The Women in Entrepreneurship Institute (WEI) has partnered with the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago to offer WEI’s business accelerator program to Chicago-area entrepreneurs who are women of color. The first cohort of YWCA-identified participants completed WEI’s two-month accelerator workshop last spring.

“Women entrepreneurs are less likely than men to have access to capital and resources, and it’s even more challenging for women of color,” says Abigail Ingram (LAS MA ’15, JD ’18), WEI director. “Our new accelerator program helps women of color at a time they might not typically have access to help, when they’ve been in business a few years and want to grow.”