A Portland nonprofit aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs is changing its name to better reflect its work as it searches for a new executive director.
XXcelerate and the related XXcelerate Fund have rebranded to Xcelerate Women and the group is evolving to act as a support and educational organization to help women and those who identify with gender bias grow successful businesses and create generational wealth. The XX in the name is being removed to avoid any connotation of biological essentialism.
“We are focused on growing and supporting women who are trying to grow businesses,” said Amy Jermain, who has led the group since the end of 2019 but is stepping down at the end of this year. “It’s not just external (growth) offering skills and building capacity (in a business) but we address internal things. We talk about self-efficacy, confidence, building women to believe in themselves and that they have the innate capacity to be leaders.”
This year, Xcelerate has served 350 women across the state. The group has three full-time staff and a seven-member board. A search for a new executive director is expected to start in February. In the interim, creative strategist Abby Guyer will lead the group until a permanent successor is found.
“Amy has done an exceptional job stewarding Xcelerate through the tumultuousness of the last several years and has been pivotal in helping the organization navigate the new landscape, the shifting ecosystem and the needs of our community,” said Board Chair Gloria Coleman in a written statement. “Xcelerate is well positioned for future growth and the robust delivery of modern services that serve women specifically.”
Xcelerate Women's start
The group started in 2017 when several women came together with a mission to get capital into the hands of woman founders. Those founders sought to create a revolving loan fund to help bridge an increasing capital gap for women who receive less venture capital funding and less bank lending than men.
Along the way, the group also started an accelerator designed to help women learn tactical growth and sales skills. The accelerator had three cohorts and a fourth was in process when the Covid-19 pandemic set in.
That fourth cohort was adjusted, and the group worked with founders to help them weather the pandemic, said Jermain.
The pandemic also upended the group’s revolving loan fund plan. At the start of 2020, Xcelerate had a $1 million loan fund it was planning to unveil in March. It had run a pilot loan with a company in the fall of 2019 and the program looked like it was going to work, said Jermain.
With the pandemic, funders and the group put the loan fund on hold.
Over the last two years, Jermain said it has become clear that though access to capital is an important issue, women weren’t necessarily coming to Xcelereate for that purpose.
“We found that women came to Xcelerate in the early years because they wanted community, connection and wanted to feel supported,” she said. “That was something we weren’t as focused on. We were more focused on getting money into the hands of women — which is important — but, if the internal stuff isn’t addressed then what does capital do?”
Xcelerate rebrand and evolution
Once the economy stabilized the group embarked on a strategic planning process. That took up the last half of 2021. The group has spent this year rebranding.
“After 2020 passed and we survived it was clear that (the group) couldn’t go back to what it was,” said Jermain. “We learned through the analysis of four years (of work) what it was that women wanted. Access to capital wasn’t the only thing women lacked in the ecosystem.”
The group has a new gender statement on its website and outlines its purpose. It is focused on providing access to community, education and capacity-building within businesses. The nonprofit has a pool of about 50 contractors who can be brought in as needed to help founders with specific needs at the time the help is needed.
Xcelerate also sees room to be an advocate for women in economic development policy discussions.
The group has about 300 active members in its community and has partnerships across the state. It is funded through public and private grants, individual and corporate donors.
In the next executive director the group is looking for someone who can come in with an understanding of Oregon and take the group to the next level.
“I am proud of where Xcelerate is and what it has become for so many women in Oregon and I look forward to watching it continue to grow and blossom,” said Jermain.
