Kweli is an artist, advocate, and small business owner in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. She integrates creative exercises into leadership training workshops to help social justice advocates build personal and professional skills. Before the pandemic, she conducted all her coaching sessions in person. Now, she’s found innovative ways to host creative workshops online to support leaders. As Kweli says, “I’ve had to adapt the narrative around my business. I’ve learned that you have to be super adaptable and flexible.”

COVID-19 has strained the global economy, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been among the hardest hit. In the United States, the pandemic — coupled with issues of racial injustice brought to the fore by the Black Lives Matter movement, and the U.S. presidential election — has led to historic levels of uncertainty.

The unpredictable nature of this crisis has only exacerbated issues that already plagued small business owners in the U.S., like Kweli. Even prior to the pandemic, small businesses struggled to get the financing they need, and now that issue has been exponentially magnified. Entrepreneurs of color, especially, have long faced challenges with systemic racism and other forms of inequality in the U.S., hampering their ability to start, grow, and sustain their businesses. According to a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/businesses-owned-by-women-and-minorities-have-grown-will-covid-19-undo-that/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brookings Institution study</a>, in 2018, large banks approved 60 percent of loans sought by white small business owners, but only 50 percent by Latinx owners, and 29 percent by Black owners.

Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), Accion’s primary presence in the U.S., is a nonprofit working to create an inclusive, healthy financial system that supports American small business owners. Through innovative partnerships and outreach strategies, AOF targets underserved communities — including entrepreneurs of color, low-income entrepreneurs, and women — who often lack access to the financial services they need to build their businesses.  AOF realized that the challenges small business owners are facing due to the pandemic called for new innovative products focused on bolstering the resiliency of these businesses. To support these business owners as they stabilize, transform, and grow their business offerings, <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/advise/accion-global-advisory-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions</a> is working with AOF to solve the specific pain points and challenges of these entrepreneurs.

Using a human-centered design methodology, Accion and the AOF team recently completed a series of interviews with people of color who own businesses in Los Angeles and Houston. Our objective was to better understand how they came to be business owners, the challenges they face, what they want from their financial service institutions, and what tools and resources they need most to continue running their business.

The key insights from these conversations included:
<h2>Implicit and explicit biases have created an uneven playing field for entrepreneurs of color</h2>
One of our interviewees, a Black woman who owns two salons and a small restaurant in southern California, summed it up well: “We are always starting with two feet behind.” Bias is not experienced in the same way by different people — being a woman, a person of color, or an immigrant creates different challenges that require additional effort and resilience to overcome. Multiple interviewees told us that they found relationships with their financial institutions one-sided and disempowering. Immigrants with limited credit history face barriers to access financial services, and often have a hard time finding information in their language.

As financial service providers across the U.S. think about how to design better financial products to address such challenges faced by women and people of color, they must acknowledge the pervasive systemic discrimination affecting these populations and work to remove bias from their processes.
<h2>COVID-19 has exposed gaps in how small business owners handle crisis</h2>
While all small business owners are dealing with a tremendous amount of uncertainty, individual entrepreneurs are reacting to the crisis in various ways. While some of the more proactive have taken immediate actions, like pivoting their business or moving online, others need more support to better understand their options and determine the best course of action for their business. One entrepreneur told us, “Everything happened so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to get ready.”

Despite the challenges put upon small business owners, their entrepreneurial spirit continued to ring strong. We never heard an entrepreneur tell us they want to close their business and consider a salaried job. Most entrepreneurs feel confident in their ability to ‘figure things out,’ but also shared that they actively seek out advice from peers and experts. In fact, we learned that inner circle relationships are highly influential in their decision making.

To support entrepreneurs on both sides of this spectrum, financial service providers should avoid adding complexity to small business owners’ lives and design products that are simple to understand and convenient to access. They should design for the entrepreneurial spirit and leverage small business networks and experts for information sharing to support small business owners throughout their entire journey — not just when they need financing.
<h2>The small business owner <em>is</em> the business</h2>
All of the entrepreneurs we spoke to define themselves as small business owners. These entrepreneurs infuse their personalities, values, and worldview into their business. One person told us, “I don’t have anything against people that work in corporate America, but I love to be a business owner.” Their businesses have evolved and grown only as they personally have learned and acquired more experience. Their individual values determine how they run their businesses and interact with their employees.

