The $70 billion global tech powerhouse recently teamed up with the award-winning actress, producer, musical artist, record label president and entrepreneur, who will be the face and partner of this year's iteration of the Evolve Small initiative.

Grammy and Emmy award winner and Oscar nominee, Latifah will be the ambassador for this initiative developed to champion and advance small businesses through financial aid, technology resources, community support, and business mentorship across North America.

Latifah stated:

I understand the hardships small businesses face and how much more challenging those hardships can be for businesses owned by women and minorities. Knowing how the support I received back when I got started helped me get to where I am today – I’m excited to pay it forward and help others along the way through this partnership with Lenovo’s Evolve Small initiative.

Valuable tools

Among the benefits offered by the program with the artist, the following stand out:

• The opportunity to take advantage of personalized marketing materials to promote their businesses, with none other than Latifah herself.
• Selected participants will also be eligible for one-on-one mentoring sessions with Latifah, as well as Lenovo's expert team of Evolve Small Ambassadors.

“It is such an honor to have Queen Latifah as our Evolve Small ambassador this year. Given our mission to help small businesses evolve, finding a partner who exemplified smart business acumen and an affinity for philanthropy was paramount to making sure this initiative would truly make an impact. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and with Queen Latifah as our partner, we look forward to supporting small businesses across North America,” said Gerald Youngblood, Chief Marketing Officer at Lenovo North America. 

Introducing the Queen of Small! We're partnering with @IAMQUEENLATIFAH to provide small businesses across the US and Canada with access to incredible resources including cash, technology, and more in our 2022 #EvolveSmall initiative.

Go to https://t.co/V4vjnL0wQu to learn more! pic.twitter.com/DeX0nlIXlc

— Lenovo (@Lenovo) October 13, 2022

About Evolve Small

Launched last summer, the inaugural program awarded more than $1 million in grants and technology donations to minority-owned small businesses in the U.S. and Canada.

“Acknowledging the hardships small businesses continue to face amid the current economic landscape, Evolve Small builds upon last year’s success with a primary focus on minority and woman-owned businesses – all in an effort to spotlight local community gems and encourage consumers and tourists to visit and shop small,” highlights Lenovo.

Additionally, with a mission to help small businesses improve their day-to-day operations and scale up, Lenovo and its partner AMD are also joining Goodie Nation, a nonprofit community development and entrepreneurship organization, to expand the reach of the program and provide additional subsidies.

More chances

As part of Evolve Small, Lenovo and Microsoft are hosting a contest where companies with fewer than 100 employees can submit a video (30 seconds to two minutes in length) featuring their business for a chance to win a cash grant for $30,000, and $10,000 represented in Lenovo technology and upgrades, as well as a mentoring session with Queen Latifah.

Nominating three grand prize winners and four finalists, each of the four second-place winners will receive a $5,000 cash grant and a $5,000 Lenovo technology and solutions package.

Lenovo will begin accepting submissions on October 13, 2022 at Lenovo.com/EvolveSmall, and the application process ends on November 15, 2022.

Learn how Lenovo has been supporting small businesses and stay up to date on Evolve Small's efforts, resources and technology solutions by clicking here.