Mayor Sly James commits $10K for women in business efforts

Kansas City Mayor Sly James recently announced two initiatives to benefit women in business and in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Mayor James

James pledged $10,000 toward the Women’s Business Center‘s “WE-Lend Microloan Program,” which supports women-owned businesses in Kansas City, Mo., through funding, technical assistance and access to a financial coach. The mayor also announced additional support for the national Million Women Mentors initiative that aims to find mentors for girls and young women in STEM fields.

Both moves are apart of the mayor’s Women’s Empowerment Initiative, which James launched on March 27 with the Central Exchange, Women’s Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Women’s Center.

“If Kansas City is truly going to be the tech-hub of the Midwest, we have to continue developing the next generation of tech leaders, and that has to include women and girls,” James said in a news release.

The initiative’s goal is to find one million mentors by 2018 for girls and young women nationally who are interested in STEM careers. Mentoring, James said, helps close the already small gap in the number of women in STEM careers who leave their jobs.