Giving Compass' Take:

• Gina Harman and Andrea Jung explain the struggle for female entrepreneurs to secure as much capital as their male counterparts. Partnering with nonprofit and private sector stakeholders is a viable solution.

• How can philanthropists, stakeholders, and entrepreneurs work towards making this field more inclusive and equitable?

• Learn more about why we need to take stock of female entrepreneurs. 

Two influential CEOs in the U.S. non-profit lending sector write about the promise of women-owned businesses and their partnership with the Center for Inclusive Growth.

Between 2007 and 2016, women started businesses five times faster than the national average. From our experience working with female entrepreneurs across the U.S., we know that they have the grit and determination it takes to create and grow thriving businesses. And, the wealth generated by those businesses has the potential to benefit not only their owners but also their families and communities for generations to come.

Women also reinvest substantially more of their business profits back into their families and communities compared to men.

Despite their potential, too many female entrepreneurs struggle to access the capital and resources they need. In 2017, women-owned businesses received 14 percent of the Small Business Association’s smaller 7(a) loan dollars and 11 percent of the larger 504 loan dollars, which require traditional collateral to access. Of all of the venture capital deployed in the U.S., only 8 percent goes to women and 1 percent to African-American women.

Read more about women-led small businesses and partnerships by Gina Harman and Andrea Jung at Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.