The traditional finance sector isn’t doing enough to help underserved entrepreneurs, who need access to capital as well as non-financial support.

If you’re a woman and you’re Black, good luck getting access to funding. A 2016 Federal Reserve System survey found that Black women are more likely than non-minority entrepreneurs not only to face challenges finding financing, but also to fail to get some or all of the money they wanted.

With that in mind, several groups just joined forces to help Black women entrepreneurs in Mississippi get access to capital and small-business guidance. Impact investor RSF Social Finance recently issued a $100,000 loan guaranty to community development financial institution Communities Unlimited (CU), to help the Fayetteville, Ark., CDFI make more loans to entrepreneurs in Mississippi through a partnership with Higher Purpose Co. (HPC), a Clarksdale, Miss., nonprofit. HPC, which focuses on business ownership, will refer women in its funding network to CU, help with loan applications and provide entrepreneurs with at least one year of business support.

The traditional finance sector isn’t doing enough to help underserved entrepreneurs, who need access to capital as well as non-financial support.

Anne Field reports for Forbes on how a loan guaranty RSF’s Women’s Capital Collaborative is opening opportunities for Black women entrepreneurs in Mississippi.

Read the full article about Black women entrepreneurs by Anya Khalamayzer at Medium.