role models for this generation and for all those who follow in our footsteps.

Through all of these efforts, it is clear that the scale of stories that need to be unearthed and lifted up is enormous. Yet it is also matched with an unbelievable commitment and interest in ensuring that history at the Smithsonian includes “her story.” We look forward to working with the Smithsonian and to having you join us online and at the Smithsonian to celebrate the fair and equal inclusion of women into the narratives that are so central to our understanding of ourselves, our society and our country.

The Future of Business Will Be More Female

Posted on by Case Foundation

This Spring, the Case Foundation brought together a dynamic slate of female founders at SXSW for a conversation on why we believe the future of business is female. Case Foundation Board Member, Sonal Shah, who heads Georgetown University’s Beeck Center on Social Impact & Innovation led a discussion with Stephanie Lampkin from Blendoor, Jennifer Stybel from the Rent the Runway Foundation and Cindy Whitehead from The Pink Ceiling. Together they explored why intentionality around equal opportunity for women is key to building and funding a successful startup enterprise and the new pathways for investing in women-led companies.

Lampkin, who founded Blendoor, works with hundreds of tech companies—from Salesforce, to Google, Microsoft and more eliminating unconscious bias in job hiring by creating identity-blind applications. Meanwhile, Whitehead—who sold a company for more than $1 billion dollars three years ago—shared more on how she raised money to fund her company in unconventional ways. Her new company, The Pink Ceiling, provides seed investing and commercial support for female-led startups. The panelists each shared how they pay it forward by making early bets on other women-led companies and providing support for female entrepreneurs. Jennifer Stybel shared how Rent the Runway Foundation is doing just that. She, along with Whitehead and Lampkin are building a pipeline of women-led startups set to change the world.

Watch their conversation above.

7 Fearless Founder Podcasts to Listen To

Posted on by Case Foundation

Everyone loves a good success story, and entrepreneurs tend to have especially fascinating ones. The road to success rarely goes in a straight line; rather, most successful people have encountered quite a few failures and obstacles along the way.  

Learning from these challenges and failing forward is what often leads to breakthroughs. As our Be Fearless principles state, making big bets, failing forward, trying brave experiments, working with unlikely partners and letting urgency conquer fear can be the keys to success for entrepreneurs.

Being fearless isn’t always easy. But seeing stories of fearless entrepreneurs who have braved the path before can be the inspiration capital needed for aspiring entrepreneurs to begin to build their businesses. That’s why telling the stories of entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, and lifting up role models whose stories are not told as frequently in mainstream entrepreneurship coverage, is so important. Our #FacesofFounders campaign has brought together stories of entrepreneurs across race, place and gender, what they struggle with, what they’re building and why inclusivity makes entrepreneurship even stronger. We also regularly share stories of those changing the narrative of who is and can be entrepreneurs in our weekly newsletter, Breaking Good.

But sometimes hearing—not just reading—stories can be uniquely powerful. So, we asked the Case Foundation team to share some of their favorite stories of entrepreneurship, as told by podcasts. While there are many great stories out there, we compiled a list of nine podcast episodes of entrepreneurs who each stand out in a different way. Read on to learn about some of the founders who inspire us and remind us to Be Fearless.


Spanx—Sara Blakely on NPR’s “How I Built This”

Sara Blakely’s story starts with selling fax machines and ends with her becoming the youngest self-made female billionaire in the US. But her journey to get there may be less well-known. She launched Spanx with the money in her savings after seeing a need for an undergarment that incorporates the control top feature of pantyhose without the legs of pantyhose.

Blakely’s journey gathering support from manufacturers, patent attorneys, buyers and even Oprah is an inspiring one for women founders pitching unique and disruptive products. The story of how she convinced a Neiman Marcus buyer to work with her is also a funny reminder that unconventional methods can sometimes be the most effective ones.  

Be Visible—Andrea Guendelman, on Backstage Capital’s “Mission and Values”

As fans of Inclusive Entrepreneurship, we loved hearing about the journey of Andrea Guendelman, who co-founded Be Visible. Recognizing a lack of available professional mentoring and networking resources for Latinx professionals, she built Be Visible as a professional social network for the group.

Throughout the podcast, Andrea breaks down the underlying barriers that separate Latinx professionals from many opportunities available to the wider population. She talks about the group’s unique needs and how Latinx Millennials specifically can be supported and encouraged to be engaged and connected citizens. She also has an interesting backstory that crosses countries and industries before launching Be Visible. Listen through the end to hear about where the platform is going and which big client Be Visible just landed.


Hamdi Ulukaya—Chobani, on Fast Company’s “Innovators Uncensored”

For a lesson in humble beginnings, hard work and compassionate leadership, listen to Fast Company editor, Robert Safian’s interview with Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani. Ulukaya’s path to success was untraditional, to say the least. He started in a closed down factory in a small town in upstate New York, working with a team of just five people and had no prior formal business, marketing or managing experience.

