This article by The Good Men Project highlights BII’s Fund II and its impact on women and POC entrepreneurs with insights from CEO, Betty Francisco.
Boston Impact Initiative chief executive officer Betty Francisco says financing entrepreneurs who are women and people of color is essential to building the national and international economy.
“As a Latina and Asian person by background, I often saw the barriers that our small, minority-owned businesses have in terms of raising capital, having access to resources or the networks needed to grow your business,” she says. “I had grown my own network and I wanted to use it for good.”
Over the past year, Boston Impact Initiative’s fund created 1,415 jobs — 80% of which went to people of color, according to their annual report. Of the 50 businesses the fund supports, 67% of the entrepreneurs identify as people of color and 38% are women.
The fund supports small businesses, which can mean single business owners or companies with as many as 300 employees, Francisco says.