We are excited to officially announce that we were selected as the recipient of the Rizos Curls Small Business Grant!
This is such a huge win for us - one that would not have been possible without the help of all of you!
Mónica, founder and CEO, along with Jazmin and Sahara, Femme Goddess Co. interns, had been working rigorously on developing the groundwork of our collective organization for over a year now. Pouring our hearts into our origin story - how our personal experiences and inherent gifts led to the creation of Femme Goddess Co. Immersing ourselves in the historical context and current community conditions of Black, Indigenous, Queer, Trans, People of Color in order to build a more comprehensive understanding of the need and importance of our work. Grounding ourselves in our values, guiding principals, and theoretical framework which informs our unique approach. Y fleshing out the array of offerings, programming and production along with other extensions of our wellness work including Adoración - our lifestyle brand.
Centering all of this groundwork has contributed to the development of a strong foundation which will of course be built on as we continue to grow and evolve.
We submitted our first grant application last year in 2020 which we unfortunately did not receive; however, we knew we couldn't give up. It was just the beginning and that experience served as an opportunity to further prepare and strengthen our application materials for future grant opportunities - which brings us to this year!
When we found out about the Rizos Curls Small Business Grant, we knew we had to apply! Though once the deadline got closer, the insecurities and fears resurfaced. Thankfully, this did not stop us. We had done so much work to get to this place and we were no longer going to allow anything to hinder us.
About a week or two after submitting our application and posting our submission video, we found out that Femme Goddess Co. had been selected as a finalist!
We could not believe it!! We prayed we'd get at least this far.
After this, it was open to community voting. It was such a surreal experience to witness the amount of people who showed up and showered us with love and support. Family, friends, community members, and so many others came together, followed our journey and took it upon themselves to mobilize more folks in support of Femme Goddess Co.
It became something larger than we could have ever imagined - a whole movement!
With the help of everyone, we were able to garner over 35 thousand votes!! To this day, I am still astonished and overjoyed by the amount of folks who supported us - who believe in our work, who believe in us.
We did it y'all! This a testament to the power of community.
Thank you for reaffirming the importance of the healing and liberatory work we are doing and fueling us to continue this path.
As a fully self-funded organization, receiving this $5,000 grant is incredibly transformative!
Breakdown of Funding
We are excited to inform you all about what the funding we received will be going towards. Doing this is also necessary for transparency and accountability purposes.
The $5,000 will be dispersed equally into 5 categories including Paying Off Debt, Organizational Needs, Community Offerings, Podcasting Production Equipment, and Adoración Lifestyle Brand.
Stay tuned as we continue sharing our journey and future plans towards the growth of Femme Goddess Co.