Month: March 2023

March 30, 2023 /3BL Media/ – During Women’s History Month, Sky’s the Limit is shining a light on Tiffany Shelly, a visionary entrepreneur who, inspired by the restrictions imposed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that negatively impacted women’s ability to efficiently attend to their personal beauty and self-care needs, designed a product that revolutionizes the industry and single-handedly redefines how consumers buy and shops sell self-care and beauty products.

She is the Founder of Last Minute Hair, an app and service that allows professionals and individuals to get easy, round-the-clock access to the products they need without boundaries by providing delivery of beauty products from local shops within one hour — simplifying the shopping experience for both customers and retailers.

“I started Last Minute Hair to revolutionize the beauty industry. I wanted to build a legacy for my children, while improving the lives of others simultaneously,” said Tiffany.

Tiffany came to the U.S. from Jamaica when she was only three years old. She has worked as a freelance cosmetologist including head stylist for multiple fashion shows, music videos, and photo shoots for over 15 years. She has raised $82,500 to date for her start-up, and placed first place for the Black Girls Venture Pitch Competition, reached second place at TechRise Chicago Pitch Competition, and has been shortlisted for Shark Tank three times. Tiffany aims to stimulate economic growth within marginalized communities while revolutionizing the beauty and self-care industry with new innovative technology and services that will improve the connection between beauty businesses and their target customers.

“As a collective, the Sky’s the Limit mentors have helped me strategize to develop a marketing plan, finalize the version flow of my product, and add 50+ new users to my waitlist. I am extremely happy that I was able to cross paths with my PNC mentors Kelley Eckmayer and Carol Petti. Kelley really helped me ground myself. I habitually pushed my business ahead of me, but she helped me realize my story was equally important. Through meeting with her, I was able to find my story. Carol helped me restructure my financial model. After meeting with her, I was able to refine my financial needs to go to market and to not be so capital intensive,” said Tiffany

Read more about Tiffany here.

Sky’s the Limit offers opportunities for traditionally marginalized entrepreneurs – typically those who identify as LGBTQI+, BIPOC, women, veterans, disabled people, and people from low-income backgrounds – to connect with mentors to come together to foster, grow, and shape modern and future enterprise.

For more information about how to get your company involved in mentoring, please visit skysthelimit.org/partnerships.

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About SkysThelimit.org: SkysTheLimit.org is a digital platform that connects young, historically excluded entrepreneurs with one-on-one support from experienced business advisors and mentors, entrepreneurship training, and community-voted startup grants. SkysTheLimit.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. 

NEW YORK, March 30, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Living Cities, a national collaboration of prominent financial institutions and foundations, today announced a $3.2 million grant investment across six cities — Albuquerque, NM, Austin, TX, Memphis, TN, Minneapolis, MN, Saint Paul, MN, and Rochester, NY — to help close racial gaps in income and wealth. These grants, made possible by the Wells Fargo Foundation and Citi Foundation, were disbursed through the Living Cities Closing the Gaps Network, a multi-year initiative bringing together leaders from cities across the country who are committed to building an anti-racist society that advances equitable and inclusive economic opportunity.

“Homeownership and small business ownership are two of the proven ways to help any group of individuals build wealth to support themselves and their families,” said Joe Scantlebury, President and CEO of Living Cities. “Gaps in wealth between people of color and white people persist and it will take coordinated, direct action by leaders in cities to turn back the on-going legacy of systemic racism. We believe that removing barriers to Black, Indigenous, and other people of color owning homes and small businesses is key for our nation’s future.”

The $3.2 million will be distributed across six cities focused on the following strategies:

Albuquerque, NM: Develop city-owned land to support and increase the homeownership rates for local Native and Black communities, as well as offer technical assistance to develop a pipeline of licensed Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) general contractors in the city.Austin, TX: Partner with UpTogether to launch a direct cash assistance to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) who want to purchase homes through the City of Austin’s land trust, as well as partner with community based organizations to provide equity infusions and technical support for BIPOC entrepreneurs.Memphis, TN: Create a community land trust in the historic Orange Mound neighborhood to provide affordable homeownership, as well as develop a Contractors University to improve BIPOC access to contextual technical assistance, strengthen the contractor community, and help more BIPOC businesses contract with the city.Minneapolis, MN: Partner with Youthprise to create a pilot cohort of underserved BIPOC youth to support them in advancing cooperative models for business and home ownership.Saint Paul, MN: Contribute to the- Inheritance Fund, which offers forgivable loans to help low-income descendants of the old Rondo neighborhood purchase homes and support homeownership and employee owned co-ops through capacity building.Rochester, NY: Target outreach to Head Start families with Housing Choice Vouchers to buy homes using their vouchers and assist with down payment assistance, as well as offering grants to early-stage BIPOC owned businesses, navigation support, and other technical assistance.

“We facilitate wealth building by making direct investments in the workers and families who call Saint Paul home,” said Mayor Carter. “I am immensely grateful for the investment Living Cities is making in our shared vision.”

“We are grateful for the financial investment and opportunity to partner with Citi Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, and Living Cities through this equity-driven affordable housing initiative,” Mayor Jim Strickland said. “We are also excited to work alongside entrepreneurs of color to co-create business opportunities, refine strategies, and help in the development of a winning growth strategy that will contribute to building stronger communities in our city through education, training, and mentorship.”

“The City of Rochester is grateful to be the recipient of grants totaling $550,201 from Living Cities, Citi Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation to implement our City’s work plans to dismantle barriers for BIPOC homeownership and entrepreneurship,” said Rochester New York’s Mayor, Malik D. Evans. “We understand that we have made progress, but it will take more work to dismantle decades of institutionalized racism. The City of Rochester is committed to using these funds to bridge the racial wealth gap by administering government policies and programs to increase homeownership and entrepreneurship opportunities for those who’ve been historically marginalized and underserved.”

“We are doing more than ever before to ensure Black and Native residents have the resources and opportunities to become homeowners. Homeownership is a key pathway to creating generational wealth. Expanding housing options can change the lives of prospective homeowners while creating opportunities for Black and Native developers and contractors. Addressing the needs and potential of these communities builds a better and more equitable Albuquerque,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We are grateful that Living Cities is supporting these wealth-building efforts.”

“Restoring financial well-being has to start at the local level where historically marginalized people can access pathways to home and small business ownership,” said Otis Rolley, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “We’re excited to see how each of the selected cities customizes solutions for the needs of their community as they work to close the racial wealth gap. At Wells Fargo, we are committed to strengthening underserved communities and opening up more ways for people to grow generational wealth.”

“Tackling the racial wealth gap requires a commitment to systemic interventions and bringing diverse change-makers to the table. That’s exactly what Living Cities is doing through its Closing the Gaps Network,” said Brandee McHale, President of the Citi Foundation and Head of Community Investing and Development at Citi. “By supporting this initiative, the Citi Foundation aims to help more U.S. cities test new approaches that have the potential to catalyze meaningful progress toward wealth creation and equitable growth.”

About Living Cities 
Living Cities harnesses the collective power of philanthropy, financial institutions, and local governments to close racial income and wealth gaps in U.S. cities. Our staff, investments, convenings, partners and networks support efforts that operationalize racial equity and inclusion in local government, create inclusive narratives, bring communities together to devise and act on a shared vision for the future, and eliminate inequities in systems such as entrepreneurship, homeownership and access to capital. Learn more at LivingCities.org.