Lafayette Square Institute Awarded $5 Million to Launch Access to Capital (A2C), a National Initiative Expanding Capital Access for Small Businesses

The award, made through the Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge led by Aspen Digital and supported by Pivotal, will advance the development of Access to Capital (A2C) in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lafayette Square Institute (LSI) today announced it has been named an awardee of the $60 million Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge, receiving a five-million-dollar grant to support the launch of its new Access to Capital (A2C) Initiative: an AI-enabled navigator to more efficiently connect entrepreneurs with public and private financing. Starting with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), this solution will be developed alongside the entrepreneurs, organizations, and mission-driven financial institutions that make small business success possible.

Led by Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute, and supported by Pivotal, a group of social impact organizations founded by Melinda French Gates, the WIN Challenge was launched in fall 2025 to discover and scale transformative ideas across three key pillars: Culture & Practices, AI, and Narrative. The 18 awardees selected represent a new generation of workplace innovation, addressing challenges ranging from caregiving and workforce participation to the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence and the narratives that shape workplace culture.

The award addresses a structural obstacle in small business finance: capital isn't reaching the entrepreneurs who need it. The Federal Reserve's Small Business Credit Survey found that women-owned firms are disparately more likely to be denied financing compared to their counterparts. At the same time, public and social sector programs addressing capital gaps are often difficult for entrepreneurs to access. Navigating dozens of discrete applications, requirements, and timelines creates a second full-time job for entrepreneurs already working around the clock to keep their businesses running. These constraints prevent investment from reaching the small businesses they intend to serve.

The A2C tool turns those obstacles into a financing pathway for every entrepreneur in the United States, tailored to what they need, in the communities they serve.

"It shouldn't take wealth to build wealth. Yet, for millions of entrepreneurs, the capital required to launch and run a business remains out of reach," said Katie Deal, Vice President at Lafayette Square Institute. "That's why we're working hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs facing the greatest obstacles to capital — starting with women business owners — to develop A2C. Small businesses anchor main streets, employ their neighbors, and build wealth that builds community along with it. Expanding access to capital means expanding opportunity across the United States."

"The gap in capital allocation to female-only founding teams threatens American competitiveness and economic growth," said Jack Moriarty, Executive Director of Lafayette Square Institute. "This award enables us to support access to capital for women-owned businesses and all entrepreneurs by removing the navigational complexity that currently impedes the supply of public and private financing solutions from adequately meeting the demand for capital in communities across the country."

"The WIN Challenge started with a simple question: what would it take to build workplaces where women—and everyone—can thrive? The answer came back in hundreds of applications from every corner of the country," said Clare Bresnahan English, Senior Director of the WIN Challenge at Aspen Digital. "These 18 awardees show us that there is no single blueprint to break down the barriers that women face in the workplace. They are all working from different angles to close the gap between what we know can make workplaces better for everyone and what actually becomes standard practice."

The WIN Challenge received nearly 900 applications from organizations across the United States and U.S. territories with innovative approaches to help everyone succeed amid rapid economic and technological change. Each applicant underwent a comprehensive multiple step review-process, including a peer review, an external evaluation panel composed of corporate, philanthropic, academic, and nonprofit experts in workplace innovation, technology, and narrative, and a review from the WIN Council composed of distinguished workplace leaders and innovators. 

Aspen Digital will spotlight the award-winning solutions at its inaugural WIN Summit on October 22 in New York City, convening leaders from business, philanthropy, academia, and the social sector to connect and learn – and to advance and scale ideas that will help women thrive and everyone win.

More information about the WIN Challenge and the full list of awardees can be found at winchallenge.org. 

About Lafayette Square Institute: 
Lafayette Square Institute is a nonprofit policy and data analytics platform committed to aligning private capital with the public interest. Through deep bipartisan relationships, innovative finance tools, and technology, LSI mobilizes investment in the people and places that need it.

Media Contact: 
Katie Deal
[email protected]

SOURCE Lafayette Square Institute