The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday night (June 8) with Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix documentary “Halftime,” which sees the singer reflect on her evolution as an artist and her myriad professional accomplishments. On the heels of the doc’s premiere, Lopez has unveiled a new partnership with Grameen America, a microfinance organization, to advance financial empowerment for Latina businesswomen.
In a major philanthropic effort for Lopez, she’ll join the organization as a national ambassador, and in concert with her own Limitless Labs, which aims to support Latina-owned small businesses, she and Grameen America’s detailed their collective goal: to “empower Latina entrepreneurs across 50 U.S. cities with $14 billion in business capital and 6 million hours of financial education and training by 2030.”
“Being Latino in this country has always been a matter of pride for me,” said Lopez. “I am humbled and beyond grateful to partner with Grameen America. We’re building pathways to employment and leadership opportunities. There’s so much strength in this community and we’re harnessing that. This partnership will create equality, inclusivity and opportunity for Latina women in business. This will change the fabric of America!”
Grameen America provides access to business capital, credit- and asset-building, financial education, and peer support to educate women on how to boost their income and create jobs in their communities. The organization’s network includes over 150,000 small businesses run by women in predominantly Latinx communities across the United States.
To kick off her responsibilities as national ambassador, Lopez will set out to motivate Latina businesswomen to join Grameen America to promote their microloan program. Lopez has also agreed to mentor the organization’s existing Latina business owners, educating them on the importance of credit and asset-building and developing a savings program.
“Jennifer Lopez is a trailblazer, having given visibility and advocacy to ensure Latina women are educated, financially empowered, and healthy,” said Andrea Jung, president and CEO of Grameen America. “Grameen America is the only organization with the national scale, reach, and proven model required to deploy $14 billion in loan capital to emerging businesswomen in Latinx communities. Together we will shape entrepreneurship as a viable pathway to success for Latina women who have historically lacked access to the formal financial markets and are often marginalized from economic opportunity.”