Financial service providers should ground the design of their offerings in the strong identity of small business owners and encourage a sense of empowerment for these individuals. They can do this by building greater trust with customers and eliminating bias from any decision-making processes to build strong and lasting relationships.

Accion and Accion Opportunity Fund are incorporating these insights into the design of innovative solutions that will enable AOF to help small businesses in the United States build their resiliency to this crisis and any future shocks. The need to acknowledge and actively work against the systemic biases that disproportionately impact small business owners who are women, immigrants, and people of color is clear. We know that small business owners want to stabilize and grow their businesses so that they can accomplish their long-term goals. Financial service providers in the U.S. have a huge opportunity to partner with these entrepreneurs along their small business journey through the design of more relevant and meaningful financial products and services.

To learn more about Accion Global Advisory Solutions’ work in the U.S., or if you would like to work with us to better serve your small business clients, <a href="mailto:GLASSupport@accion.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">please contact us</a>.

U.S. small business owners need innovative support in times of crisis

<em>Washington, DC, November 19, 2020</em> – Global nonprofit Accion announced today that it will award the sixth annual Edward W. Claugus Award to Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO of CreditMantri, and to Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund. The award, which is given to exceptional leaders advancing financial inclusion, will be presented at a <a href="https://www.accion.org/honoring-two-women-leading-through-crisis-with-the-2020-claugus-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">virtual event</a> on December 2, 2020.

“This year, we are thrilled to present the Edward W. Claugus Award to two women who have shown extraordinary leadership in financial inclusion throughout their careers, and who are playing a particularly important role supporting the financial resilience of underserved individuals and small businesses during today’s pandemic,” said Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion. “Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee’s exceptional leadership as CEO and co-founder of CreditMantri has enabled more than 10 million underserved Indians to access the credit they need to support their families and businesses. In the U.S., Luz Urrutia is a champion for underserved entrepreneurs, leading efforts at Accion Opportunity Fund to spearhead a national microlending strategy and ensure that small business owners have access to the capital, coaching, and networks they need.”

Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee is co-founder and CEO of CreditMantri, a fintech that enables and educates Indian consumers to understand the status of their credit wellness and make informed decisions which help them work their way towards loan eligibility. To date, CreditMantri has served more than 10 million individuals and small businesses in India.

Gowri has nearly two decades of experience in financial services, having previously worked as Global Head of Digital Marketing at Standard Chartered Bank and Director &amp; Head of Digital Business at Citibank, with prior experience at HSBC and SIFY, one of India’s first ISPs. Gowri was Chairperson of the Reserve Bank of India’s committee for guidelines on securing card transactions. She holds degrees from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani and the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.

“At CreditMantri, our focus is to solve for the needs of the credit invisible consumer and small business in India. The last seven months have been particularly challenging for these consumers, with their livelihoods and living getting impacted,” said Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO of CreditMantri. “At CreditMantri, our response to this has been to direct our energies towards educating our users about their repayment options, choices they have and guide them to make an informed repayment decision, keeping in mind their unique circumstances. Like most people, we have tried to do our best to make a difference in these circumstances. A big thank you to Accion for taking note of the work we do and for continuing to encourage all of us at CreditMantri. Thank you.”

Luz Urrutia is CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund, the nation's leading nonprofit small business lender and advisor that helps small businesses thrive. Accion Opportunity Fund aims to help fill the estimated $87 billion annual market gap in loans of less than $100,000 for small business owners. The organization connects underserved entrepreneurs, especially people of color, women, and immigrants, to affordable capital, educational resources, coaching, and networks. Over its history, 90% of Accion Opportunity Fund’s loans have gone to entrepreneurs who are Black, Latinx, women, or immigrants.

Luz’s career has focused on expanding financial services for underserved populations, from unbanked immigrants to small business owners. She has successfully led numerous organizations through change, including founding a start-up bank for Hispanic immigrants, leading the geographic expansion of an early-stage consumer lender, and endeavoring to transition an established global financial provider away from payday lending. Prior to her role at Accion Opportunity Fund, Luz was CEO in the US for Dollar Financial Group, Vice President of Retail Sales &amp; Service at Oportun, Co-Founder and President and COO at El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, and Managing Director at Wachovia Bank. Luz has served on the Board of the Financial Health Network, the Consumer Advisory Council of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and currently serves on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Luz is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She received a B.S., magna cum laude, in Business Administration and Finance and an M.B.A., both from Georgia State University.

