Black Women Entrepreneurs Discuss DEI Threats to Their Future

As threats to funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts grow, Black women entrepreneurs are voicing their concerns and offering strategies to address this growing problem.

A bunch of 70 Black entrepreneurs, mostly women, sat down for a conversation in regards to the way forward for their businesses. As DEI initiatives proceed to come under attack, critical funding is now on hold. This ongoing dilemma limits the number of companies that may stay afloat and get off the bottom.

The discussion, led by tech company CEO Barbara Jones-Brown, highlighted a particular lawsuit that has halted the payment of Fearless Funds grants to black women entrepreneurs.

“There are grant programs that give people $100,000, $200,000, $500,000. They were giving ($20,000) and they’re being attacked,” Jones-Brown said. Reported by “It’s all calculated. All of these things are strategic… They know exactly what they’re doing to dismantle all of this.”

The lawsuit, filed by a conservative group led by Edward Blum, alleged that a contest for a $20,000 grant to support black women entrepreneurs was “discriminatory.” Fearless Fund’s mission to spend money on women-owned businesses has been stymied within the face of a legal battle.

Jones-Brown’s success has also come from DEI funding. She launched her own business, Freeing Returns, with the assistance of Black-led funds. The funding effort gained traction after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests and a culture shift geared toward uplifting Black communities.

“There have been a lot of black-led funds this year,” Jones-Brown explained. “So I’ve been pitching to black women, black men, and they’ve heard me; they’ve seen me.”

But that shift is now heading in the wrong way, with a conservative movement to dismantle DEI programs. That movement ignores the proven fact that barriers to financing still exist for minority-owned businesses. According to a 2021 study by the Minority Business Development Agency, Black entrepreneurs were 13% more likely to use their personal funds to help ease business pain than their white counterparts.

“These organizations, funds, and programs are created to address the disparity between brown and black communities and women,” explained Donna Ennis, director of community engagement on the Georgia MBDA Business Center. “Because when you do the research, even in businesses run by women of color, they are also significantly underfunded.”

All shouldn’t be lost, as some lenders understand that specifically helping diverse entrepreneurs keeps them alive. However, crucial consider keeping a business afloat is the sales that may keep it afloat.

“We really need to focus on raising a large portion of our money from sales, not just from investments, grants and nondilutive financing,” Jones-Brown said. “It’s great that you’re starting out, but we need a business. We’re in business to make money.”

Expect this anti-DEI movement to proceed. Despite this issue, Black women entrepreneurs proceed to rally across the importance of diverse funding.