Women & Wealth: Girls Just Want to Have Funds
A White Paper from the Women & Wealth Panel hosted by INBANK and JLL
Why This Conversation Matters
Women are starting businesses faster than ever, yet access to capital has not caught up. In 2024, just 2.3 percent of global venture capital went to female founders. In the U.S., women own 42 percent of all businesses, but those businesses generate only 4 percent of total revenues. The disconnect is clear.
The Women & Wealth: Girls Just Want to Have Funds panel, hosted by INBANK and JLL, created space for candid conversation on how women can fund growth and build wealth. The discussion brought together voices from SBA lending, venture capital, philanthropy, impact investing, and wealth management.
Panelists included:
Tiffany Charles, Chief Growth Officer, Destiny Capital
Benilda Samuels, CEO, Aya Foundation
Hayfa Aboukier, Investor, Range Ventures
Cindy Willard, Impact Investor, Impact Charitable
Rachel Russell, Director of Lender Services, B:Side Capital
The session was moderated by Stacy Since, who set the tone by asking attendees to meet someone new before the conversation began. The goal was clear: funding is not only about dollars, it is also about connections and community.
Why Business Owners Seek Funding
The panel emphasized that funding is not simply about chasing a unicorn valuation. Founders use capital for specific, practical needs that fall into different categories.
SBA Loans: Purchase equipment, open a second location, refinance high-interest debt, or cover payroll during a temporary cash gap.
Venture Capital: Build products or technology that require heavy upfront investment and can scale nationally or globally.
Impact Investing: Expand businesses that create measurable social or community benefits, such as affordable housing, workforce programs, or healthcare access.
Grants: Fund discrete projects like pilot programs, marketing campaigns, or contractor support.
Personal Wealth Planning: Build security for the founder and their family while the business grows.
As Tiffany Charles put it, “Growth money magnifies everything. It can strengthen your foundation, or it can magnify stress and chaos.”
SBA Loans: Growth Without Giving Away Equity
Rachel Russell explained that SBA loans are often misunderstood. They are flexible tools designed to give small businesses more access to financing than traditional loans. These loans can cover working capital, real estate purchases, or major equipment investments.
But Rachel did not shy away from the tradeoffs. SBA loans often require a personal guarantee, collateral, and sometimes life insurance. For many business owners, that feels intimidating.
She stressed that a strong banking relationship makes all the difference. “If something unexpected happens, like road construction outside your business that cuts your sales in half, you want a banker you can call who already knows you,” she said.
Venture Capital: Built for Moonshots
Hayfa Aboukier cut through the myths around venture capital. “Most businesses are not a fit for venture money, and that is okay,” she said. Venture is intended for companies with exponential growth potential, often in technology or innovation sectors, that can realistically return 10 times the investment.
She noted that Colorado is now the fifth-largest venture ecosystem in the U.S. and one of the fastest-growing. Denver is attracting capital not only in software but also in industries such as space, defense, and quantum technology. “We do not always shout it from the rooftops,” she explained, “but this is a very strong market for innovation.”
At the same time, Hayfa highlighted how few women she sees in venture pipelines. Out of 100 founders she meets, only one is a woman, and only a handful of those are building venture-scale companies. She challenged the idea that venture is the gold standard of entrepreneurship, reminding the audience that many thriving businesses grow without it.
Impact Investing: For Businesses That Do Good and Need Capital
Cindy Willard spoke about impact investing as a bridge between philanthropy and profit. Impact investors care about measurable outcomes like affordable housing, healthcare, or sustainable jobs alongside financial return.
She explained that impact capital can often be structured more flexibly than traditional funding. Some investors take on a “first loss” position to reduce risk for others. Others adjust repayment schedules so they match the business’s cash flow.
Cindy emphasized that many women are already running impact-focused businesses. “That is exactly the kind of company impact investors want to back,” she said.
Grants: Small Dollars, Big Leverage
Benilda Samuels highlighted the power of grants. Even relatively small awards of $10,000 or $20,000 can help businesses complete projects, pay contractors, or bridge revenue gaps.
She also introduced the concept of fiscal sponsorship, where a nonprofit can receive grant funding on behalf of a for-profit business if their missions align. While less widely known, it can be an important pathway for early-stage or socially driven businesses.
Protecting the Owner’s Wealth
Tiffany Charles shifted the conversation toward personal financial health. Too often, entrepreneurs focus entirely on business growth and leave their household finances exposed.
She encouraged business owners to treat personal wealth like business finances by conducting quarterly reviews, maintaining emergency savings, and setting clear non-negotiables. “Your business and personal finances are intertwined whether you want them to be or not,” she said.
Her message was clear: do not sacrifice your personal financial stability to keep your business afloat.
What It Means to Be Venture-Ready
Later in the discussion, Hayfa defined what it truly means to be venture-ready. A company needs:
A scalable model with exponential growth potential.
A very large market opportunity.
Systems and processes that allow replication.
A credible path to a 10x return.
A founder prepared for the pace and dilution venture demands.
“Only a small percentage of businesses check all of those boxes,” she said. “That does not make the rest less valuable. It just means different capital is a better fit.”
Themes That Resonated
Several themes stood out across the panel and resonated with the audience:
Relationships matter. Whether with bankers or investors, strong relationships are more important than transactions.
Women often undersell themselves. Many pitch conservatively, while men oversell. This affects outcomes.
Capital is not charity. Investors fund businesses because they expect returns, not because they are doing favors.
Wealth is not selfish. Building stability for yourself creates stability for your employees, your family, and your community.
These themes echo what we see when we work with business owners: funding is not only about money, but about confidence, preparation, and alignment.
Building Forward
The panel underscored that there is no single right path to funding. SBA loans, grants, impact investing, and careful personal planning may be better suited to many small businesses than venture capital.
When we work with clients, we always begin with the same question: what do you actually need the money for? The answer shapes the right source of capital. The goal is not only securing funds, but ensuring that money strengthens systems, supports growth, and protects long-term stability.
As Tiffany reminded us, growth and security, ambition and peace are not opposites. They work best together.
Special Acknowledgment
We are grateful to Jamie Winkler, Vice President, Treasury Management at INBANK, who invited us to participate in this important conversation and is one of Athena’s trusted banking partners.
A thank you as well to Stacy Since, who moderated the panel with honesty and energy, creating space for the real conversations business owners need.
