Our Impact
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
Our Impact
Boundless Futures Foundation empowers, embraces, and elevates female entrepreneurs through grants to new businesses and to likeminded nonprofits.
Boundless Futures Foundation’s grants to businesses are awarded directly to female entrepreneurs who put social impact front and center in their business products or practices. We look at a society’s biggest issues and believe in the power of entrepreneurs to provide solutions by going above and beyond “business as usual” to create impact through profit and purpose — to solve a problem, improve on the status quo, or give back in an intentional way.
Grant-eligible entrepreneurs demonstrate clear and consistent commitment to creating positive change through businesses with ambitious and effective social reach. These businesses address issues related to:
- Poverty & Hunger
- Sustainability & the Environment
- Strong Communities
Past grantees illustrate the kinds of powerful businesses and visionary entrepreneurs Boundless Futures Foundation supports.
Grants are also awarded to mission-aligned nonprofits that provide women with skills and resources to start and sustain businesses through entrepreneurship-focused programs or services.
We’ve seen the statistics, and we are proud to join the effort to reduce barriers for women to thrive as entrepreneurs. We have also been a part of those statistics: we know, firsthand, that female entrepreneurs benefit from capital, expertise, and education. Our grants reflect our commitment to meeting those needs. We amplify our impact by supporting female-founded business that do good by doing well.
All prospective applicants are encouraged to confirm eligibility before beginning the grant application process.
EmpowHer Grants
Eligible Applicants: Female entrepreneurs 22 years of age and older with businesses registered and operating solely in the United States. An applicant’s business must make a social impact through its product or business model, must be earning revenue, and must not be more than 3 years old. To be awarded grant funding, applicants must self-report a credit score and agree to a third-party background check.
Grants: Applicants may request up to $25,000 in business support. Grant funding is remitted as reimbursement (following proof of payment) for business-related expenses. Applications must include business plans and detailed budgets. Funding is paid to grantees after business-expense receipts are submitted to Boundless Futures Foundation.
Grants For Individuals
Details: EmpowHer grants support women who need early-stage business capital, a network of business advisors, or both. Grantees will have access to financial, marketing, leadership, and sector professionals who can advise on business focus, next steps, and longer-range planning. As an entrepreneur, you’re not alone: our network is full of people who have been in your shoes.
Her Village Grants
Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations that support female entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, financing, and/or other mission-aligned programming.
Grants: Applicant organizations may request up to $30,000 in support.
Grants For Nonprofits
Details: Her Village grants awarded to qualifying nonprofit organizations support work that advances and strengthens entrepreneurial skills, resources, ecosystems, and educational opportunities for girls and women. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $30,000. Our grantmaking to nonprofits is founded in the belief that, equipped with support, skills, and capital, female entrepreneurs can have a boundless impact in society.
Our Community
Empowher Grantees
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Brenda Kasaty
Rose Cat Coffee Company
Tova Feinberg
VertiGreens
Sydney Kobak, Kelley Levaggi, Sage Dobby, and Erika Gossett
Piña Designs
Kristen Fechtel
Spacers
Drew Lederman & Emily Cohen
Resist Nutrition
Her Village Grantees
Venture North is a CDFI that supports small businesses through low-cost loans and no-cost consulting. A $25,000 Her Village grant from Boundless Futures Foundation supports Venture North’s services to female business owners throughout rural northern Michigan.
Founded in 1986 in Chicago, the Women’s Business Development Center provides services to female business founders at all stages of business development and growth and advocates for equitable business-sector policy change. The WBDC assists women with planning and launching businesses, establishing financial readiness, securing contracts and certifications, and accessing growth capital. Boundless Futures Foundation awarded the WBDC a $25,000 grant to support their work.
Boundless Futures Foundation awarded the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) a $30,000 Her Village grant to fund their female entrepreneurship programming. For more than 25 years, CWE has been helping aspiring female entrepreneurs and women business-owners in New England launch, build, and grow their businesses by providing greater access to the resources, tools, and support they need to succeed.
Traverse Connect, the lead economic development organization for Michigan’s Grand Traverse region, provides programming developed to support women at each stage of their careers – to grow as emerging leaders, develop their businesses, and gain the skills needed to grow as community entrepreneurs and leaders. Boundless Futures Foundation’s $30,000 grant over two years supports scholarships for women participating in three of Traverse Connect’s programs that equip and support female entrepreneurs and business leaders.
