PFund Foundation, in partnership with Quorum, is proud to announce the 2023-24 round of Equity Fund grants.
Donor Name: PFund Foundation
State: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/15/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $30,000
Details:
This program invests in queer entrepreneurs and small businesses from across the Upper Midwest, with a particular focus on queer entrepreneurs of color and queer-owned businesses in rural areas. PFund and Quorum are offering a record $435,000 in grant fundings across three distinct cohorts this year. Each grant recipient receives:
- Grants ranging from $5,000 up to $30,000 to be used to support building small business capacity and developing queer entrepreneurship across the region.
- Access to five training sessions customized to the needs of small business owners. Grantees from the Twin Cities metropolitan area will be expected to attend in-person trainings organized by PFund. Trainings for grantees from greater Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin will be expected to attend virtual learning sessions organized by Quorum.
- A one-year membership to Quorum, Minnesota’s LGBT chamber of commerce. Grantees from outside Minnesota will be given modest stipends to purchase an annual membership from a local queer chamber of commerce (for example, the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce).
Eligibility Criteria
2023-24 Equity Fund grants will be awarded across three major categories:
- The Equity Fund for Twin Cities Queer Entrepreneurs of Color. 18 – 25 grants to queer small business owners of color based in the Twin Cities.
- The Equity Fund for Minnesotan Queer Entrepreneurs. 15 – 20 grants to Minnesotan queer small business owners. They especially encourage LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who live in rural Minnesota (outside the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area) or identify a gender-expansive (transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer) to apply.
- The Equity Fund for Midwestern Queer Entrepreneurs of Color. 12 – 15 grants to queer small business owners of color from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the First Nations therein
For more information, visit PFund Foundation.