Los Angeles Program Helps Black Female Business Owners

Small Business Majority recently announced their Women Entrepreneurship Program. The program is designed to help meet the needs of black women who are struggling to access the resources they need to build successful businesses.

According to a press release from Small Business Majority, “Women—especially women of color—are one of the fastest-growing segments of our economy, but they continue to be at a disadvantage in critical business indicators.”

This is especially true of business women in California. According to a study done by FitSmallBusiness, an online industry publication serving small business owners, 129 new women-owned businesses are established everyday in California. Women-owned firms represent 37.2% of all businesses in the state, according to the report, and they generate 5.15% of the Golden State’s total business revenue.

With women playing such an integral part in California’s economy, Small Business Majority hopes its program can help open doors for even more female entrepreneurship in the state.

“As part of this program, Small Business Majority will be providing in-person and online resources for women through educational events in the area. Our goals include connecting women in the Los Angeles area with vetted local lenders, business resource providers and mentoring opportunities,” Small Business Majority said in a press release.

When this program comes to fruition, it will be easier for female entrepreneurs of color to break into LA’s small business scene.

Xiomara Peña, Small Business Majority’s California Deputy Director and National Hispanic Outreach Manager, says, “California is at the forefront of women’s entrepreneurial activity in the United States, but the local infrastructure hasn’t yet caught up with business growth. As a result, Small Business Majority is working to remedy this problem in the hope that California can serve as a blueprint for women-owned small business success in this country”

The hope of diverse small business ownership is alive and well. But, programs like this are only a step in the right direction, they are not a complete resolution. There still exists serious inequalities in the small business world that must be remedied one step at a time.

Programs like this set an example to other organizations of ways they can expand minority entrepreneurship in their areas. Hopefully, this program will not only help minority entrepreneurs in LA, but will set an example of how to affect real change on other communities throughout the country.