by Anita Brown, Program Officer

SheEO started its model to support female entrepreneurs in Canada and has expanded its program into the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. The model involves women (“Activators”) contributing to a fund that is loaned out, interest-free, to local, women-led ventures with a social good mission.

Since SheEO launched its program in the U.S. in 2016, PVF has been its designated fund partner, holding the fund, receiving contributions from Activators, loaning out to the top five ventures selected each year, and processing loan repayments.

This year, SheEO conducted its third round in the U.S. and recently announced its top five ventures:

BioCellection, Inc. (Co-Founder & COO: Jeanny Yao) is focused on turning plastic waste into quality products. 91% of plastic waste is too contaminated and difficult to recycle, but BioCellection develops and scales innovations to transform these unrecyclable plastics into sustainable chemicals for the production of materials like nylon, polyurethane, polyester, and compostable materials.

Farm from a Box (Founding Partner: Brandi Decarli), takes a new approach to community farming and food security—“food sovereignty in a box.” The solution they offer is a “turnkey farm kit,” a deliverable unit containing the core components for a two-acre farm, powered by renewable energy and using regenerative agriculture techniques with precision farming technology.

Solstice (Co-Founder & CEO: Steph Speirs), “organizes, educates, and innovates to make solar accessible for every American.” As a turnkey customer software company, Solstice connects Americans to free community-shared solar power.

TygaBox Systems (CEO & Co-Inventor: Nadine Cino), offers a reusable plastic box/dolly moving system. Companies that are relocating can rent TygaBoxes to reduce moving costs by 30% and waste-to-landfill by 100% because no trees are cut down and no waste is created.

S.O.U.L. Sisters Leadership Collective (Co-Founder & Executive Director: Tanisha “Wakumi” Douglas) is built on four pillars: leadership, healing, social justice, and the arts. The Youth Social Entrepreneurship program helps systems-involved girls and non-binary youth of color to develop professionalism and entrepreneurship skills through designing products that raise awareness about social issues. The participants are mentored and supported by formerly incarcerated women and/or people of color entrepreneurs.