Backed by Google and Teads, it was recently announced the merger between She Runs It, a 501c3 organization that supports women of all backgrounds, experiences and ethnicities to excel at all levels of marketing, media and technology, and digitalundivided, a leading nonprofit organization that leverages our data, programs, and advocacy to catalyze economic growth for Black and Latina entrepreneurs and innovators.

“She Runs It x digitalundivided: START Program” is the name of this initiative that will function as an accelerator for early-stage startups, inspired by digitalundivided’s decade-long history of providing training, mentoring, and grants to female founders at the start of their business trip.

“Our Foundation Board selected digitalundivided as a launch partner for this accelerator based on their history of propelling Latina and Black women entrepreneurs into new successful business endeavors. We are focusing on women of color because our industry is profoundly under-indexing on these workforce populations,” said Lynn Branigan, President and CEO of She Runs It.

Branigan also stated:

This program is designed to bring the powerful ideas and emerging business concepts of women of color to fruition for our industry.

Valuable Society

Seeking to bring the START program to the media and marketing industries, hit hard by the pandemic, where many women have been forced to retire or drop out of the workforce altogether, the new partnership between these two organizations will work to provide timely resources to women of color who are looking to get their businesses off the ground.

“We couldn’t have a better partner than digitalundivided. Its impact has been seen across the startup ecosystem, influencing how venture capital firms are founded and operated, how entrepreneurs find resources and mentors, and how the ecosystem moves towards racial equity,” added Branigan.

Selection Process

The selected cohort, which will be made up of a group of 10 to 15 people, will be chosen by a jury of industry leaders in marketing, media, and technology.

Participants will be matched and mentored one-on-one by the She Runs It Foundation Board and other industry mentors through a 10-week curriculum designed specifically to provide innovative founders with the support and access to tools and business strategies needed to bring their ideas to life.

Applications are available online and must be completed by August 7, 2022.

“Our START program is digitalundivided’s first entrepreneurship program supporting hundreds of early-stage women of color founders over the years as they take their business ideas to the next level. Our She Runs It x digitalundivided: START Program signals the first time we have partnered on this initiative with a focus on recruiting women entrepreneurs in marketing, media, and tech. This partnership will help jumpstart their emerging businesses at a pivotal time, as the pandemic continues to bring swift industry disruption and workforce change,” said Lauren Maillian, CEO of digitalundivided.

For more information on the program and ways to join, click here.