REI Oklahoma and its Women’s Business Center receives a $10,000 grant to launch a scholarship and microgrant initiative to help elevate single mother and single women businesses owners in Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA CITY— REI Oklahoma, an economic development nonprofit, was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma. The purpose of this grant is to help propel the launch or growth of small businesses that are majority-owned by single mother or single women households through their Women’s Business Center. REI Oklahoma and its Women’s Business Center serve all 77 counties in Oklahoma.
Funds from this grant will launch a scholarship and microgrant initiative that focuses on single mother, or single woman, households. These grant and scholarships will be smaller, targeted amounts with no expectation of financial repayment allowing recipients to attend trainings to elevate their business or purchase a tangible item. What is important about microgrants is that a woman might simply need to purchase a piece of equipment, allowing her to generate revenue, but does not have the resources to purchase. Microgrants will allow REI Oklahoma to help secure these tangible items which they could use as assets when the time is right to secure a business loan.
Those interested in applying to participate in this initiative must attend one of three scheduled information sessions. These information sessions will be virtual to ensure ease of access regardless of where those who qualify live in Oklahoma. The dates and times are as follows: Jan. 12, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Jan. 14, 10 to 11 a.m.; and Jan. 16, noon to 1 p.m. Following the final information session, the application will open, and attendees may apply beginning Jan. 18. Applications will close on March 15, 2023, or when all grant funds are expended. Recipients will be selected through a formal application process, with priority given to single mother or single woman household business owners.
“REI Oklahoma sees this generous grant from the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma aligning perfectly with the work we are already doing to remove barriers for single mothers and single women business owners and entrepreneurs allowing them to have deeper success in launching or growing their business,” said Sherry Harlin, REI Oklahoma senior vice president of development. “We have seen how small business ownership provides a vehicle to changing the wellbeing and financial stability of women and a microgrant, or a specific training scholarship, could be the mechanism that is needed.”
REI Women’s Business Center, funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, is Oklahoma’s only statewide Women’s Business Center, providing quality training, business counseling, access to capital and technical assistance. Each year the WBC provides 150 trainings and networking events.