Despite being the majority in numbers at 51% of the population, women are still considered the minority as a demographic. Yet women have shown themselves to be fierce competitors in business with 10.1 million companies owned by women. While women as a gender are often trapped under glass ceilings and looked over in certain areas, women of color are faced with an even larger hurdle.

Minority Women

Women of color have a strong presence in business, with 1.9 million companies owned. In many cases, however there is a greater need to help women of color working to help themselves by obtaining degrees, starting or enlarging home businesses and especially those reaching out into their communities to help others follow in their footsteps.

To this end, there are many grant programs available to women of color. These minority grants for women are available from many sources:

Federal minority grants for women are earmarked through various programs and initiatives. There are many educational grant programs using federal funds that can assist minority women in obtaining a bachelor’s and advanced degrees. Often these degrees are required to be in certain fields but there are programs available to assist minority women regardless of their degree of study. Some are even available for part-time students.

Other federal programs for minority women include housing grants and business grant opportunities. These programs encourage the development of safe housing in certain areas, restoring homes, repairing and modernizing homes and developing rural areas. Business grants help to start or expand a business owned by a minority woman.

Private and corporate grants

are available through individuals or companies seeking to improve their communities and offer opportunities to community and ethnic leaders. These grants are often earmarked according to profession, degree of study and socio-economic conditions such as income level and ethnicity.

Private and corporate grants are often more readily available than government grants and can come with far fewer strings attached. Government grants are more wide-spread, but will have more competition. Private opportunities require more research and care in applying. Grant programs can help to streamline this process considerably by doing much of the fieldwork on your behalf.

Professional Grants are available through the many non-profit and professional organizations that exist in communities. Many of these organizations are founded by minority women looking to enhance the lifestyles and opportunities of others in their neighborhoods and universities. These grants are offered through any number of organizations as well as universities.

A minority woman seeking grants at a particular college might be the recipient of funds available through that school, through organizations on campus and through organizations founded by alumni of the campus. The need for grant funds is great, but often the needs of those who have found their way to give back to their community are even greater. This creates a circle of advancement with minority women seeking to help others, often funded by grants of all kinds throughout.