• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
    • SOKO MRKT
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
    • Essence Holiday Gift Guide 2023
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home • News

Fearless Fund Ordered To Temporarily Halt Grant Program For Black Women

The lawsuit represents a broader issue taking place, where seemingly politically motivated plaintiffs are challenging organizations that counter racial bias and advance equity.
Fearless Fund Ordered To Temporarily Halt  Grant Program For Black Women
UNITED STATES -August 10: Mylan Denerstein, Partner Gibson Dun, Ben Crump, Arian Simone, Fearless Fund partner, Ayana Parsons, Fearless Fund partner, and Alphonso David, gather for a photo after a press conference about American Alliance for Equal Rights’ lawsuit against Fearless Fund Thursday, August 10, 2023 in Manhattan, New York. (Photo by Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
By Melissa Noel · Updated October 2, 2023

Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm, has been ordered to temporarily pause grant applications supporting Black female founders during an ongoing lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

On Saturday, September 30, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta blocked the fund from continuing with its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 investments to Black women entrepreneurs. The application was set to close on Saturday but must now remain open remain open until further order of the Court. 

“We respectfully disagree with this Court’s decision. We appreciate the important points that have been raised by the dissenting judge in the case, and we look further to an appellate review of this matter,” Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum and a lead attorney representing the organization, tells ESSENCE. 

The lawsuit against the Fearless Fund represents a broader issue taking place, where seemingly politically motivated plaintiffs are challenging organizations that counter racial bias and advance equity, in this case, starting with underrepresented groups like Black women in the venture capital space.  

Conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights, started by Edward Blum, who helped overturn affirmative action, sued the organization in August, alleging their fund is racially discriminatory because it specifically caters to Black women. However, the fund aims to close the pervasive racial gap in venture capital funding. Businesses owned by Black women received less than 1% of the $288 billion that venture capital firms deployed in 2022.

Similar conservative groups have also targeted major corporations, including McDonald’s, Target, and Amazon, in moves widely seen as an attack on affirmative action programs in business. 

“Everyone is trying to level the playing field, and they’re being challenged for doing so, and our clients are no different,” says David. “They are trying to address systemic bias and discrimination in the venture capital space, where Black women only receive 0.036% of the capital funding that’s issued, and we’re talking about billions of dollars allocated each year… They’re attempting to address that disparity.” 

Fearless Fund co-founders Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons won earlier on September 26 when U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash rejected Blum’s attempt at an injunction that would prevent the firm from exclusively awarding funds to Black women.

Judge Thrash concluded that under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s free speech protections, Fearless Fund had a right to express its belief in the importance of Black women to the economy through charity.

However, his ruling was overturned by a three-judge panel during an emergency motion filed. Two of the three circuit judges, Robert Luck and Andrew Brasher, who were appointed by former President Donald Trump, sided with Blum, according to Reuters. They argued that the fund was “substantially likely” to violate a federal anti-discrimination statute.

The dissenting judge, Charles R. Wilson, said, “It is a perversion of Congressional intent to use [the law] against a remedial program whose purpose is to ‘bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders’ — a gap that is the result of centuries of intentional racial discrimination.”

The Fearless Fund stands firm on its objective to remove the obstacles that keep companies run by women of color from getting venture capital funding. 

With the help of industry titans like J.P. Morgan Chase and Mastercard, it has invested over $26.5 million in businesses owned by women of color. They have also given over $3 million in awards to Black women-owned businesses.

“If communities are not allowed to help themselves, sort of pull themselves up when we confront disparities, what are the solutions? What are the options?” David asks rhetorically. “We remain committed to defending the meaningful work of the Fearless Fund and The Fearless Foundation.” 

TOPICS:  Black Women The Fearless Fund venture capital
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now