“I am honored to receive the Claugus Award, especially at a time when advancing financial inclusion is imperative to an equitable rebuilding for the nation’s women, minority, and immigrant-owned small businesses struggling to regenerate from the COVID-10 pandemic,” said Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund. “Our financial system is unequal. COVID has laid that bare and illuminated how far we have to go to ensure women, immigrant, and entrepreneurs of color have easy, equitable access to affordable and responsible capital to grow their businesses.”

The Claugus Award is named in honor of Accion benefactor Edward Claugus, a skilled investor who was passionate about social change. Accion presents an annual award in his name to honorees who have shown exceptional work and innovation in financial inclusion. This year, the award will be presented virtually at an event on December 2, 2020. Interested parties can learn more and register <a href="https://www.accion.org/honoring-two-women-leading-through-crisis-with-the-2020-claugus-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
<p style="text-align: center"><strong>###</strong></p>

<h3><strong>About Accion</strong></h3>
Accion is a global nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. We catalyze financial service providers to deliver high-quality, affordable solutions at scale for the three billion people who are left out of — or poorly served by — the financial sector. For nearly 60 years, Accion has helped tens of millions of people through our work with more than 160 partners in 55 countries. More at <a href="http://www.accion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>http://www.accion.org</strong></a>.

Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee and Luz Urrutia to receive Accion’s Edward W. Claugus Award for leadership and innovation in financial inclusion

The economic crisis has made life even more challenging for underserved consumers and small business owners worldwide. Still, extraordinary leaders ensure that financial service providers rise to meet those challenges, helping vulnerable people access the credit and resources they need to weather crises and build financial resilience. In this virtual event, we honored two pioneering leaders with the 2020 Edward W. Claugus Award:

[embed]https://vimeo.com/486858073[/embed]
<h3>Luz Urrutia</h3>
Luz Urrutia is CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund, the nation's leading nonprofit small business lender and advisor that helps small businesses thrive. Accion Opportunity Fund aims to help fill the estimated $87 billion annual market gap in loans of less than $100,000 for small business owners. The organization connects underserved entrepreneurs, especially people of color, women, and immigrants, to affordable capital, educational resources, coaching, and networks. Over its history, 90% of Accion Opportunity Fund’s loans have gone to entrepreneurs who are Black, Latinx, women, or immigrants.

Luz’s career has focused on expanding financial services for underserved populations, from unbanked immigrants to small business owners. She has successfully led numerous organizations through change, including founding a start-up bank for Hispanic immigrants, leading the geographic expansion of an early-stage consumer lender, and endeavoring to transition an established global financial provider away from payday lending. Prior to her role at Accion Opportunity Fund, Luz was CEO in the US for Dollar Financial Group, Vice President of Retail Sales &amp; Service at Oportun, Co-Founder and President and COO at El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, and Managing Director at Wachovia Bank. Luz has served on the Board of the Financial Health Network, the Consumer Advisory Council of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and currently serves on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Luz is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She received a B.S., magna cum laude, in Business Administration and Finance and an M.B.A., both from Georgia State University.
<h3>Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee</h3>
Gowri Thyagarajan Mukherjee is co-founder and CEO of CreditMantri, a fintech that enables and educates Indian consumers to understand the status of their credit wellness and make informed decisions which help them work their way towards loan eligibility. To date, CreditMantri has served more than 10 million individuals and small businesses in India.

Gowri has nearly two decades of experience in financial services, having previously worked as Global Head of Digital Marketing at Standard Chartered Bank and Director &amp; Head of Digital Business at Citibank, with prior experience at HSBC and SIFY, one of India’s first ISPs. Gowri was Chairperson of the Reserve Bank of India’s committee for guidelines on securing card transactions. She holds degrees from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani and the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.
<h4>Alongside:</h4>
<ul>
 	<li>Presenter Diana Taylor, Chair of the Accion Board of Directors</li>
 	<li>Presenter Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion</li>
 	<li>Emcee Jim Rosenberg, Chief Communications Officer, Accion</li>
</ul>
The Claugus Award is named in honor of Accion benefactor Edward Claugus, a skilled investor who was passionate about social change. In recognition of his generosity and commitment to Accion’s mission, we host this annual event in his name to encourage discourse on building a more financially inclusive world, and to recognize honorees for exceptional work and innovation in financial inclusion.

