Applications open for YWCA’s Breedlove Accelerator Program [Video]

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A program designed to help Chicago women of color get ahead with their small businesses is looking for its next class.

The Breedlove Accelerator Program at the YWCA Chicago is a 10-week intensive, which offers guidance on financial management, marketing, growing a business and more.

“You get one-on-one mentorship from industry leaders as well as successful entrepreneurs,” said Lois Wilkins, the director of the Breedlove Entrepreneurship Center. “We also introduce you to potential funders, including venture capitalists and angel investors.”

She said some of the more than 60 women they’ve helped over the past three years are working to get their products on the shelves at Target and the Home Shopping Network.

“They’re still at the beginning stages before they’re nationally recognized and known, but they’re on their way there,” Wilkins said.

The cohorts are kept small — between seven and 15 women — which allows the program to serve …