What was the first thing his team did after opening the factory? It’s not what you’d expect, but Ulukaya’s story bucks tradition from the beginning and you have to tune into to hear it straight from Ulukaya. After Chobani’s massive success, Ulukaya shares how he didn’t let success go to his head, how he has sought to stay accountable to his employees and how he doesn’t shy away from wider issues, like the refugee crisis. Listen to the interview to hear him tell the story of two refugees (of the 600 he’s hired) who found success working for Chobani. Ulukaya’s story is the story of a leader rebelling against assumptions about how businesses are run and putting purpose at the center of his business.  

Capway—Sheena Allen, on “VC Cheat Sheet”

Sheena Allen took a non-traditional route to entrepreneurship, launching Capway, a Financial Tech company, from rural Mississippi. Allen talks about her journey to launching the FinTech company, which serves different groups of financially underserved consumers and talks about the unconscious bias that she had to overcome to succeed.  

The ‘aha’ moment that led to her launching Capway came in a grocery store, where she saw a long line of people waiting to cash their checks. Through more research, Allen identified the massive gap in financial services for unbanked and underbanked populations—which leads to people cashing checks at nontraditional financial institutions, like grocery and convenience stores. Despite there being a huge market to serve this community, gaining support from investors was a challenge. Allen shares how she’s been able to find success and find the right investors to work with. And she holds nothing back, giving very direct advice to women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs looking to build support and sharing her advice on how to ask for help the right way. Listen to her story for insight into the experience of an entrepreneur building support for a service for underrepresented consumers.


Radio One—Cathy Hughes, on NPR’s “How I Built This”

For some serious entrepreneurial inspiration, you’ll want to listen to Cathy Hughes’ journey to radio success, which involves a fair share of bumps in the road along the way. As a young, single mom, Hughes moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Washington, DC to help launch the radio station at Howard University. She found success there by creating shows that catered to underrepresented communities in DC, but her journey didn’t stop there.

Hughes’s path to becoming a media mogul takes unexpected twists and turns, including a stint of living with her son in the young, struggling radio station she bought. Her story of navigating entrepreneurship, motherhood, success and expansion as a female founder of color is interesting for so many reasons; from the creative to the financial to the personal.

Coss Marte—ConBody, on Gimlet Media’s “Start Up”

Part 1 and Part 2
This is a story about second chances. Coss Marte is an ex-convict who spent four years in prison for selling drugs. Fast forward to today and he’s running a successful fitness business, ConBody.  

The inspiration for the company came while Marte was still in prison. Dealing with health problems and the confinement of prison, Marte developed his own workout routines that could be done in small spaces and without weights, and he helped other inmates do the same. In the podcast, Marte shares his story building up a customer base, battling negative perceptions and making sure to hire fellow ex-convicts, who struggle to get jobs after leaving incarceration. The podcast begins and ends with Marte and his cofounder, Jenn Shaw going to a pitch competition where they’re starkly reminded how much they stand out; he being Latino and Shaw being a woman among a crowd of mostly white, Ivy league grads. The story of his journey there, and the results of the pitch competition, will inspire and surprise you.


Mariam Naficy—Minted, on “Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman”

Mariam Naficy is a two-time founder who launched both her companies in uncertain times. She started with Eve.com, the first major online cosmetics seller, which she launched in the late 90’s, a time when the future of the internet was unclear. In fact, to obtain the domain name, she actually had to make a deal with a very powerful five-year-old by the same name. From there, Eve.com raised $26 million in its first year and continued to scale rapidly until she sold the company in 2000.

After moving on from Eve, Naficy moved on to her next venture, Minted, an online stationary store. In this episode, she shares her challenges raising venture capital as a mom entrepreneur, and launching a company in 2008, at the height of a financial crisis. Minted would go on to raise $89 million in Venture Capital and ship to 70 million households, but along the way, Naficy faced a lot of teachable failures, which she shares with listeners.

We hope these podcasts inspire you as much as they have our team. For some more #BeFearless inspiration, check out our Be Fearless hub, and to learn more about how we’re championing entrepreneurship for all through inspiration capital and more, check out our Inclusive Entrepreneurship page and #FacesofFounders series.

