The Fearless Fund has officially agreed to stop its grant program for Black women as part of a lawsuit settlement largely considered to mark a setback for DEI advocates.
Both parties announced that, as part of the deal, the Fearless Fund will no longer offer its Fearless Strivers grant contest, which was created especially for funding Black female-owned businesses.
Although the grant program was paused when the court case first began in 2023, the founder, Adrian Simone, said that they agreed to officially end it to avoid a court ruling; through the court ruling, the founders reportedly wanted to avoid a Supreme Court decision that could affect all BIPOC-based funds.
The fund was also allegedly discontinued, although it was already near its end when the case first began, to prevent it from being opened up to other people as conservative and anti-DEI leader of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, Edward Blum, set out to do.
“From the moment the lawsuit was filed, I pledged to stand firm in helping and empowering women of color entrepreneurs in need. I stand by that pledge today, and in fact, my commitment remains stronger than ever,” said Simone in a statement. “Our overarching mission remains focused on helping and empowering entrepreneurs who have been historically overlooked in the venture capital marketplace.”
The recent ruling comes less than four months after fintech platform Hello Alice won their lawsuit brought against them by America First Legal and Blum. In late May, it was announced via press release that the judge had ruled that the lawsuit did not “allege harm that the courts could remedy.”
Through their claim, America First Legal had attempted to argue that Hello Alice’s grant program offering $25,000 to Black business owners was racially disriminatory and violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Nonprofits such as The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Southern Poverty Law Center alongside law firm Crowell Moring LLP, however, helped defend the fintech platform by arguing that the conservative group was misusing the law.
In a statement, co-founder of Hello Alice, Elizabeth Gore, celebrated the outcome of the lawsuit, emphasizing the impact of the decision on small businesses nationwide.
“Facing a labor shortage, heightened interest rates, and inflation, this country needs its small business owners, and they, in return, need the capital and resources that programs like Hello Alice provide,” said Gore. “We are thrilled for the judgment in favor of Hello Alice, as this represents one less threat to our nation’s small business community and economy.”
