New York, NY, USA, March 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shared Interest, the leading non-profit guarantee fund dedicated to improving access to capital for Black women entrepreneurs and other small and medium-sized business enterprises in Southern Africa, is pleased to mark the celebration of Women’s History Month with a virtual conversation on Social Impact Investment and Black Entrepreneurship in the US and Southern Africa, taking place on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

An esteemed panel of leading community development experts will join in the round table discussion which will focus on women’s entrepreneurship and opportunities to promote racial, gender, and economic justice through social impact/ESG investments in Black communities in the US and Southern Africa.  The featured panelists represent a cross-section of for-profit and non-profit enterprises and academia, and the conversation will be moderated by Tim Smith, Senior Policy Advisor at Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

“Today is International Women’s Day, and as an organization whose mission is focused on investing in the economic leadership and innovation of Black women entrepreneurs to transform the health, wealth, and sustainable development of their communities, we are very pleased to announce this important racial justice community conversation series,” stated Ann McMikel, Executive Director, Shared Interest.  “Last year alone we provided close to $4 million in loan guarantees to Black women entrepreneurs and other small and medium-sized businesses, who are critical to driving sustainable development and gender equality in Southern Africa, the most unequal region of the world, according to the World Bank.  It is critical that we advocate for and promote inclusive financing solutions to close the racial/gender opportunity gap in Black and economically disenfranchised communities.  This will be the first in a series of racial justice conversations in 2023 that will be taking place throughout the year.”

Panelists include Dr. Grant Warner, Bank of America Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director at the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (a collaboration of the Black Economic Alliance / Spelman College / Morehouse College), who will discuss opportunities to bolster the next generation of Black entrepreneurs.

Also joining the conversation are Pearl Wicks, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Hope Credit Union, Justin Conway, Vice President, Investment Partnerships at Calvert Impact, and Ann McMikel, Executive Director, Shared Interest, who will discuss the landscape of social impact investments and community development finance institutions that are driving economic development in Black communities in the US and Southern Africa.

The event is free with registration. Please visit Shared Interest for more information on the organization and the event.  Register here to join the conversation.

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About Shared Interest

Shared Interest was established in 1994 by Founder Donna Katzin along with other U.S. anti-apartheid activists and socially responsible investors with an unwavering passion for advancing human rights and economic justice in South Africa.  It was created as a catalytic vehicle for US investors to invest in the “new democracy” that was forming by helping to unlock local capital and other resources for Black women entrepreneurs and other small and medium-sized businesses to scale and grow.   

The core mission of the organization is to facilitate guarantees that catalyze South Africa’s own banks to lend to Black entrepreneurs, farmers, and microfinance institutions, thereby creating inclusive and sustainable solutions to address the region’s growing economic inequality, and to achieve long-term growth and impact in the key development sectors of agriculture, climate change, women’s entrepreneurship, fintech, and social enterprises.

Over the past 29 years, the Shared Interest nonprofit guarantee fund has provided $34 million in loan guarantees, which has unlocked more than $131 million in local capital for Black businesses and ultimately benefitted more than 2 million economically disenfranchised Southern Africans.  Building on its strong track record of social impact and economic development in South Africa, Shared Interest recently implemented a new business model and expanded to other Southern African countries, including Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia.

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