Ashely Biden’s Livelihood Fund donates $26K for underrepresented entrepreneurs

Delawarean, social advocate and First Daughter Ashely Biden’s Livelihood Fund has gifted True Access Capital with $26,500 to seed a fund to help minority entrepreneurs launch or grow small businesses in Wilmington.

True Access Capital is a community development financial institution, or CDFI, that offers entrepreneurs in Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania technical expertise and access to capital. The org has a focus on helping women, minorities and those underserved by traditional lenders.

“Wilmington will always be home, which is why I want to see this community grow and flourish,” said Biden, in a press release. “I’m especially aware that the success of businesses owned and operated by women and people of color can lift up not just individual business owners, but entire families and neighborhoods, providing jobs and helping build the foundation for the kind of generational wealth that can alter lives. That’s why I’m excited to be working with True Access Capital, which has the tools and experience that small business owners need to succeed.”

True Access Capital is expected to announce additional details of the new fund at its annual meeting on Oct. 28 at the Delaware Contemporary on the Wilmington Riverfront.

Biden previous headed the Delaware Center for Justice. Livelihood is a social enterprise that sells organic cotton hoodies to fundraise for community revitalization projects in Wilmington’s Riverside and DC’s Anacostia neighborhoods.