A Collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Why IIE
Small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy. They account for almost half of our GDP and employ nearly half of all private-sector workers. Entrepreneurs of color represent the fastest growing segment of the small business market, yet they have the least access to capital. They are more likely to be denied credit; more likely to pay high interest rates; and less likely to apply for loans out of fear of being denied.
About IIE
Announced in October 2022 by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (IIE) is a national effort to expand access to capital for small businesses owned by people of color. IIE harnesses the power of public-private collaboration to ensure the equitable implementation of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s $10 billion State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), 40% of which is designated for businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI). With leverage as a built-in strategy, every SSBCI dollar deployed is designed to catalyze $10 in private investment, with a 1:1 match required.
Authorized under the American Rescue Plan, SSBCI is primed to be the most significant small business program in US history. And its full potential can only be realized through public-private collaboration. Through IIE, the corporate and philanthropic investors can support capacity building, fuel innovative strategies and products, and invest the required matching capital that will ultimately strengthen the small business ecosystem, advance racial equity, and transform communities.
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IIE’s 18-month pilot was incubated by Hyphen, a leading national public-private partnership accelerator. The initiative’s implementation partners include: Aspen Institute’s Business Ownership Initiative, Founders First Capital Partners, JumpStart, Mission Driven Finance, Next Street, Nowak Metro Finance Lab, and Scale Link. With the successful completion of the pilot, the Milken Institute will serve as IIE’s new home as of July 1, 2024. For information about IIE's next phase, contact Troy Duffie or Rachel Halfaker at the Milken Institute.​​​
Thank you to IIE's Pilot-Phase Funders and Investors
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | JPMorgan Chase | Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth | Nathan Cummings Foundation
Skoll Foundation | Wells Fargo | W.K. Kellogg Foundation
“The State Small Business Credit Initiative has made an historic investment in entrepreneurship and innovation that is structured to ensure communities of color, rural areas, and others that have difficulty accessing capital, are able to get the financing they need to grow and scale. Partnerships between states, private sector, philanthropy, and nonprofits will be critical to the Initiative’s continued success.”
–– Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury
(as quoted in Hyphen’s press release)
