The award honors the legacy of the first Black woman to
charter a U.S. bank
This year's recipients are economically empowering their
communities by providing resources and capital to help underserved
entrepreneurs thrive
SAN
JOSE, Calif., Nov. 1, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today
announced the recipients of the second annual Maggie Lena
Walker Award. Named in honor of the first Black woman to
charter a bank in the U.S. and serve as its president, the award
seeks to celebrate the achievements of women from underrepresented
groups in the U.S. who are economically empowering those in their
community and creating a more inclusive world.
This year's awardees are focused on support for underserved
entrepreneurs – whether that is through access to capital and
resources or exposure to new customers. Black small businesses,
which had been hardest hit during the pandemic, saw a significant
rebound in 2021, with growth rates higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The work of each of this year's recipients is helping to build an
ecosystem of support to sustain and empower these businesses over
the long term.
"Business ownership and wealth building are key to closing the
racial wealth gap," said Dan
Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. "This year's PayPal
Maggie Lena Walker Award awardees are providing guidance, capital,
and resources to underserved entrepreneurs, continuing Walker's
legacy of uplifting her community through economic opportunity. It
is a privilege to recognize and celebrate these incredible women
for their commitment and impact."
The award recipients were chosen by a Selection Committee whose
members included senior leaders within the PayPal community,
including Dan Schulman, PayPal
president and CEO, and Liza Mickens,
Walker's great-great-granddaughter and co-founder of Vote
Equality.
2022 PayPal Maggie Lena Walker Award Recipients
Awardees will receive a cash award of up
to $50,000 and access to resources and mentorship from
the PayPal community to further their impact and vision.
Awardees will also receive a unique piece of artwork commissioned
by PayPal for the award by Washington,
DC-based artist Jamilla
Okubo.
Achievement Award
Connie Evans, president and CEO,
Association for Enterprise Opportunity. Like Maggie Lena
Walker, Connie Evans has had many
firsts. In 1986, she was the founding president of the
award-winning Women's Self-Employment Project, the first and
largest urban microbusiness development organization in the U.S.,
and she was the first Black woman elected to serve on the Board of
the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Under her leadership, the Association
for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) has expanded to represent more
than 2,600 microbusiness development practitioners and advocates
working to create economic opportunity for underserved
entrepreneurs.
"Maggie Lena Walker saw the
economic independence of her peers as an ethical imperative," said
Connie Evans, president and CEO,
AEO. "Similarly, I believe that economic freedom through business
ownership is key to driving wealth and sustaining economic vibrancy
for underserved communities. I am incredibly honored to receive
this award, which recognizes the relevance of our work at AEO to
advance financial inclusion and will continuously strive to live up
to Maggie Lena Walker's legacy."
Emerging Leader Award
- Mandy Bowman, founder and
CEO, Official Black Wall Street. Through her work
with Official Black Wall Street, a digital platform and app to help
consumers find, review, and support Black-owned businesses,
Mandy Bowman has helped steer
$1.7 million into Black-owned
businesses. She has also partnered with Baker Botts to provide
$10 million in legal services to
these businesses to support their growth and is planning to expand
offerings through in-person pop-up shops.
- Alethia Mendez, division
president, Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs, Grameen
America. Alethia Mendez was one
of the first employees at Grameen America, a national microfinance
organization that works to ensure all women, regardless of race or
income, have access to fair and affordable financial services.
Since 2008, Grameen America has achieved significant milestones
under Mendez's leadership, including reaching scale with more than
160,000 entrepreneurial women and disbursing $2.6 billion in microloans across 24 U.S. cities.
In her current role leading the Elevate initiative, Mendez aims to
empower 80,000 Black women entrepreneurs with $1.3 billion in loan capital by 2030.
- Diamond Walton, founder,
Elpida Social Capital LLC. Diamond
Walton is leveraging her decade of experience in nonprofits
to help clients invest financial and social capital in historically
marginalized communities. In addition to Elpida Social Capital, she
launched the Black Student Debt Freedom Fund (BSDF) in 2020 to help
pay off the student loan debt of Black graduates and her next
initiative focuses on innovative ways to transfer wealth to close
the racial wealth gap.
You can learn more about each of the winners and their
work on the PayPal Newsroom.
This is the second year of the award, which was established in
2021 as part of PayPal's commitment to advance its mission of
creating a more inclusive economy. In 2020, PayPal
pledged $535 million to address economic inequality among
Black and underserved businesses and communities
in the U.S. Last year, PayPal committed $100
million to advance financial inclusion and economic
empowerment of women and girls.
2022 PayPal Maggie Lena Walker Award Finalists
The Selection Committee has also named 12
award finalists to recognize their extraordinary
work:
Achievement Award
- Jasmine Crowe-Houston,
founder and CEO, Goodr
- Christal Jackson, founder and president, Mosaic
Genius; founder, Head and Heart Philanthropy
- Tulaine Montgomery, co-CEO, New Profit
- Luz Urrutia, CEO, Accion Opportunity Fund
- Tanya Van Court, founder and CEO,
Goalsetter
Emerging Leader Award
- Omi (Omilâdè) Bell, founder and CEO, Black Girl
Ventures
- Gina Clayton-Johnson, executive director
and founder, Essie Justice Group
- Laura Emiko-Soltis, executive director,
Freedom University
- Daniela
Fernandez, founder and CEO, Sustainable Ocean
Alliance
- Jaycee Holmes,
co-founder and director of curriculum and instruction,
CodeHouse
- Arian Simone, co-founder
and CEO, Fearless Fund
- Ashlee
Wisdom, co-founder and CEO, Health in Her Hue
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment
revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make
financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and
secure, the PayPal platform is empowering 429 million active
consumer and merchant accounts in more than 200 markets to join and
thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit
paypal.com.
Media Contacts
Janine Kamwene
jkamwene@paypal.com
Meghan Gage
mgage@paypal.com
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SOURCE PayPal Holdings, Inc.