WSW Community Fund

We're collecting funds to distribute to, benefit and center women of color small business founders in Oregon. Money raised goes towards creating spaces (digital & physical) for boss women to connect, inspire and thrive.

CHALLENGE

Women-owned businesses employ over 10M workers in the US, and 70% of companies started in 2020 were founded by women of color. While VC funds reached all-time highs in 2021, companies started by women received just 2% of those funds — the smallest share since 2016. And the number gets even smaller for women of color. In addition, these companies may not have the collateral required for loans and can't receive donations that qualify as charitable contribution deductions because they aren't a nonprofit. We need financial models that address this population as a collective body and deliver funds directly to help these businesses reach maturity.

SOLUTION

At ALIST WSW, we're building a women supporting women (WSW) model powered by community contributions and intentional spending. But we're just getting started. Each year we're discovering new ways to better support one another.

✨ In 2020, we identified ourselves and collected on Instagram

✨ In 2021, we documented and shared WOC founder 'why' stories

✨ In 2022, 315+ bosses unified as a support system for all of us to WIN

PROOF OF CONCEPT

SAVE RESTAURANTS: Federal assistance fell short of what the independent restaurant industry needed, leaving behind nearly 200,000 businesses. To help our local women chefs stay afloat and to battle the isolation all business owners were feeling, we held monthly founder support group meetups at women-owned restaurants. 10 different locations. 10 unique experiences. 10 deliciously diverse meals. For 10 months in a row, we showed love to the PNW boss women community and sold over 600 tickets. This event series distributed $28,416.74 across 30+ women-owned businesses while keeping founders inspired & motivated in the middle of a pandemic. Money raised came from crowdfunding, sponsorships, spending at our events, and ticket sales. The amplifier effect from this simple idea inspires us to think of more ways to help the community in 2023. But everything begins with needing access to capital. We're inviting people to contribute from their positions of power.

THE 2023 ASK

In 2022, we crowdfunded $5750 through 70 gofundme donations and we're opening a new campaign to collect funds for 2023 initiatives. We'll also be welcoming sponsorship opportunities again. All money fundraised will go directly to women-owned businesses collaborating on a collective project to benefit the community. Although we are in strategic planning mode, updates will be made here to offer complete transparency on where the funds have been allocated. The more money we raise, the more we can do for this very important community. Will you help us?

Businesses that received 2022 funds included:

ALIST WSW - Filipina/AAPI owned

Crystal and Stone Events - Black owned

EZRA Virtual Assistance - Black owned

Fli Social - Black owned

JDS Projects- Vietnamese/AAPI owned

Meals for Heels - Black & Queer owned

Friendship Kitchen - Vietnamese/AAPI owned

Erica's Soul Food - Black & Queer owned

Kate's Ice Cream - Non POC owned

HeyDay Donuts - Vietnamese/AAPI owned

Mama Dut - Vietnamese/AAPI owned

Derby - Filipina/AAPI owned

Mestizo - Thai/AAPI owned

Chelo - Indigenous Mexican & Queer Trans Woman owned

Capitol Bar - Black owned

Shay Baca Entertainment - Mexican & Spanish/Latina owned

DJ K Marie - Micronesian (Chamorro) & Black & Queer owned

The Sports Bra- Vietnamese/AAPI & Queer owned

Ice Queen - Chicana & Native owned

Aimsir Distilling Co - Non POC owned

Allie G's Pastries- Filipina/AAPI owned

Wapato Island Farm - Mexican/Latina owned

Sky Above Trail Grub - Nicaragüense/Latina owned

La Akateka Mayan Food - Mayan Indigenous/Latina owned

Plus 10 more raffle winners of $100

Who will we get to impact next year?

Cover photo by Fli Social

ALIST, LLC is COBID Certified: Emerging Small Business (ESB), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women Business Enterprise (WBE).