11th Circuit Finds Women of Color-Exclusive Funding Contest Discriminatory

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion June 3 upholding a ruling against a nonprofit organization finding an entrepreneurship funding competition open only to Black female business owners to be discriminatory.

Fearless Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing support to women of color entrepreneurs through Fearless Fund, was sued by the American Alliance for Equal Rights for violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The Alliance claimed the former’s Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which offered four black female winners $20,000 apiece and other resources to help their businesses grow, discriminated on the basis of race.