IFW • Johnnie Walker First Strides Grant Program

Johnnie Walker and IFW are supporting trailblazing businesses who are pushing boundaries to move culture forward and create more opportunities for women to achieve their goals.

This application is now closed.

Calling all innovators

Since 2020, IFW and Johnnie Walker have partnered to celebrate and enable cultural innovators taking strides to create positive impact. By providing capital and coaching, selected women entrepreneurs can continue to achieve firsts for their businesses, and their communities. Cheers to all those pushing boundaries towards gender equality and creating space for seconds, thirds, and fourths to follow!

Johnnie Walker Grant Programs

Johnnie Walker First Strides

The Johnnie Walker First Strides initiative, which celebrated and enabled cultural innovators to take strides to create a positive impact, funded ten groundbreaking businesses in celebration of Women’s History Month, 2022. Businesses selected by an inspiring network of individuals will receive a $10K grant. Stay tuned for continued winner announcements!

Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker ‘First Women’ Campaign

As part of the First Women campaign, Jane Walker and IFW teamed up to help create more opportunities for women to achieve their goals. Jane Walker funded a total of 30 groundbreaking businesses in 2021. Businesses were selected across the Entertainment & Film, Music, Sports, STEM, Journalism, and Hospitality industries and received a $10K grant plus one year of premium coaching services through IFW.

Meet our recipients

Johnnie Walker First Strides builds on the impact of the Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker ‘First Women’ Program launched in 2020, which championed the many women who continue to break glass ceilings to achieve monumental firsts. First Strides continues to celebrate the achievements of women and all those pushing boundaries toward gender equality and blazing trails for more seconds, thirds, and fourths to follow.

Diosa Femme and Mala Munoz

Co-Founders of

locatora radio

Locatora Radio is an independent multimedia production company committed to archiving and celebrating the brilliance of womxn of color through podcasting, film-making, educational workshops, and live events. Diosa and Mala’s style blends humor, social analysis, and interviews to engage listeners in nuanced discussions about feminism, sexual wellness, pop culture, and entertainment for a dedicated and highly engaged Latinx audience.

Kimberly Huggins and Brittany Brathwaite

Co-Founders of

KIMBRITIVE

KIMBRITIVE is the unapologetic sexual wellness platform reimagining the health and wellbeing of Black women and girls. For over a decade, KIMBRITIVE has provided culturally affirming sex-education to youth, young adults and professionals, holding space for Black women to be both sexually informed and liberated.

Korena Hallam & Summer Hurd

Co-Founders of

Green Buffalow

Green Buffalow is the first female owned and operated company that has disrupted a male dominated industry by creating the best fitting, most comfortable wildland fire uniforms for women so firefighters can continue being badasses. Their products encompass sizing and shaping that is made for a woman to address the fact that women have always been expected to wear uniforms designed for men.

Nia-Tayler Clark

Founder of

Blacklit

BLACKLIT brings Black stories front and center, proudly serving as home to the first monthly subscription box to exclusively highlight both Black authors & entrepreneurs. Inside every box, subscribers receive a book a Black author, a shirt, and 3-5 products from Black-owned businesses. They are on a mission to offer convenience and inspiration to readers, and exposure to and for black small businesses.

Michelle Hanabusa

Founder of

WEAREUPRISERS

UPRISERS is a community-driven streetwear brand rooted in amplifying impactful and authentic stories of the underrepresented. Committed to inspire conversations around social + environmental justice, mental health and equality, and so much more, UPRISERS provides healing and builds power for the underrepresented.

Fully funded

Brooklyn, NY