Grameen America Expands Program to Invest in Black Women and Other Minority Women Entrepreneurs with New Branch in Atlanta
The new branch marks the growth of Grameen America’s Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs initiative to reach emerging Black businesswomen with affordable capital, training, and support
NEW YORK, NY, June 1, 2023 – Grameen America, the fastest-growing nonprofit microfinance organization in the United States, announced the opening of its new branch location in Atlanta, marking the 25th city in the United States where the organization has a physical presence. The new branch is supported by partnerships with The Studio @ Blue Meridian, Regions Bank, Investor and Philanthropist Robert F. Smith, and Truist Foundation.
Since first launching operations in June 2022, Grameen America has disbursed over $420,000 in affordable capital through 210 microloans to 169 financially underserved women of color living in the Atlanta metro area and surrounding communities. Thanks to this partnership, Grameen America will be able to expand its reach into the local community to support a greater number of under-resourced entrepreneurial women. The new branch will also receive technical and other forms of assistance from local community partners, including The City of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, Startup Atlanta, Cathedral of Faith, and On the Rise Financial Center.
“Atlanta has long been a leading hub for entrepreneurship and growth, and a city with a clear need for access to affordable capital and financial services among women and especially Black women,” said Andrea Jung, President and CEO of Grameen America. “We’re proud to bring a variety of funding and technical assistance partners together to help connect women of color with financial services while positively impacting and sustaining their local communities.”
Grameen America provides low-income women business owners with loan capital, financial education, asset- and credit-building, and peer support. Since 2008, Grameen America has reached more than 170,000 women living in underserved communities across the United States and recently achieved a record milestone of investing over $3 billion in capital to emerging entrepreneurs. The organization’s repayment rate is over 99% and its members have achieved an average credit score of 653 through participation in the program.
The Atlanta area is a leading metro in the Southeast with significant growth over time. However, data shows that growth has not always been inclusive or equitable in reaching all members of the region. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.5% of people in Atlanta live in poverty, compared to just 12.8% of all Americans. The city, which is nearly 50% Black, also has the highest rate of income inequality of all large cities in the country. While Atlanta has one of the highest percentages of Black-owned businesses in the U.S., many entrepreneurs rely on personal wealth to start or build their businesses and have limited access to affordable capital.
Grameen America’s work in Atlanta advances its vision to realize a more inclusive financial system where all entrepreneurs, regardless of gender, race, or income, have access to fair and affordable financial services. Grameen America’s new branch in Atlanta includes the organization’s Elevate initiative, a dedicated program created to accelerate the organization’s commitment to racial equity, which leverages its unique group lending model to reach Black women entrepreneurs and aims to invest $1.3 billion in loans to 80,000 Black businesswomen. Grameen America’s Elevate initiative presence in Atlanta expands upon existing work in Newark, New York City, and Memphis to address lending gaps faced by Black women in the mainstream financial system.
On June 1, 2023, Grameen America proudly celebrated the opening of its new branch in Atlanta, Georgia, bringing together women entrepreneurs, program staff, and community partners to celebrate this milestone and the collaborative efforts driving positive change within the community.
Watch the event in Action
To help bridge disproportionate gaps in financial and racial equity in Atlanta and authentically reach Black business owners in the community, Grameen America’s new branch focuses on programmatic solutions and local partnerships to improve members’ business income, credit scores, personal savings, and material hardship measures.
With a proven track record in addressing socioeconomic barriers, Grameen America is uniquely positioned to impact small business owners in Atlanta like Dr. Cortesha Cowan who joined the program in December 2022 to grow her business Mothers Helping Mothers Inc, a community resource helping teen mothers to access housing, childcare, nutrition classes, and peer mentor support.
This expansion is part of the Southern Communities Initiative (SCI). SCI was launched in April 2021 by Vista Equity Partners, Boston Consulting Group and PayPal to accelerate the deployment of corporate resources into the six Southern communities that are home to more than 50% of all Black Americans: Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Charlotte, NC; Houston, TX, Memphis, TN; and New Orleans, LA. The Southern Communities Initiative’s priorities include Wealth Creation – supporting Black-owned business growth and access to capital by helping fund and modernize the capillary banking system; MBE/Supplier Diversity – increasing the volume and value of Black-owned businesses; Education/HBCU Workforce – working with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to increase pathways to employment and training for students; and Digital Access – supporting digital access by increasing the accessibility, affordability and adoption of high-speed internet in communities.