• Mastercard is hosting She Runs This: Celebrating Entrepreneurship in Business and Hip-Hop, a three-day event in partnership with Femme It Forward to honor Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary.
• The event includes an immersive “Small Business City” in Meta Horizon Worlds, a TikTok challenge, the kickoff of a Fearless Fund grant contest, and a national ad campaign.
• The event is aimed to equip Black women entrepreneurs with the financial tools, resources, and education needed to successfully accomplish their dreams.
Today, Mastercard announced the launch of She Runs This: Celebrating Entrepreneurship in Business and Hip-Hop, an event created in partnership with Femme It Forward to honor the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. This three-day event will feature a panel discussion series with famous Hip-Hop artists such as Lil Kim, Salt-N-Pepa, and Coi Leray, to celebrate Black Women entrepreneurship.
Mastercard’s research found that 80% of U.S. women entrepreneurs, solo-preneurs, small business owners, and content Creators face financial challenges. With this in mind, Mastercard is determined to help equip Black women entrepreneurs with the financial tools, resources, and education needed to successfully accomplish their dreams. To do this, the event will include an immersive “Small Business City” in Meta Horizon Worlds, a TikTok challenge, the kickoff of a Fearless Fund grant contest, and a national ad campaign.
The “Small Business City” will feature virtual booths representing small businesses owned by Black women entrepreneurs and will allow participants to get to know the owners and their businesses better. The TikTok challenge will encourage users to post videos of themselves showcasing their entrepreneurial spirit and creative business ideas. The Fearless Fund grant contest will give Black women entrepreneurs the chance to win up to $50,000 to help grow their businesses. Finally, the national ad campaign will spread the message of the importance of supporting Black women entrepreneurs.
Rustom Dastoor, EVP of Marketing and Communications for Mastercard, said, “Like the musical talent who shaped Hip-Hop, Black women small business owners continue to embrace the power of perseverance, going above and beyond to achieve their dreams and empower their communities, despite facing deep-rooted inequalities.”
With this event, Mastercard hopes to bring awareness to the importance of supporting Black women entrepreneurs and the need to provide them with the resources needed to help them succeed and thrive.