Maryland-based Black women founders are getting major support in realizing their professional dreams.

TEDCO, an economic engine for technology companies, recently announced Institute for Women Entrepreneur Excellence, Inc. (“Institute”), an expanded version of their pilot aimed at toppling barriers to success for minority business owners.

“Women still face challenges when navigating the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Linda Singh, PhD, Institute for Women Entrepreneur Excellence executive director in a news release. “In fact, recent numbers showed that venture funding to women-led businesses decreased from the all-time high of 2.8% in 2019 to 2.3% in 2020. With this redesigned program, we are working to combat this decline, confront the unique trials that women entrepreneurs face and create a community of resources and support.”

The Institute is a spin-off of two earlier pilot programs—the Leading Women’s Program and the Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence that worked with Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities to create substantive resources for underrepresented groups.

“We are excited to continue developing an inclusive community where women entrepreneurs can find various resources available to help leverage their success,” said Tammi Thomas, chief development and marketing officer at TEDCO. “With the creation of the Institute, we are expanding on the work the two pilot programs started and creating a more inclusive, supportive community that entrepreneurs throughout Maryland can rely on. Through this community, we can build on the statistic that placed Maryland at the top, having the highest rate per capita of women business owners in the U.S.”

Anyone’s who’s interested in applying for the the program’s first cohort can do so here.