CHICAGO \u2014 March 31, 2022<\/strong> \u2014<\/strong> First Women\u2019s Bank (FWB) on Thursday announced that Microsoft Corp. and United Airlines are the Bank\u2019s newest Mission Partners. The companies join a growing list of FWB Mission Partners that includes Aon, Wendy\u2019s, Comcast Corp., William Blair and the Western Golf Association, as well as other supporters, including investors Billie Jean King, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America and strategic advisors Sophia Bush and Nia Batts. In addition, FWB is spotlighting some of the small businesses it has financed since its grand opening last fall.<\/p>\n \u201cClosing the gender lending gap is a critical step toward achieving gender equality, and First Women\u2019s Bank is the bank to do it,\u201d said Marianne Markowitz, president and CEO, First Women\u2019s Bank. \u201cTogether with our Mission Partners and supporters, First Women\u2019s Bank will help bridge that gap, elevate small businesses and the communities they serve, and promote more inclusive economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n FWB\u2019s innovative strategy combines national Small Business Administration lending with deposits from mission-aligned individuals, corporations and organizations to create accessible financing for small businesses with a strategic focus on the women\u2019s economy. The support of FWB\u2019s Mission Partners, through FDIC-insured mission deposits, helps expand economic opportunity for the women\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to partner with First Women\u2019s Bank and continue to invest in the women\u2019s economy,\u201d said Anita Mehra, corporate vice president of global treasury & financial services at Microsoft. \u201cMicrosoft strives to create environments where people of a diverse range of backgrounds, especially women and women of color, have the resources and support they need to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen and women-led businesses are critical to growing and strengthening our economy and our communities,\u201d said Pam Hendry, vice president and treasurer at United. \u201cThat\u2019s why United is proud to partner with First Women\u2019s Bank as a force for good in the communities we serve to help build a robust economic environment where women and women-led businesses have access to the opportunities and resources they need to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to Mission deposits, Microsoft plans to provide training and resources from its global skills initiative<\/a> to small businesses through the FWB Collective. The FWB Collective is a community of resources, support and inspiration to help small businesses grow and thrive.<\/p>\n Client spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n Just six months after its grand opening, First Women\u2019s Bank is delivering on its mission to grow the economy and elevate the role of women within it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur clients come to us with their dreams of owning and building their businesses,\u201d said Markowitz. \u201cWith the support of our Mission Partners, shareholders, advisors and deeply committed team, First Women\u2019s Bank is providing the capital, resources and community to help our clients and their businesses grow and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n Aisha and Ruth Miller, owners\/operators, Tropical Smoothie, Burbank, Illinois <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAs two Black women forging our own path, it was important for my mother and me to align with an organization that truly believed in us<\/u>,\u201d said Aisha Miller, owner\/operator of Tropical Smoothie. \u201cFrom the first interaction, First Women\u2019s Bank treated us like family and was truly invested in our personal success. We could not have asked for a better partner on this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauret and Tosin Odesanya, owners\/operators, Scooter\u2019s Coffee, Texas <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFrom day one, the First Women\u2019s Bank team was collaborative and transparent,\u201d said Lauret Odesanya, owner\/operator of Scooter\u2019s Coffee. \u201cThey genuinely had our best interests at heart \u2014 our problem was their problem; our success was their success. We have a trusted partner in making our aims a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n About First Women\u2019s Bank <\/strong><\/p>\n First Women\u2019s Bank is the only women-founded, women-owned and women-led commercial bank in the country on a mission to grow the economy and elevate the role of women within it. The Bank serves a national lending and deposit market from its flagship location in Chicago.<\/p>\n FWBank is a Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.<\/p>\n For more information, visit www.FirstWomens.Bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n About United Airlines<\/strong><\/p>\n United\u2019s shared purpose is \u201cConnecting People. Uniting the World.\u201d In 2019, United and United Express\u00ae carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York\/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol \u201cUAL.\u201d<\/p>\n About Microsoft<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft (Nasdaq \u201cMSFT\u201d @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.<\/p>\n For more information, press only:<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n First Women\u2019s Bank Media Relations, Colleen Ryan, [email protected]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n United Airlines Media Relations, [email protected]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Note to editors:<\/em> For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http:\/\/news.microsoft.com<\/a>. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft\u2019s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/microsoft-public-relations-contacts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotlights client stories CHICAGO \u2014 March 31, 2022 \u2014 First Women\u2019s Bank (FWB) on Thursday announced that Microsoft Corp. and United Airlines are the Bank\u2019s newest Mission Partners. The companies join a growing list of FWB Mission Partners that includes Aon, Wendy\u2019s, Comcast Corp., William Blair and the Western Golf Association, as well as other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[58,112],"class_list":["post-123459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-diversity","tag-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}