This Month in Social Good

Posted on by Case Foundation

February may be the shortest month of the year, but this February was packed with news in the world of social innovation. In particular, we saw new data, stories and perspectives brought forward in the world of Inclusive Entrepreneurship that we’d like to reflect on and use to power the movement. I spent some time rereading our weekly Case Foundation Breaking Good newsletter to gauge some of the conversation around supporting diverse entrepreneurs this month. Here are some of the articles and trends that stood out to me: 

Black History Month is a reminder to uplift Black entrepreneurs—past and present

Every day is a great day to celebrate the achievements of groundbreaking innovators in history and the people who are carrying on their legacies and building their own. But as Black History Month comes to a close, we’re given a renewed commitment to uplift the stories of Black entrepreneurs—sharing both the contributions they bring and the unique challenges they face. 

With that in mind, we were inspired by reflections from successful Black entrepreneurs on how they succeeded in a world filled with barriers designed to stifle their progress. One of the Be Fearless quotes that stood out came from Urban One founder, Cathy Hughes: 

“[Don’t] let anyone convince you that your dream, your vision to be an entrepreneur, is something that you shouldn’t do. What often happens is that people who are well meaning, who really care for us, are afraid for us and talk us out of it.” 

There’s a glaring gap for women entrepreneurs

As reports highlighting data on entrepreneurship from 2017 begin to come out, the statistics on women entrepreneurs are disheartening, to say the least. According to Pitchbook, businesses with all-women founding teams received just 2.2 percent of all venture capital in 2017. Teams with a mix of genders received just 12 percent, and a whopping 79 percent of venture capital went to all-male teams (the remaining 7 percent was unreported). 

To change these numbers, there isn’t an easy fix. We know where we can start—more women launching businesses, more women in venture capital, fewer cases of bias at the hands of investors—but none of these alone will solve the problem. Partners are stepping up across industries to build solutions together that will collectively challenge the systemic biases that affect how opportunity is distributed in our culture. Data and storytelling can play major role in that, which brings us to our next trend. 

We need to support data and storytelling on underrepresented innovators

Sherrell Dorsey is doing just that. Dorsey founded a daily newsletter called ThePLUG to report on founders, investors and innovators of color. This month, she talked to Vice about the need for more data on Black entrepreneurs. This is one of the many great points she made: 

“A lot of times, especially in the black community, when you look at entrepreneurship, there’s been very little data collection—like, the kind of businesses we’re creating, the kind of problems that we’re solving. (…) A lot of times investors are looking for patterns in data, so when that information is not shared in public, you get a knowledge gap.” 

To extrapolate out from what Sherrell is saying, if investors don’t have the data they are used to having when making investment decisions, they are less likely to fund initiatives. Therefore, having a more robust dataset on Black entrepreneurship could help spark solutions across the board. That’s something we’re working towards as we champion inspiration capital as a core part of our Inclusive Entrepreneurship work. By uplifting the stories of underrepresented entrepreneurs—stories that share both their challenges and their unique insights—we’re hoping to change widespread assumptions about who is and can be a talented entrepreneur. 

Entrepreneurship can flourish across in all communities across the U.S.

Another widespread assumption about entrepreneurship we’re working to challenge is the notion that Silicon Valley is the only great place to launch a company. Fortunately, that idea is being challenged by entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem builders across the country. We loved hearing about how Kela Ivonye, founder of connected delivery storage service, MailHaven found Louisville Kentucky, not Silicon Valley to be the best place to build the company.  

On the ecosystem side, we’ve been inspired by news about places like Raleigh, where a program is helping formerly incarcerated individuals pursue entrepreneurship. In the Midwest, a variety of organizations are working to support the region’s female entrepreneurs. And in New York, three of the city’s major banks announced plans to give a combined $40 million to programs supporting women and entrepreneurs of color there.  

This month, Engine also interviewed an ecosystem builder in Colorado as part of an ongoing series we love, #StartupsEverywhere, where the outlet talks to the people building entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. And this week’s Kauffman Foundation newsletter poses important questions on how we can build inclusive ecosystems, including a powerful video by Melissa Bradley on her experiences as an entrepreneur, investor and ecosystem builder. 

From celebrating past and present Black entrepreneurs and leaders, to building solutions for female founders, to tackling the data gap, to highlighting innovation everywhere—leaders in the world of Inclusive Entrepreneurship are getting to work. The stories we’ve seen this month inspire us and we can’t wait to read and share even more of these informative and inspirational stories. To learn more, sign up for our newsletter, Breaking Good. 

Is there anything we missed this month? Tell us about your favorite social good story you saw in February! 

Be Fearless Spotlight: Washington Area Women’s Foundation

Posted on by Case Foundation

This Spotlight is a part of a special blog series curated by the Case Foundation featuring Be Fearless stories from the field. Follow along with us as we meet people and learn about organizations that are taking risks, being bold and failing forward in their efforts to create transformative change in the social sector. In this most recent spotlight, we had the chance to sit down with Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, President and CEO of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation for a Q&A about how the Women’s Foundation is living the Be Fearless principles in their work.

Q: What does your organization think it means to Be Fearless?

