Atlanta-based venture capital firm Fearless Fund has permanently closed its Strivers Grant program, which provided $20,000 grants to Black women entrepreneurs. This decision follows a settlement with the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), a group led by conservative activist Edward Blum, the man behind the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling. Nevertheless, Fearless Fund remains committed to empowering historically overlooked entrepreneurs and plans to launch a new debt fund to continue supporting those in need of capital. Fearless Fund’s Legal Battle In August 2023, AAER sued Fearless Fund, claiming the
A Texas nonprofit grant program aimed at supporting diverse small business owners, has agreed to revise its application process after being sued for allegedly discriminating against white men. The lawsuit was brought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), a group led by conservative activist Edward Blum, who is also suing Fearless Fund, a Black women-led VC firm. Lawsuit Challenges Race-Based Criteria The lawsuit centered around a $50,000 grant offered by the Founders First Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit founded by Kim Folsom and led by Shaylon Scott. The
Fearless Fund’s co-founder, Ayana Parsons, has stepped down from her role as chief operating officer after five years against the venture capital firm. Parson stated that her resignation is unrelated to the ongoing lawsuit from Edward Blum’s conservative group. Fearless Fund Co-Founder Steps Down Parson, who co-founded the organization with Arian Simone and Keisha Knight Pulliam in 2019, served as the fund’s chief operating officer for nearly five years. In an official press release, Parson, who is also the co-founder of Yardstick, announced that she would be stepping down to
VC firm Fearless Fund has faced another setback in its plans to issue grants to Black women business owners as the court has ruled against them. On Monday, an appeals court for the 11th Circuit ruled against Fearless, upholding a preliminary injunction against their Strivers Grant program. The court ruling said that the grant likely violates the Civil Rights Act of 1886, which bans the use of race in contracts. What Has Happened So Far? The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), founded by Edward Blum, attacked the Fearless Fund
A federal court has temporarily blocked Fearless Fund’s grant program for Black women entrepreneurs amid an ongoing lawsuit by the American Alliance for Equal Rights. The decision reverses last week’s ruling by US District Judge Thomas V. Thrash, ultimately denying the conservative group’s allegation that the program was racially discriminatory. The Lawsuit Against Fearless Fund Fearless Fund invests in women of color-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or series A financing. The American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund in August 2023.
A federal judge in Georgia ruled that Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund for women of color, can continue offering a grant program only to Black women entrepreneurs. On Tuesday, the judge refused to issue an injunction blocking the program after a lawsuit alleged it engaged in “explicit racial exclusion”. The Lawsuit Against Fearless Fund The American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund in August 2023. It targeted the fund’s Fearless Strives Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses
The conservative group, American Alliance for Equal Rights, led by Edward Blum, has filed a lawsuit against law firms Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster, challenging their diversity fellowships. The lawsuits allege these fellowships unlawfully discriminate against white candidates and request that racial considerations be eliminated from fellowship selections. The Law-Firms Law firm Perkins Coie has diversity fellowships for first-year and second-year students from underrepresented backgrounds. Their 1L – first fellowship offers students a $15,000 academic scholarship on top of a paid summer role, and their 2L- second-year- fellowship gives students $25,000. They
Conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, has brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, which supports women of color who own small businesses. Reuters reports that the lawsuit accuses Fearless Fund of violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars racial bias in private contracts by opening its grant competition to Black women alone. Lawsuits brought by Blum and the conservative group led to the June Supreme Court’s ruling to shut down affirmative action, barring universities and colleges from considering race in their
