Fellowships

State of Women-Owned Businesses 

The U.S. has more than 13 million women-owned businesses today and that number has increased steadily year-over-year since 2008.  Did you know...

• U.S. women-owned businesses generate $2 trillion per year

• 40% of all U.S. businesses are women-owned

• Women start more than 1,800 net new businesses every day 

• 64% of new women-owned businesses are started by women of color; 42% by Black women

• Latina women-owned businesses have grown more than 87% since 2007 with more than 400 started every single day

Luminary Fellowship Program

Women-owned businesses need more than capital to survive and thrive. They need access to ongoing education, coaching/mentoring, community, networks, guidance and exposure in order for them to build and prosper. 

Luminary created the Fellowships Program to support women-owned businesses impacted by the pandemic. Now spanning more than 50 cities, 5 countries and awarded to more than 75% women-of-color owned businesses, we're creating an ecosystem of support and delivering impact supporting over 1,500 women-owned businesses with our Fellowships. 

Current Luminary Fellowship partners include:

                                  

                                 

Regardless of location, industry or size of company, each Luminary Fellowship delivers  access to: 

• Ongoing education 
• Community and connection
• Business resources and tools
• Marketing support
• Strategic planning and advice
• Coaching and mentorship
• Fuel to spend through The Luminary Collective

Our Fellowships invest in women-owned businesses for the long-term. A check helps in the moment; a Luminary Membership provides for a lifetime.

Challenges Women-Owned Businesses Face 

Market misperceptions
Women entrepreneurs’ competency and market knowledge is routinely disregarded, including market opportunities they identify.

Network exclusion
Women entrepreneurs often experience limited, gender-based access to established social and business networks, creating less access to knowledgeable mentors, ongoing education and capital expansion resources.

Managing expansion while underfunded
Barriers to start-up and growth capital create new, ongoing challenges, including constraints on funding for recruitment, access to new markets and overall scalability and expansion.

Revenue growth
Despite women owning 40% of all the businesses in the U.S., less than 2% of women-owned businesses generated more than $1 million in sales (and that percentage is even lower when you only look at women of color-owned businesses).