The Women’s Impact Alliance is a California-based organization that supports women leading social and environmental change. Through the organization’s programs and global network of vetted coaches, emerging and established female leaders worldwide can access the Women’s Impact Alliance’s leadership development coaching resources. Boundless Futures Foundation granted the Women’s Impact Alliance $30,000 to support program scholarships for social-impact entrepreneurs.
EmpowHer Marketplace
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Rose Cat Coffee Company
The coffee company hires and trains people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
VertiGreens
The company uses shipping containers and hydroponic technology to grow hard-to-find ingredients for restaurants, caterers and grocery stores. The company uses sustainable practices and focuses on providing access to healthy, locally farmed food in urban areas.
Piña Designs
Pina Designs makes hair ties from pineapple fibers and donates five percent of its profits to ocean and coastline protection.
Spacers
The company promotes mindful alcohol consumption and produces non-alcoholic beverages that help pace alcohol consumption and donates a portion of its proceeds to mental health organizations.
Resist Nutrition
The company produces natural, vegan snack bars for people with diabetes and other blood sugar instabilities and one percent of profits goes to health-related causes.
VietFive
A specialty Vietnamese coffee company that focuses on ethical, regenerative and sustainable farming from its family farm in Vietnam. The company also hires from under resourced communities in Chicago and Vietnam.
Grant Applicant FAQ
Boundless Futures Foundation awards grants to women starting businesses and to nonprofit organizations that support female entrepreneurs. This section provides more detail about our funding, the process, and requirements. Additional questions can be directed to info@boundlessfutures.org.
How do I apply for a Boundless Futures Foundation grant?
Please create an application account using one of the APPLY buttons on this page. Grants can only be completed and submitted through your account; we do not accept other application formats. Please read eligibility requirements and grant descriptions carefully before beginning an application.
Will Boundless Futures Foundation keep application materials confidential?
Yes, all grant materials will be treated as confidential information.
What are the criteria for individual business grants? Does any business qualify?
Businesses must be registered in the U.S., and grantees must live and work in the U.S., too. We support female founders whose businesses are legal in all states and do not promote political causes or figures, discord, divisiveness, or exclusion.
We ask applicants to explain how their product or business model addresses a social issue and creates positive change. A business’s social impact must fit into one of three general categories – poverty and hunger, sustainability and the environment, or strong communities. We ask entrepreneurs to define their social purpose or mission within a society-wide picture of problems and solutions.
If basic eligibility criteria are met, we evaluate an application based on its business plan, whether we think the business concept will be well-received in its business community or sector, and the founder’s commitment to the concept and its impact.
What are the criteria for grants to nonprofits?
Eligible nonprofits support female entrepreneurs. That support can take the form of direct funding, financing, networking, business resources, training, skill-building, incubators and accelerators, or leadership development.
How much funding is a grantee awarded?
Each EmpowHer applicant can request up to $25,000; Her Village applicants can request up to $30,000. Grant amounts are based on demonstrated need, financial positions, and potential impact
What is the deadline for applications?
EmpowHer Grant applications are reviewed quarterly. There are two cycles per year for Her Village Grants to nonprofits: these applications open in January and July and grants are awarded in the spring and fall.
Does grant funding need used in a particular way?
Funding to individual entrepreneur grantees is distributed as reimbursement for business expenses: in exchange for proof of payment or receipts, the Foundation will remit grant funds. Funding to nonprofit grantees must be used according to terms described in their grant proposals. For nonprofits we prefer to fund programming or direct support; capacity-building, facilities, and other organizational needs will be considered but they are not a priority for Boundless Futures Foundation.
Will the Foundation require reports from grantees?
Yes, the Foundation requires a final report and a wrap-up conversation at the end of the grant period. Grant periods are determined on a case-by-case basis but will not exceed 12 months for individuals or 18 months for nonprofits. We measure our impact through grantee impact; we are especially interested in hearing about the people and markets served by our grantees.
Boundless Futures Foundation grants to individuals support businesses that have been in operation for three years or less – why?
Through our own experience, we understand the difficulty of access to capital and resources for women starting a new business and sustaining it through the start-up phase. That’s where we come in: our goal is to provide support and mentorship to smooth the start-up bumps, answer questions, and use our know-how to make the process easier.
Does Boundless Futures Foundation fund for-profit organizations doing mission-aligned work?
No, grants are only made to individuals and nonprofit organizations.
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