Economic mobility is at the heart of Amplify Her® Foundation’s mission to unlock the leadership potential of women. Amplify Her® Foundation champions socioeconomic independence as both a pathway to individual success, and a foundation for transformative leadership institutionally. Amplify Her® Foundation advocates for expanding access to capital for women-owned businesses, supporting public-private partnerships that provide mentorship, internships, and hands-on training in high-growth industries, and enhancing specialized career training opportunities for women.
Expand mentorship, career development, and workforce readiness programming in high-growth fields where women are historically under-represented
Implementation Strategy: Work with New York City Hall, the New York City Department of Education, the New York City Office of Student Pathways, the New York City Mayor’s Office, and Women.NYC to provide active program partnerships, and exchange knowledge to co-design and improve career development programs for women and girls throughout their academic and professional careers.
Early exposure to workforce readiness programming and career development training can strongly support women and girls’ leadership upon entry into employment. Despite this link, most schools in New York City lack comprehensive programs targeting the nuanced needs of girls. Additionally, while specific mentorship programs exist throughout New York City, they are not tailored to address the needs of young women in educational and career contexts.
Our research findings highlighted the success of programs that offer resume writing, mock interviews, and job shadowing, emphasizing the need for these opportunities to be more thoroughly embedded into early academics. Focus group participants also discussed the importance of dedicated career counseling to support students' workforce readiness. Participants further noted the success of integrated internship programs, occasionally as graduation requirements, and urged comparable, standardized access to these opportunities for all students. Participants additionally emphasized the value of mentorship in helping young women overcome systemic barriers. They noted that enduring relationships with guiding mentors during the college application and career search process are central to that impact.
To enhance professional skills obtained during early education, ongoing career development opportunities for women are also necessary. Our research findings also reveal that professional skill-building for workforce readiness is a critical element of establishing women’s agency, by strengthening their ability to enter and excel in high-wage and high-growth industries.
To expand mentorship, career development, and workforce readiness programs in high-growth fields, advocates can present successful program models, provide active program partnerships, and exchange knowledge with city-level government initiatives and entities charged with developing and improving mentorship and employment programs for women and girls.
Program Development for Girls
Several New York City initiatives support professional development, mentorship and career training opportunities for students broadly at the high school level.
Under the New York City Office of Student Pathways, initiatives include FutureReadyNYC, a pilot program that provides New York City public high school students with career exploration opportunities in high-growth, high-wage fields such as healthcare, technology, business, and education through personalized advising on professional growth, career-based learning for workforce readiness, and financial literacy education to empower personal financial freedom.
In select public high schools, students can also complete Career and Technical Education programs which grant students opportunities to obtain industry-recognized credentials and certifications to increase their eligibility for hiring. Additionally, the Summer Youth Employment Program connects New York City youth between the ages of 14-24 with career exploration opportunities and paid work experience each summer.
The robustness of professional development opportunities for New York City high school students thus provides a foundation for establishing targeted career development and mentorship training for girls. These opportunities can be developed within existing programs, with special attention to reaching girls from underserved communities.
Such programming would require allocated funding at the city level. Advocates can thus concentrate advocacy efforts on the implementing agencies of existing programs, nudging agencies to earmark funds for girl-centered programming. Advocacy to the New York City Council Committee on Children and Youth to promote initial funding for these programs is also necessary. Once funding is approved, advocates can also support the developmental phase of gender-equitable career programming. Support might include partnering with the public sector agencies responsible for program creation and implementation, by offering learnings and insights to shape the development process.
Program Development for Women
New York City’s Women Forward initiative aims to address gender disparities in employment by connecting women of all ages to professional development and high-wage employment opportunities. Alongside this effort, Women.NYC is working to bridge the gender gap in New York City’s future industries through mentorship, career exploration, and career pivoting guidance through the Pivot to Growth program.
Supporting the evolution of existing New York City initiatives through public-nonprofit co-design and innovation can advance available women’s leadership training. At Women.NYC, continuing to scale career development training would offer ongoing targeted support for career acceleration in growth industries. Additional expansion of Women.NYC’s mentorship network to increase the availability of guidance and mentorship for participants, alongside increases in networking events and virtual platforms, would foster collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Increase access to capital for women-owned businesses and increase women’s access to business administration resources
Implementation Strategy: Urge City Hall and the Department of Small Business Services to allocate specialized funding and support the availability of grants, low-interest loans, and other resources specifically for women-owned businesses.
Access to capital is one of the most significant challenges for women-owned businesses to succeed. This experience is disproportionately frequent for businesses owned by women of color. Our research highlighted the need for financial institutions to provide products specifically designed for women and women-owned businesses. Participants also emphasized the importance of educating investors on the impact and benefit of funding women-owned businesses. Focus group participants stated that small business development centers play vital roles in supporting entrepreneurs, but many women business owners find these services insufficient or inaccessible. As such, participants argued that there is a need for enhanced support and accountability for such centers to ensure they meet the needs of diverse communities. Participants highlighted the importance of personalized counseling and technical assistance particularly, during launch and scaling phases of development. Existing small business development programs provide valuable resources, but increasing funding and improving service delivery can significantly enhance their impact.
