Our mission is to provide Black/Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, capital, and capacity building in order to meet business milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship. We fund and scale tech-enabled, revenue-generating businesses (under $1M) founded by people who identify as Black/Brown and woman. We ignite civic engagement and hyperlocal infrastructure at the intersection of business support services, supplier diversity, social and financial capital.

Available in the following cities for small businesses with at least 51% ownership by BIPOC persons or a woman: Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA. 500 grants totaling $5 million will be distributed as follows:

• 100 small businesses in each city
• Each business will receive a $10,000 monetary grant

SoGal Foundation has teamed up with Winky Lux, bluemercury, twelveNYC, Twilio, Walmart.org’s Center for Racial Equity and other sponsors to make a small step towards progress by providing several $10K and $5K cash grants to Black women or nonbinary entrepreneurs. Awardees will also receive tactical help navigating the fundraising environment at large so that they will have a more equitable opportunity at scaling the next billion dollar idea. They will also receive lifetime “ask-me-anything” access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams.

WomensNet’s Grants give away a $10,000 Amber Grant every month to a woman entrepreneur, and an additional annual $25,000 Amber Grant to one of the preceding 12 monthly Amber Grant winners. They also give away another $10,000 grant every month to a “Business Category” entrepreneur.

The SD Pro Program is designed to provide industry professionals with an opportunity to develop building science expertise, gain practical experience designing zero energy projects, and earn continuing education credits (CEUs). Building on the success of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® collegiate competition, SD Pro is targeted at early to mid-career design professionals in residential and commercial building design. The SD Pro Program, which includes a combination of online educational modules and a hands-on deep dive, is structured to increase the number of practicing design professionals and organizations capable of providing zero energy design services. The Program consists of two main components:

• Building Science Education
• Zero Energy Design Practicum.

With over 450 designees nationwide, SolSmart helps local governments and regional organizations bring new business to their community, promote economic growth, and foster the creation of new jobs. As a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, our goal is to make it faster, easier, and more affordable to go solar.

To help communities achieve designation, SolSmart provides no-cost technical assistance from a team of national experts who work to evaluate programs and practices that impact solar markets, and identify high-prospect opportunities for improvement. A select number of communities also hosted SolSmart Advisors: fully-funded, experienced staff who work in communities for periods of up to six months.

The RENEW program provides research opportunities to historically underrepresented groups in STEM and diversify American leadership in the physical and climate sciences through internships, training programs, and mentor opportunities. Beneficiaries will include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and other research institutions.

Applications are due at various times, including with letters of intent due throughout June; information can be found here.

VillageCapital is seeking startups in the US doing at least one of these: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand access to clean energy, enhance the resilience and sustainability of food and water systems, bolster circular economy through reduction of waste and regeneration of materials, and/or provide analytical insights used to accelerate sustainability and mitigate climate change.

The top two startups selected by peers will receive a grant of USD $50,000.

The National Grassroots Organizing Program offers one-year general operating support grants of up to $30,000, with an average grant size of $20,000, to small, non-profit grassroots organizations throughout the United States and its territories that are not located in the state of Vermont. The guiding principle behind this program is our belief that people most affected by a problem are in the best position to determine the solutions. We will consider proposals from grassroots organizations that are working to help themselves and their communities create broad systems change through community organizing and movement-building efforts.

Enter one or more of this year’s challenges for the chance to win cash prizes and move on to the finals, where our panel of judges will decide on the grand prize winner!

Upcoming challenges include:

• Reuse, Recycle, Revamp (May 1 – June 12):
• Hack it Back (June 12 – July 24)
• Climate Resilient Communities (July 24 – September 4)
• Save the World Wildcard (September 4 – October 16)

Prizes include: 1st place – $50,000 + Supplyframe DesignLab Residency, 2nd place –  $20,000, 3rd place – $15,000, 4th place – $10,000,5th place – $5,000. Top 50 finalists will win $500.

Within the Build to Scale opportunity, two challenges aimed at supporting technology entrepreneurs will be funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA).

The Venture Challenge focuses on advancing technology-based economic development. Looking for programs producing businesses that can scale. The “build” tier provides up to $750,000 and the “scale” tier provides up to $2 million in federal funding over the grant period.

The Capital Challenge seeks to increase formation and access to capital, particularly in communities where there is a limited supply of equity-based funding and a demonstrated opportunity to invest in technology based businesses. The “form” tier provides up to $300,000 in federal funding for identifying and organizing investors in the early-stage, and the “deploy” tier provides up to $750,000 to start a fund.

Eligible entitles include nonprofits, venture development organization, public-private partnership, federal labs, economic development organizations, higher education institutions, and more.