Honoring two women leading through crisis with the 2020 Claugus Award

<h4 class="cms-Styles-h2">Accion Opportunity Fund</h4>
MacKenzie Scott gave <a href="https://www.opportunityfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Press-Release-AOF-MacKenzie-Scott_8.6.20.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$15 million</a> to provide microloans and other types of support to small businesses owned by people of color, women, and immigrants. Scott is a novelist who helped her former husband, Jeff Bezos, start the online retailing behemoth Amazon.

Formerly fairly quiet about her giving, Scott announced late last month that she had recently donated <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/MacKenzie-Scott-Showers-17/249233" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$1.7 billion</a> primarily to nonprofits devoted to racial and gender equity. Scott is currently among the top five wealthiest women in the world, with a net worth pegged at $61 billion, according to <em>Forbes.</em>

<a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Twitter-Co-founderWife/249264" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In this article</a> titled "Twitter Co-founder and Wife Give $10 Million for Distance Learning in San Francisco Public Schools (Gifts Roundup)," The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on notable gifts.

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy

<em>San Jose, Calif., August 4, 2020 —</em><strong> </strong>Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), the nation’s leading nonprofit organization supporting diverse, resilient entrepreneurs with funding, advocacy and business advice, announced today it has received a $15 million transformative grant from MacKenzie Scott. This is the largest individual donation Accion Opportunity Fund has received in its 26-year history.

The grant accelerates AOF’s efforts to reach thousands of underserved entrepreneurs with $1.2 billion in capital across the United States in the next five years. It also kicks off a $100 million capacity-building campaign, scheduled to launch fall 2020, to increase resource availability, including access to affordable credit, connections, and quality business advice for entrepreneurs who may otherwise be left behind.

“Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror,” Ms. Scott said in a statement regarding her philanthropy. “Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems; or waking us up to the fact that a civilization this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable. What fills me with hope is the thought of what will come if each of us reflects on what we can offer.”

Accion Opportunity Fund creates a more equitable financial system by finding, funding, and supporting small businesses run by people of color, women and immigrants. Nearly 90% of businesses in its portfolio are run by entrepreneurs of color, women, and immigrants.

AOF CEO Luz Urrutia praised the gift from the philanthropist and author. “We are deeply humbled and grateful for Ms. Scott’s extraordinary generosity and confidence in Accion Opportunity Fund and other organizations that are working tirelessly to widen economic opportunities for many who have been undervalued and excluded for far too long.”

Mackenzie Scott donated 1.7 billion to organizations tackling a variety of social issues. Causes supporting women, racial equality and economic mobility — all causes supported by AOF and impacted by the organization’s mission – remain a focus of Ms. Scott’s philanthropy.

Phil Black, True Ventures Co-founder, Accion Opportunity Fund Board member, and chair of AOF’s upcoming Campaign Steering Committee, said, “Ms. Scott’s leadership and generosity — especially during this moment of a global pandemic and the fight for racial equality — will inspire other philanthropists and advocates as AOF advances its mission and bolsters its impact in a time when resources are more important than ever.”

“Her focus on building a more just, equitable society reflects our highest ambitions, which makes this grant, in this moment, so special,” said Black.

<strong>In March 2020, Accion, US Network and Opportunity Fund came together to build the first national, inclusive financial institution dedicated to driving racial equity and financial health for small businesses and their owners.  </strong>

Accion Opportunity Fund is a U.S.-based nonprofit working to create an inclusive, healthy financial system that supports the nation’s small business owners for nearly 30 years. For thirty years, the organization has supported underserved entrepreneurs — including entrepreneurs of color, low-income entrepreneurs, and women – who often lack access to the financial services they need to build and grow their businesses.

<strong>Media Contact:</strong>

Conan Knoll
conan@emcstrategies.com
(831) 524-6764

<strong>Philanthropy Contact:</strong>

Christopher Berini
<a href="mailto:christopher@opportunityfund.org">christopher@opportunityfund.org</a>

MacKenzie Scott makes largest gift in Accion Opportunity Fund’s history, accelerating support for businesses owned by people of color, women and immigrants through $15 million grant

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