Truist Foundation Awards Grameen America $500,000 to Strengthen Entrepreneurship in Charlotte and Across America
Truist Foundation recently announced a new $500,000 grant to Grameen America which will support the nonprofit’s fast-growing microloan portfolio and provide critical support for the entrepreneurial community in Charlotte. The catalytic support will provide direct access to capital for low-income women of color who otherwise would be unable able to receive this type of affordable capital to expand and grow their businesses. This meaningful investment will produce $1.4 million in disbursements via 270 microloans to women entrepreneurs in one year.
This new investment is part of Truist’s $120 million commitment to strengthen and support Black, Latinx, and women-owned businesses across the country.
“At Truist, we’re committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion across our business,” said Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers. “Through this commitment, we are investing in organizations that are championing community-led solutions aimed at addressing the deep, systemic inequities holding BIPOC and women-owned small businesses back from achieving their full potential.”
Grameen America shares a storied history with Truist Financial Corporation and Truist Foundation in their joint efforts to enact transformative change in Charlotte and across the United States. Our long-standing work together aims to remove systemic barriers for women of color to access affordable working capital. Most recently, Truist has provided a generous $5M loan which will be deployed through loan capital to businesswomen across the country.
Additionally, Truist supported Grameen America’s new initiative, Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs, where Truist Foundation’s outstanding $1.5M grant has helped the organization to launch this new initiative furthering its efforts to advance racial equity by supporting bringing fair access to capital to emerging Black women entrepreneurs.