Nonprofit for Female Founders Receives $125K Grant
The Boundless Futures Foundation awarded a $125,000 Her Village grant to Ladies Who Launch, an international nonprofit. The organization provides tactical support, funding, and capacity-building programs for under-resourced female founders. The grant will support the nonprofit's mission to empower women entrepreneurs.
- The Boundless Futures Foundation was founded in September 2023 by Soon and McKeel Hagerty and has since awarded more than $1 million to female founders and aligned nonprofits. - The foundation's "Her Village" grant is awarded annually to a nonprofit partner; previous recipients include Kiva, a global nonprofit that received $100,000 to support a social enterprise impact study and provide crowdfunded loans to female entrepreneurs. - Beyond funding, the foundation provides individual grantees with access to an "Advisory Circle," a network of professionals offering mentorship and guidance in areas like finance, marketing, and leadership. - Ladies Who Launch, which began as a grassroots movement in 2013 before becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2019, also provides its own grants. Its signature "Launch Program" awards participants $10,000 and six months of business education. - The grant comes as women-led businesses continue to face significant funding challenges, receiving only 2% of venture capital dollars in the United States. - In 2023, Ladies Who Launch reported a 650% increase in applications for its annual grant program and grew the number of small businesses it served by over 450%. - Boundless Futures Foundation also runs the "EmpowHer" grant program, which has provided $610,000 to 42 early-stage, female-founded companies that address social issues.