To increase access to capital to women-owned businesses, and increase women’s access to financial management tools and services, advocates can urge City Hall and the New York Department of Small Business Services to allocate specialized funding and support the availability of grants, low-interest loans, and business administration resources specifically for women-owned businesses.
The New York City public sector offers varied resources for small businesses including New York City Small Business Services, an agency that assists businesses in securing financing through loans and grants, provides guidance on various funding options, and helps with application processes. SBS also offers free business courses and workshops on essential topics like business planning, marketing, finance, and technology, aimed at helping entrepreneurs build their skills and grow their businesses. SBS further helps businesses navigate New York City regulations, including licensing and permits, to streamline operations and avoid legal issues. Employment services are available to help businesses with hiring and training employees, including job postings, recruitment assistance, and workforce training grants. Within SBS, the Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC) initiative is dedicated to helping women start and grow their businesses, through offering mentorship, legal services, and other training to support women entrepreneurs across the five boroughs.
The New York Small Business Development Center is a joint federal and state economic development organization. It is administered by the State University of New York and funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Small Business Administration. It serves to advise and educate, create economic opportunity, establish learning pathways and provide data-driven solutions.
The recently-launched NYC Future Fund is a small business loan fund that will aim to reduce gaps in access to capital for small business owners. It particularly targets early-stage businesses and women entrepreneurs that can face challenges obtaining traditional bank financing.
Collectively, these agencies and initiatives can support women business owners through reinforcing existing gender-focused services and financing, and developing resources in communities experiencing resource gaps. Direct advocacy to these stakeholders for both funding and program enhancements could support that effort.
At the NYC Future Fund, introducing loan products exclusively for women-owned businesses with terms that consider their unique financial needs could aid this. Establishing a priority review process for loan applications from women entrepreneurs would ensure timely support. Integrating comprehensive business support services like legal advice, marketing assistance, and financial planning tailored specifically to women-owned businesses within the funding framework would also enhance their chances of success. This could include microloan products or credit-building products for women entrepreneurs with limited credit history. To support business administration for women, ensuring sustainable funding for current services from the NYC Small Business Services programs, Small Business Development Center and WE.NYC is critical.
Develop tax credits and government funding for public-private partnerships offering internships and educational resources for women
Implementation Strategy: Collaborate with state legislators and agencies to convene working groups, provide guidance, and design tax credit programs that incentivize corporations to advance gender equity through initiatives such as internships, mentorship, and educational initiatives.
Public-private partnerships play a crucial role in enhancing educational programs by providing resources, expertise, and professional practice. Our research highlighted the challenges of maintaining these partnerships, due to shifting private sector priorities and leadership. Focus group participants emphasized the need for legislative support to stabilize and expand these collaborations. Participants also articulated that public-private partnerships are vital for creating opportunities in high-growth industries such as technology and finance, yet existing programs often fail to adequately address the barriers women face in entering these industries. Focus group responses additionally focused on the need for legislative policies that incentivize employers, while simultaneously holding those employers accountable for their hiring practices and support systems. Focus group participants also called for greater transparency in reporting on hiring, public-private partnership financial flows and program effectiveness.
Consequently, to expand public-private partnerships offering internships and educational resources for women, advocates can convene working groups, provide guidance, and design tax credit programs that incentivize corporations to advance gender equity.
At the state level, the New York State Employee Training Incentive Program (ETIP) provides a base for building a tax credit system that effectively encourages public-private partnerships. The ETIP offers businesses operating in strategic industries tax credits for up to 50% of costs of certain employee skills training. ETIP also offers tax credits if qualifying businesses offer recent graduates internships in fields such as advanced technology, life sciences, software development or clean energy. The goal of ETIP is to enhance workforce development and ensure that businesses have access to a skilled labor pool.
Through knowledge- and resource-sharing with the Empire State Development Tax Incentives Department, advocates can support the co-creation of tax credit programs for women’s professional development. New initiatives could alter existing programs like the ETIP program with a heavier focus on promoting workforce development for women within high-growth industries. This expansion might further incentivize corporations to form public-private partnerships, or collaborative agreements with educational institutions, governmental entities, or non-profit organizations to reach women across communities in New York City. These partnerships should aim to provide practical work experience, mentorship, and educational resources to students and young professionals. Tax credits might cover intern stipends, salaries, training materials, and administrative costs of mentorship programs. Credits can also target closing gaps in women’s employment and leadership in industries like finance and STEM, by offering separate allocations and higher incentives for providing training or creating jobs for underrepresented populations.
