BMO, in collaboration with Deloitte, recently announced the 2024 launch of its annual BMO Celebrating Women Grant Program that is dedicated to helping U.S. women-owned businesses make real financial progress. Together, the companies are offering 15 grants of $10,000 each that will be awarded to female business owners.
"Each year, the BMO Celebrating Women Grant Program helps inspire women-led businesses to thrive in their communities and make progress," said Erminia (Ernie) Johannson, group head, North American Personal and Business Banking. "By breaking down traditional barriers to funding for women entrepreneurs, the grant program aligns to BMO's Zero Barriers to Inclusion strategy. Increasing access to capital through lending, investing, and giving in our local communities creates a more vibrant economy, a sustainable future, and a more inclusive society."
Women are invited to apply between April 30 to May 14 by sharing their business growth plans that satisfy one of the following requirements: new products and services, expanding to new markets, or hiring plans. Each grant recipient will be awarded $10,000, will receive support from a BMO business advisor, and will have access to additional resources to support their business' financial progress. This includes BMO for Women workshops, seminars and events, and potential membership in select organizations and advisory boards.
Applicants must have a physical presence or a headquarters' mailing address in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Businesses located in Michigan or Texas must be within 100 miles of a BMO full-service retail branch in an adjacent state.
BMO has a longstanding commitment to breaking down barriers to advance women's empowerment. The group has shown its commitment by dedicating $325 million for special purpose credit programs for mortgage and small business lending, designed for women and borrowers of color.
"Deloitte is proud to continue our collaboration with BMO and further our support for women-led businesses," said Kathy Scherer, vice chair and Chicago managing partner at Deloitte LLP. "We hope these grants give women leaders from all backgrounds the support they need to help grow their businesses and give a boost to the communities where they operate. We look forward to seeing the progress the grant recipients achieve with this added support."
BMO's activities in advocacy for women's growth while fostering inclusivity include:
- Committing $200 million to expand BMO's small business programs that support women, Black, Latino and Native American-owned businesses.
- Creating the largest nonprofit fintech industry program for women with 1871, WMN fintech.
- Establishing customer programs, such as Women in Business, which focus on advancing gender parity for the bank's clients – supporting the growth of women-owned businesses and empowering women to feel confident about their finances and their financial futures.
- Recently celebrating the 10-year anniversary of BMO Alliance for Women, BMO's largest Employee Resource Group with over 10,000 members, championing the inclusion, connection, development, advancement and support of women within BMO's workforce and culture.
- Partnering with the National Women's Soccer League's (NWSL) Angel City Football Club. As part of ACFC's sponsorship model, the organizations reallocated 10% of the partnership into the community through a sponsorship of Girls Play Los Angeles, where BMO is supporting over 400 high school-aged girls and non-binary youth with no-cost access to soccer.
- Setting new diversity goals for senior leader and executive roles, including maintaining its leadership in gender diversity with 40% of senior leadership roles filled by employees who identify as women.
Since launching in 2020, the program has provided 56 women-led business owners across North America with over half-a-million dollars in grant funding with support from Deloitte.
Applications can be found here.
