Comcast Commits $650k to Matriarch Revolutionary Fund focusing on advancing Native Women-Owned Businesses
Native American women entrepreneurs are on the move with help from a women’s focused organization called Native Women Lead (NWL)that is partnering with media giant Comcast. Long considered the back bone of their communities, Native women are now receiving business related support through this partnership.
This past week global media giant Comcast announced a $650,000 commitment to non-profit NWL to support established Native women-owned businesses. Comcast is now the first and largest corporate partner of the Matriarch Revolutionary Fund which is the first-ever impact investment fund in the U.S. established for Native women-owned businesses.
Jaime Gloshay who co-founded NWL in 2017 appreciates the benefits such an investment brings to Native American women business owners and their communities.
“Comcast’s grant is truly significant and will help us amplify our work, support our entrepreneurs in reclaiming our narrative, and give us the opportunity to center and uplift the people who are making meaningful change in our communities,” said Gloshay. “It’s important for us to design capital, tools, and products that meet the needs of Native communities.
The need for a program like this is very evident in view of Native women experiencing some of the highest poverty and wealth gaps in the country. Yet, it is estimated that 66% of them are their family’s primary breadwinners and economic drivers in their communities. Native women’s challenges are compounded further by their pay rate being 60 cents for every $1 paid to White, non-Hispanic men, according to the Center for American Progress.
NWL views Comcast’s financial support as a way to move past historical predatory lending practices to indigenous women that NWL leaders feel is a legacy of institutional racism. NWL set a goal of raising $10 million for the Matriarch Revolutionary Fund that when fully funded will assist 200 Native women-owned businesses with grants of $50,000 – $250,000 each. It will also support NWL’s broader network of over 20,000 Indigenous women across Turtle Island, or North America
“Access to capital remains a significant barrier for women entrepreneurs, but is particularly challenging for Indigenous communities,” says Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. “We are proud to partner with Native Women Lead to help empower these talented, innovative business owners realize overdue economic opportunities for themselves and their community.”
One of the more unique benefits resulting from Comcast’s involvement is the assistance that will be given to NWL for its newly launched Rematriating Economies Apprenticeship (REA) program. Indigenous women will receive a five-month paid apprenticeship toward becoming an emerging fund manager. They will also be presented with job placement opportunities at several investment fund companies or firms throughout the United States. Application deadline for its first cohort is April 10, 2023.
“I want to see our entrepreneurs thrive – that has been the magic of Native Women Lead. Being able to see someone succeed closes that belief gap in oneself and empowers one another to continue to push and take this journey of entrepreneurship with that curiosity, with that awe, with that wonder, and to be open to the challenges of business ownership,” Gloshay added.
The grant program is part of Comcast’s multi-year partnership with NWL and Comcast’s Project UP, Comcast’s $1 billion commitment to reach tens of millions of people in order to advance digital equity and help create a future of unlimited possibilities.
