digitalundivided

digitalundivided’s (DID) mission is for Black and Latinx women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship and technology.

The Problem

Wealth—what a person owns minus what they owe—leads to economic security, especially the ability to weather abrupt changes in the economy. However, Black and Latinx women have a median wealth of $100, compared to the $45,400 median wealth of white women. Though more and more women of color are entering the workforce, the labor market has done little to correct this disparity.

DID believes that the personal agency created through entrepreneurship and innovation allows women of color to create and manage their own employment opportunities. We use technology as the tool because it has disrupted the amount of resources needed to start a business. Many of the tools needed to start a tech business are available for free (ex: internet access) or at low cost.

The Solution

DID solves this problem by:

  • Developing a vibrant, data-driven ecosystem that tracks, assesses, and expands the current body of data and insights about BLW founders (RESEARCH).

    How We Accomplish This: ProjectDiane, DID’s proprietary data initiative, fills the vast research gap on Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs in the innovation economy through public white papers and reports.

  • Creating Confident Founders who can demonstrate their ability to grow a company, to attract customers and investors, and to articulate where they are going and what they need to get there (PROGRAMS).

    How We Accomplish This: Our BIG programming: TOWER- an online learning community that provides a pathway for WOC into the innovation ecosystem; START- a weekend-long Lean Startup-based bootcamp; Incubator- a 9-month startup incubator program for high-potential Black and Latinx women founders; and Entrepreneur in Residence- a year-long fellowship for successful recent graduates of BIG Incubator.

  • Empowering BLW in technology for career, personal, and life success (COMMUNITY).

    How We Accomplish This: Our community activities focus on building a pipeline and supporting other organizations, such as events@BIG, which includes our Innovation Thursday, Lunch & Learn, and Book Club series. DID’s Community programs also provides support for recent graduates of BIG, such as showcasing their startups at The BIG Demo Day and participating in our house at SXSW.

Stage of Development

  • Early Stage
  • Established Prototype
  • Scaling
  • Other

Organization to Receive Funds

digitalundivided

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