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Meet the recipients of the Caress • IFWOC COVID-19 Grant Program

BY OLIVIA OWENS, GM OF IFWOC, IFUNDWOMEN

AUGUST 19, 2020

IFundWomen of Color was created with our founding partner Caress to help diverse entrepreneurs bring their dreams into reality through raising capital via crowdfunding and providing grants, coaching, and the connections needed to launch and grow successful businesses.

Caress is saddened by the severe impact that COVID-19 is wreaking on communities and on small businesses and entrepreneurs. They recognize that in this critical time, small businesses are struggling immensely and the disadvantages that women of color entrepreneurs face are only growing.  As a founding partner of IFundWomen of Color, Caress is proud to be supporting 200 women of color owned small businesses with $500,000 in grants for COVID-19 relief.

Meet this week's Caress • IFundWomen of Color COVID-19 grant recipients:

Ahlilah Longmire
Founder of Ascot Manor

Ascot Manor is the 1st socially conscious tennis apparel brand specifically developed to help under-resourced competitive junior players with sponsorship. 

SaVonne Anderson
Founder of Aya Paper Co.

Aya Paper Co. makes sustainable greeting cards for you to celebrate the people and moments that matter most.

Amerrah Danielson

Beautiful Amore Skincare is a black-owned, woman-owned business on the verge of becoming a serious staple in the community, with products that serve the needs of the community and the world alike by providing access to vegan, plant-based items that truly work.

Tiffany McCray

Blush Artistry & Company is a licensed-aesthetician-run wellness company helping women recognize their inner beauty.

Maiko Kuroda

Trained in the art of Japanese ikebana and traditional British floral wiring, Bridal Flowers Hawaii brings floral art and expertise to your dream Hawaiian wedding. We are the first florist in Hawaii to fully integrate sustainability techniques in our designs, and give back to the community by teaching and employing single immigrant parents in the East Honolulu area.

Tara Aldrich

Educators On Call serves schools and educational programs with temporary and permanent staffing. Due to COVID-19, our focus is to pivot and provide remote instructional support to schools and families - gifting services to a small pool of needy families.

Chavonne Hodges
Founder of GrillzandGranola

GrillzandGranola is an NYC-based fitness company that creates accessible and culturally-attuned fitness classes for and by Black women, starting with our signature class TrapAerobics. We're using trap, rap and jumping jacks to revolutionize wellness and fitness.

Anita Shepherd
Founder of Anita's Yogurt

Anita's Yogurt is the original probiotic nondairy yogurt with over 300 billion live cultures per serving. It is made with only organic coconut milk, organic coconut water and live cultures.

Marla Miller

Marla Rene Beauty & Co. delivers uncompromising results naturally though wild crafted, eco-conscious, cruelty free ingredients. Our line is firmly rooted in mindful beauty rituals, that raise the bar in industry standards and consumer awareness. With laser focus on purity and efficacy, we provide beauty without compromise and without the use of petroleum, parabens, silicones, DEA, PEGS, TEA, sulphates and other harmful carcinogenic ingredients. 

Sherin Dawud

Power Pump Girls is a social impact club that empowers women to connect and to serve young girls and women in need of period care products and menstrual education due to lack of access.

Roma Patel
Founder of Tejari

Crafted using the highest standards & backed by an impressive board of food scientists & acclaimed registered dietitians, Tejari blends are organic, vegan, peanut-free & dairy-free, and are sourced from only the purest, clean ingredients (with no added sugar) containing real dehydrated fruits and vegetables, plant-based protein, antioxidants & gut-healthy fibers.

Britteny Floyd-Mayo
Founder of Trap Yoga Bae

Wellness has a diversity issue - Trap Yoga Bae changes that. Women of color had long been underrepresented in yoga and meditation until Trap Yoga Bae introduced a fresh (culturally relevant) spin.

Mayme Gretsch
Founder of Utterly Nashville

Utterly Nashville is a micro-bakery concept offering Nashvillians high-quality pastry.

Nekpen Osuan
Founder of WomenWerk

WomenWerk is a non-profit which builds inclusion programs that bridge polarized communities.

Victory Jones & Tori Elizabeth
Founder of The Colored Girl

The Colored Girl is a network of people and creative spaces that helps women of color attain holistic wellness. Since 2016, we have helped over 65,000 women achieve their personal and professional goals.

Tiffany Parkes
Founder of Pienanny

Pienanny creates flavorful Afro-Caribbean sweetie pies and pot pies with a feminist edge.

Shanita Nicholas
Founder of Sip & Sonder

With a coffee roaster, creative studio, and multi-purpose event space on site, Sip & Sonder is much more than your ordinary coffee shop--we are an entrepreneurial and creative hub where coffee, community, and culture connect. Our mindfully curated coffee and innovative programs and partnerships solidify Sip & Sonder as one of the premier coffee and lifestyle brands in Los Angeles and beyond.

Frances Santi
Founder of Eola Pets

Eola Pets is Downtown Orlando’s highest rated dog walker - providing pet sitting and bathing. Our motto is happy pets, happy humans, happy neighborhood.

Heather Davis

Experience luxury in a bite! Sink your teeth into our signature dessert, the luscious lemon bar layered with tantalizing texture of lemon and crusty shortbread or drift away on clouds of pillowy soft coconut cake layered with creamy frosting. Chic Sweets Fine Desserts carefully selects each ingredient creating the most decadent and luxurious pastries.

Abena Boamah-Acheampong
Founder of Hanahana Beauty

Hanahana Beauty is disrupting the beauty industry through focusing on creating ways of sustainable income, healthcare and education.