On June 15, Goldman Sachs announced 50 recipients of the Black Women Impact Grants program, as part of its One Million Black Women initiative to fund Black women-led and Black women-serving nonprofits.
The Black Women Impact Grants program will award 50 Black-led organizations throughout the United States with two years of general operational funding, ranging from $50,000 to $250,000. A total of $10 million will be invested through the financial institution’s multi-year program.
“We know one of the best ways to create a more inclusive economy is to invest in Black women,” David Solomon, Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO, said in a press release. “From our listening sessions, we’ve learned just how transformative Black women-led nonprofits have been for communities, and now we’re going to spotlight these organizations and give their leaders the resources they need to increase their impact.”
Applicants were chosen based on “their established efforts to deliver innovative and transformative solutions to narrow opportunity gaps faced by Black women,” according to the press release. Each organization directly focuses on advancing at least one of the One Million Black Women seven impact areas, which include: healthcare; education; affordable housing; financial health; digital connectivity; access to capital; and job creation and workforce development.
More than 800 organizations applied for the grant. Among the 50 recipients chosen are SistasCaring4Sistas, Mama Glow Foundation, Black Women Build, Polished Pebbles Girls’ Mentoring Program, Black Girls Smile Inc. and Butterfly Dreamz, Inc.
“We are excited that Black Girls Smile was chosen for this prestigious honor. Succeeding the 2020 racial reckoning, many organizations have deserted their efforts to prioritize racial, economic, medical, and social equity,” Lauren Carson, the founder of Black Girls Smile, said in a statement. “With this grant, Goldman Sachs is helping to push the needle towards equitable mental health accessibility for young Black women and girls.”
Black women continue to be under-resourced and underpaid. According to research from Goldman Sachs’ 2021 Black Womenomics report, Black women face a 90 percent wealth gap, with the median Black household owning about 85 percent less wealth than the median white household.
The One Million Black Women initiative aims to narrow the racial wealth gap by listening to and investing in Black women.
“We believe that Black women in America are the best investment that you can make today if you care about those issues,” Dina Powell McCormick, global head of sustainability and inclusive growth at Goldman Sachs, told ESSENCE last year. “So many years from now, we will be proud that we brought a coalition of partners, many of whom are Black women–led organizations, and built a program that put Black women at the center of every investment that we made. And that as a result, more than a million Black women will have been reached.”