Billie Jean King continues to pave the way for women:

First Women's Bank opens in Chicago with goal of fixing gender lending gap

Its founders say it's the first financial institution aimed at helping women entrepreneurs get the capital to start and expand businesses.

Sep 22, 2021

Chicago is now home to the First Women's Bank, a bank its founders believe to be the first and only women-led and women-focused bank in the country.

A Wednesday ribbon-cutting ceremony minted the bank in Chicago women's history, and served as the grand opening for the bank's headquarters in West Town.

"Never before has there been a greater need and an opportunity to address what we believe is the fundamental problem facing women-owned and women-led businesses, and that's access to capital," said Melissa Widen, one of the bank's founders.

Widen and others at Wednesday's event cited studies showing women-owned businesses received far fewer business loans than firms owned by men.

"Promoting gender equality at this bank, it's not a marketing strategy. It's in our DNA," said Marianne Markowitz, the bank's CEO. "We believe that the potential for the bank to drive social change and to bridge the gender lending gap is enormous."

Helping women start successful businesses is the central mission of the First Women's Bank, CEO Marianne Markowitz said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot cut the bank's big blue ribbon during the ceremony and said the bank will "tell the world loud and clear" that Chicago is a place of "business and opportunity for everyone."

"Opening up access to capital is critically important, and it's got to be opened up to everyone," Lightfoot said. "We cannot succeed and move forward as a city, as a nation, unless we are very intentional about making sure that no one is left behind."

The bank will also provide support to women entrepreneurs through advice and networking resources, said Colleen Ryan, the bank's chief marketing and communications officer.

The bank will also focus particularly on helping women of color start businesses. Southside Grinds, a Black-woman-owned coffee company serving communities of color, was able to hit the ground running with the help from First Women's Bank.

"Our mission is to spread love and caffeination in under-commerced, under-beveraged and under-caffeinated areas," said Ebony Blue, the company's founder. "It's really important to us because there are a lot of places on the South and West Side of Chicago that do not have beverages, let alone any types of commerce."

The bank is supported by companies like Wendy's and Comcast, and by International Tennis Hall of Famer and women's equity advocate Billie Jean King, who invests in the bank and serves as one of its advisers.

"I know the challenges women face when it comes to financial solutions for small businesses," King said. "I've lived it. I've been to banks –– it's not easy if you're a woman."

"When the bank delivers on its mission, it won't be just for women. [With] the small business community and the economy open, everyone has a chance to win."

I've seen that kind of male behavior at the workplace too, Miriandra. The guy shrugs off doing his fair share and then when a woman complains about it to a higher up, the guy labels the woman as cranky, bitchy, bossy, a complainer to his coworkers: “Like, what's her problem?" If the guy is attractive or has some charm about him, he uses it to get other women on his side. And there are some women who never notice if the guys aren't pulling their weight because they're so conditioned to just come in and do what's needed, accepting the majority of the mental load and they never take a step back and say, wait a minute, the workload is not balanced.

One of my brothers started trying to sabotage me around the holidays each year, baiting me to try to get me to lose my cool so he could claim innocence and superiority that he was the good guy. It was to the point that I was able to predict his behavior. He made the mistake of thinking he could get my husband and son to side with him. Well, one main reason I married dh was because I knew he'd take my side of any argument I ever had with any of my siblings. And ds is a gem. So brother wasn't going to convert them. I finally put boundaries in place and now have very little to do with him. Two of my sisters are blind to his behavior because it isn't something he does with them, maybe because they're older. They might someday see him for what he is but regardless, I am standing my ground.