Applications are open! BMO is offering $150,000 in grants to help U.S. women-owned businesses make progress

BMO, in collaboration with Deloitte, has launched its annual BMO Celebrating Women Grant Program, an initiative dedicated to helping U.S. women-owned businesses make real financial progress.  

Inspired by its purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO invites women business owners to apply for one of its 15 grants by sharing their business growth plans that satisfy one of the following requirements: new products and services, expanding to new markets, or hiring plans.

Applicants must have a physical presence or a headquarters mailing address in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming (businesses located in Michigan or Texas must be within 100 miles of a BMO full-service retail branch in an adjacent state).

Applications are open April 30 to May 14.

“Each year, the BMO Celebrating Women Grant Program helps inspire women-led businesses to thrive in their communities and make progress. By breaking down traditional barriers to funding for women entrepreneurs, the grant program aligns to BMO’s Zero Barriers to Inclusion strategy. Increasing access to capital through lending, investing, and giving in our local communities creates a more vibrant economy, a sustainable future, and a more inclusive society.”

– Erminia (Ernie) Johannson
Group Head, North American Personal and Business Banking

Since launching in 2020, the program has provided 56 women-led business owners across North America with over half a million dollars in grant funding with support from Deloitte.

“Deloitte is proud to continue our collaboration with BMO and further our support for women-led businesses,” said Kathy Scherer, Deloitte LLP’s Central Region Market Leader and Chicago Managing Partner. “We hope these grants give women leaders from all backgrounds the support they need to help grow their businesses and give a boost to the communities where they operate. We look forward to seeing the progress the grant recipients achieve with this added support.”

– Kathy Scherer
Deloitte LLP’s Central Region Market Leader and Chicago Managing Partner

BMO has a longstanding commitment to breaking down barriers to advance women’s empowerment, advocate for their growth and foster inclusivity by meeting their unique needs, including:

• Committing $200 million to expand BMO’s small business programs that support women, Black, Latino and Native American-owned businesses.
• Dedicating $325 million for special purpose credit programs, specifically for mortgage and small business lending designed for women and borrowers of color.
• Creating the largest nonprofit fintech industry program for women with 1871, WMNfintech.
• Establishing customer programs, such as Women in Business, which focus on advancing gender parity for the bank’s clients – supporting the growth of women-owned businesses and empowering women to feel confident about their finances and their financial futures.
• Recently celebrating the 10-year anniversary of BMO Alliance for Women, BMO’s largest Employee Resource Group with over 10,000 members championing the inclusion, connection, development, advancement and support of women within BMO’s workforce and culture.
• Partnering with the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Angel City Football Club. As part of ACFC’s sponsorship model, the organizations reallocated 10 percent of the partnership into the community through a sponsorship of Girls Play Los Angeles, where BMO is supporting over 400 high school-aged girls and non-binary youth across Los Angeles with no-cost access to soccer.
• Setting new diversity goals for senior leader and executive roles, including maintaining its leadership in gender diversity with 40 percent of senior leadership roles filled by employees who identify as women.

To learn more about the BMO Celebrating Women Grant program, visit www.bmoforwomen.com.