New York, NY – HerSuiteSpot is excited to announces the 10 women of color entrepreneurs selected to participate in the ElevateHer – New York Program sponsored by National Grid’s Project C. Diverse founders from throughout New York State took part in this 6-week program which aims to create opportunities for New York based businesses to thrive.
The ElevateHer – New York program kicked off on September 21 and participants take part in a self-paced course and received virtual coaching throughout the program. This month the selected 10 small business owners concluded the program focused on providing women of color founders with the resources they need to operate, grow and gain traction in their small businesses as well as a $1,500 non-dilutive microgrant.
The diverse cohort is comprised of businesses in retail, counseling/therapy, health and wellness, catering/chef, beauty products, media, florist/gift boutique and video production throughout New York state with all founders identifying as Black or African American and Asian.
“I’m excited about the impressive diverse founders that have participated in our first cohort of the ElevateHer – New York Program and for National Grid to play a role in the future of women of color in business,” said Marsha Guerrier, Founder of HerSuiteSpot and the ElevateHer Program. “There’s a critical need for women of color to get the tools they need to become more marketable and get access to capital.”
We are excited to announce that the following 10 women of color entrepreneurs that have completed the inaugural cohort of the ElevateHer – New York Program:
Jennifer Jackson
Safe Space Therapy Services, LCSW, PLLC – Counseling/Therapy
Safe Space Therapy Services provides office-based and tele-mental health services to young adults, adults and geriatrics, they specialize in the treatment of depression, anxiety, relationship issues, anger-management, grief and loss and work-performance issues.
Erica Ho
Map Happy – Media
Map Happy provides travelers with the tools, gear, and information to get to, thrive and truly connect with their destination, its culture and people.
Monique Glover
ZYEM LLC – Retail
ZYEM NYC is an inter-generational apparel brand dedicated to promoting positivity, empowerment, and self-expression.
Krista Martins
Wukkout! – Health and Wellness Care
Wukkout! is a Caribbean dance fitness class and nationally accredited instructor led training program.
Britney Moss
Cupcake Me! – Catering/Chef
Cupcake Me! specializes in custom event desserts, but our brand also strongly focuses on making decadent and delicious everyday desserts such as our amazing 16oz Cake Jars, our 42+ flavors of cupcakes, as well as our brownies and giant hand chocolate chip cookies.
Yasmeen Hayes
Urban Stream Media LLC – Video Production
Urban Stream Media uses live video to passionately provide Black, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ youth with unprecedented opportunities to create and share their unique stories through the power of live streaming and multimedia.
Sangeetha Kowsik
IhsanIshan Design – Retail Sales
IhsanIshan Design is a luxury fine arts and design studio at the forefront of promoting global culture that features one-of-a-kind unisex textiles, art prints, and accessories inspired by the art of traditional Arabic Calligraphy, global iconography, all with a modern luxe flair.
Marie Guiraud
KEAFRICA – Retail Sales
KEAFRICA a women-owned, ready-to-wear apparel brand with a simple philosophy: to make high-quality, trendy, and size-inclusive African print clothing which benefits people and the planet.
Donnette Lyttle
Love Conquers All Unisex – Beauty Products/Service
Love Conquers All specializes in natural black hair styling, and serving as an exclusive retailer for Black-owned beauty product companies.
Melissa Briscoe
Olive It Boutique – Florist & Gift Boutique
Olive It specializes in flowers for all occasions, gift baskets and event party planning.
The 6-week program completed with a presentation day where some of the entrepreneurs presented their pitch to two experts in pitching Dr. Aikyna Finch, Founder of Finch and Associates and Breen Sullivan, Founder of The Fourth Floor. The women shared valuable advice to each participant on how to perfect their pitch.
“We are proud to continue our support of HerSuiteSpot by sponsoring the new ElevateHer program, which will give women of color who are small business owners the edge they need in today’s competitive marketplace,” said Melanie Littlejohn, Vice President of Customer and Community Management for National Grid. “Through our Project C initiative, this is one example of how we are supporting communities by empowering women of color to thrive by giving them the tools they need to be successful.”
ABOUT HERSUITESPOT
HerSuiteSpot is the digital community for women of color career professionals and business leaders. HerSuiteSpot empowers these entrepreneurs to achieve business success through coaching, community, and capital with their 4 pillars of success framework: mindset, money, marketing and media.
ABOUT NATIONAL GRID
National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a path to a more affordable, reliable clean energy future through our fossil-free vision. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find our photos on Instagram.
