January 19, 2022

Goldman Sachs Announces Latest Round Of Investments As Part Of Its ‘One Million Black Women’ Initiative

Black Girls Breathing and BlackFem are among the dozens of Black-led startups receiving a new set of philanthropic grants from Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million Black Women Initiative.

Black Girls Breathing is focused on addressing systemic issues impacting Black women and girls’ access to health care by providing free and accessible mental health care resources.

While BlackFem is set on transforming school-based learning so that girls of color have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain personal wealth.

The news was revealed via a press release where Goldman Sachs’ ‘One Million Black Women;’ initiative announced new investments, partnerships, and philanthropic grants for 17 leading organizations and projects across the country to lift up Black women and girls.

The series of 17 new investments, partnerships, and grants are said to “reflect ‘One Million Black Women’s;’ ongoing commitment to invest in the core pillars of healthcare, job creation and workforce development, education, affordable housing, digital connectivity, financial health and access to capital that impact Black women at every stage in their lives.”

Many of the organizations were identified through the more than 50 ‘One Million Black Women’ listening sessions held with nearly 20,000 Black women from around the country, and the ‘One Million Black Women’ Advisory Council. 

The financial backing from Goldman Sachs will support One Million Black Women’s mission to funnel healthcare, job creation, workforce development, education, affordable housing, digital connectivity, financial health, and access to capital to Black women, according to its press release.

“This next round of funding strategically connects the dots across several One Million Black Women impact areas and not only supports the infrastructure that Black women and their families need to thrive but has the potential to uplift communities and address generations of racial and gender inequities,” said Margaret Anadu, Global Head of Sustainability and Impact for Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

New investment capital will be provided to expand the impact of the following seven organizations and entrepreneurs across the country:

Chime Solutions (Atlanta, GA) to provide capital to Shelly Wilson, co-founder of Chime Solutions to accelerate its mission of creating jobs and economic opportunity for people in underserved communities.

Grameen America Elevate Initiative (National) to make microloans and provide financial training, asset and credit building tools to underserved Black-women entrepreneurs across the country.

Funding U (National) to make loans to high-performing low and moderate-income students attending four-year, not-for-profit colleges across the United States.

Wonderschool (National) to reduce “childcare deserts” by scaling access to high-quality, flexible care for children and families.

On the Road (Dallas, TX) to expand existing operations and increase the number of women in high-paying, skilled auto repair jobs through an extensive apprenticeship program.

Sendero Verde (New York, NY) to finance the construction of a public-private, mixed-use, mixed-income development in East Harlem which will consist of a Harlem Children’s Zone K-5 Promise Academy, and affordable and workforce housing units.

South Meadows (Rome, GA) to provide capital to Dionne Nelson, CEO of Laurel Street to finance the construction of a 100% affordable residential development with 80 multi-family units, an onsite educational facility and community farm.

Four new partnerships will support the work of the following organizations:

The King Center (Atlanta, GA) to support the launch of the reimagined Beloved Community Leadership Academy over the next two years, creating a One Million Black Women cohort for Black girls from across the country.

Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (Oakland, CA) to combat food insecurity and low literacy rates, the partnership will employ Black woman-owned restaurants to provide meals in high-needs areas and help distribute 500,000 books through new Eat. Learn. Play. Town Libraries used to promote neighborhood book sharing along with Eat. Learn. Play. branded bookshelves in local Black-owned small businesses.

New Leaders (National) to recruit and train principals of color. The grant will develop a one-year pilot program to support Black women in education leadership.

The Tory Burch Foundation (National) will partner with the venture leaders at the Fearless Fund and peer coaching platform The Cru, to scale a grants program and community for entrepreneurs of color. 

New philanthropic grants will be provided to expand the impact of the following six organizations across the country:

Black Girls Breathing (National) to address systemic issues impacting Black women and girls’ access to health care by providing free and accessible mental health care resources.

BlackFem (National) to transform school-based learning so that girls of color have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain personal wealth.

Corner to Corner (Nashville, TN) to help underestimated entrepreneurs in Nashville plan, start and grow their own small businesses.

Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (Washington, D.C.) to support the social and emotional skills development of middle and high school-aged girls from low-income families to complete college and become economically secure.

Jeremiah Program (National) to help disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children through quality early childhood education, a safe and affordable place to live, empowerment and life skills training.

The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) to increase the hiring and retention of BIPOC teachers working in Philadelphia schools.

Abbianca Makoni

Abbianca Makoni is a content executive and writer at POCIT! She has years of experience reporting on critical issues affecting diverse communities around the globe.

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