A: For Washington Area Women’s Foundation, to “Be Fearless” means to stand when others are sitting, raise our voices when others choose to be quiet and push harder when others choose to give up. Being fearless means believing that all girls in our community can grow up with a clear vision of a future beyond poverty. The mission of The Women’s Foundation is to mobilize our community to ensure that economically vulnerable women and girls have the resources they need to thrive. Our overall goal is to move all women and girls currently living in poverty to a place of consistent economic stability—and to get there, we must Be Fearless.

Economic security has been central to our mission since our founding, but it’s not enough to simply say that we are working with low-income or economically vulnerable women and girls—we are being intentional and explicit in our language and our actions. We are letting urgency conquer fear and are no longer leaving unsaid the realities facing women and girls, and the ways that race and ethnicity further contribute to that reality. It’s for that reason, and many more that on January 21st, we launched #our100days, a way for everyone in our community to Get In The Arena and take action. Every day we provide a single task that can make our communities better for the women and girls who live in them.

We believe that every woman should have an equal opportunity to achieve economic security and with our fearless and bold vision, we are continuously forging ahead towards that goal.

In an effort to further address the disparities facing women and girls at the intersection of race and gender, we officially launch the Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) this spring, centered around the voices and lived experiences of women and girls of color, coupled with reaching beyond our bubble and building partnerships across multiple sectors to increase opportunities for more equitable outcomes for young women and girls of color in the Washington region.

Q: What goals are you working towards at your organization and how do the Be Fearless principles help you achieve them?

A: With the Be Fearless principles, we can affect real change and we’re not asking for permission to do it. With #our100days, we’ve managed to connect with the community through social media and our email database, and we’ve received real feedback on our action items and work, and have made collective strides to help our Grantee Partners and other community organizations. With #our100days, people can Get In The Arena by doing anything from donating baby clothes to a mother in need, to highlighting women in our communities who have made an impact on our lives.

Moreover, through our YWI, we will initiate policy changes and increase programmatic investments to alleviate the racial and gender disparities placed on women and girls of color in the District. We are in the midst of several convenings with local policymakers, community activists and low-income women and girls of color. Innovation happens at intersections, so making space for these partnerships will help to uncover barriers and identify potential policy solutions as a part of our racial equity and policy initiatives.

Q: What “big bets” have you and the Women’s Foundation made, and how have those goals paid off?

A: At The Women’s Foundation we are firm believers in the saying, “Don’t talk, act. Don’t say, show. And don’t promise, prove.” Our big bet is our public commitment to advance equity for women and girls of color and tackle systemic and structural racism head on so that we can truly advance our mission and ensure that all women and girls in our community have the opportunity to thrive.

Our advocacy agenda is informed by the insights and lived experiences of those who are most impacted. Through our work with #our100days and the development of YWI, we have been engaging our community and seeking their feedback regarding potential solutions that address their most pressing concerns. These solutions serve as the foundation of a larger community action plan, inclusive of a set of recommendations which will inform our advocacy and grantmaking agendas, in addition to identifying potential improvements for current direct service provision and service alignment.

We are solidifying an advocacy agenda, and a list of recommendations that are community-driven and reflect the lives of those most impacted. Through the parallel development of YWI and our advocacy agenda, we intend to create a positive ripple effect across society and ultimately improve the quality of life for women and girls in our community.

Q: Tell us about a time when your organization let urgency conquer fear.

A: A sense of urgency drives us. Washington, D.C. is one of the most powerful cities in the world, yet 1 in 4 women and girls in the region are experiencing economic instability and this number has remained stagnant for a decade. We know that despite the best efforts of many initiatives, generations of our region’s women and girls have grown up in poverty, with little hope of a brighter future—and we can’t let this continue.

The time is now for bold and ambitious changes that will eliminate opportunity gaps and structural barriers, directly increasing economic security for women and girls in our region. We are committed to both pilot new methods of philanthropy and community engagement to drive greater philanthropic change, and to advocate for improved policies on behalf of women and girls.

Last year alone, through our research, advocacy and grantmaking initiatives, we reached more than 3,600 women, and helped them increase their incomes and assets by $3.6 million. We will continue this multifaceted approach, using a racial equity lens to build pathways out of poverty for more women and their families. Currently 15 percent of Black women and 15 percent of Latinas living in poverty compared to 5 percent of white, non-Hispanic women.

We will fearlessly tackle racial equity head on to close the economic gap experienced by women and girls of color in the region. With #our100days and the Young Women’s Initiative, we will get in the arena and use our voice, our resources and the community we have created to remove the barriers women and girls of color face.

Feeling inspired? If you’re ready to begin your own Be Fearless journey start by downloading our free Be Fearless Action Guide and Case Studies.

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