Newly formed non-profit RE:Her announced a COVID-19 relief grant program, sponsored by DoorDash, to help women-owned restaurants in Los Angeles.
This initiative builds on the organization’s January 2021 event called 10 Days RE:Her.
RE:Her will distribute 15 cash grants of $10,000 each to female-identifying food and beverage entrepreneurs in LA County, which recipients can use to bolster their business however they see fit.
“Our grant is unique in that it not only awards $10,000 in cash, but ALSO these funds will be accompanied by customized, one-on-one advice from professionals in restaurant finance, marketing/PR, and human resources. The awardees will also participate in small group webinars focused on branding/social media, and exploring the resources of RE:Her,” Dina Samson, co-owner of Rossoblu and co-founder of RE:Her, told the Asian Journal in an email.
Eligibility requirements include being an LA County-based independently-owned restaurant with 50 or fewer full- or part-time employees as of February 15, 2020 or a restaurant group in which each member restaurant had 50 or fewer full-or part-time employees as of that date; maximum pre-COVID annual revenues of $2,000,000 per restaurant unit or maximum pre-COVID annual revenues of $4,000,000 per restaurant group; down at least 25% in pre-COVID revenues during 2020; and being at least 25% women-owned or women-identifying.
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A committee of hospitality and business experts will select the grantees, including Mendocino Farms founder Ellen Chen, former Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin, Los Angeles Times food writer Jenn Harris, The Hundreds co-founder Ben Hundreds, restaurant accountant Barbara Barschak, restaurateur Roy Choi, consultant and media personality Monti Carlo, trademark attorney Elizabeth Sbardaletti, Jessica Kaczmerek of the James Irvine Foundation, and Kristin Aldana-Taday of the Hilton Foundation.
RE:Her is a non-profit devoted to the advancement and empowerment of women restaurateurs, supporting members through industry-focused and consumer-facing initiatives, virtual and physical events, and promotion and representation. The organization launched earlier this year with a mission to provide opportunities and resources—financial, educational and more—to women owners in Los Angeles and beyond.
“Over the last four months, RE:Her has grown into a platform for connection for 250+ women to share resources, information, and support, and we want to continue to champion and empower our community with these grants,” said Lien Ta, a RE:Her Founding Member. “The grant program has been a core element of our organization from day one, and we are excited to roll this out to give our members a leg-up as they rebound from the most challenging time in the history of our industry.”
During Women’s History Month, DoorDash, whose donation has enabled RE:Her’s COVID-19 grant program, launched Made by Women—an in-app and digital platform that elevates women-owned businesses by making it easier to identify them by searching “women owned” in the DoorDash app or website. DoorDash also launched various fundraising and loan-matching campaigns to benefit female entrepreneurs, including donations to the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Programs.
DoorDash is committed to supporting women-owned businesses and will continue to use its platform to drive meaningful change. Partnering with RE:Her is one of the ways DoorDash is to bringing that commitment to life, creating more opportunities for women-owned businesses in the Los Angeles area.
“The initiatives DoorDash has implemented over the last year to support women-owned businesses align with the RE:Her mission, and the partnership we have formed will bolster the RE:Her community beyond just grants—including marketing and educational resources for members,” says RE:Her founding member Heather Sperling. “Third-party delivery can be both a lifeline and a challenge for restaurants, but we are excited to partner with one of the key players in this space to funnel resources back into businesses as they rebuild in the coming months.”
Applications for the grant program will be accepted from May 17-23. Grant recipients will be announced on June 14. Independent, majority women-owned restaurants or culinary businesses in Los Angeles County are encouraged to apply, including catering companies and food trucks. Specifics for eligibility can be found at regardingherfood.org/grant.
