The Academy
In 2024, we had more scholars, more cash grants, more communities, and more impact than ever before!
Our 2024 Impact
“Regarding Her’s Academy Program—it was a game changer for me. It’s one thing to have a vision, talent, and passion for cooking delicious food; it’s quite another to know how to run a successful and profitable business. RE:Her gave me the tools that I need to move forward and taught me how to hone my business skills—and at no cost!"
Rashida Holmes
Chef & Owner of Bridgetown Roti
2022 Academy Scholar & Grant Recipient
FAQs
Answers to the most frequently asked questions live below for our 2024 cohort. If you need any help beyond what we’ve listed out, please contact leah@regardingherfood.org.
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In order to apply for the Academy, it is required that you are a member of Regarding Her and fall under the Owner category of membership. There is no specific length of membership required. If you are a woman or woman identifying owner in the Greater LA or Greater DC area, you can apply to become a member immediately by completing the form here.
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In order to qualify as an individual applicant/owner attending the Academy you must own a minimum of 10% of the business.
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If your business has multiple women owner operators, it will count as one business. This means that if your business is selected to participate in the 2024 Academy, all women owners are eligible to participate in the curriculum. Please submit one application per business noting your partnership. All partners must be woman or woman identifying owners and together must own a total of 10% of the business (i.e if two (2) women apply together, each woman must own 5% of the business to equal 10%. If there are three (3) women applying together each must each own 3.335% of the business to equal 10%) This will count as one (1) spot of the twenty (20) available in the Academy this session. In the instance of multiple business partners taking the class together, only one (1) grant will be supplied per business/per partnership.
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We encourage you to continue to apply. The scoring committee will be made aware of such instances and will take into consideration the strength of the overall application. Please contact Kim Velazco for further questions and consideration.
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Unfortunately, you cannot apply again if you received a Regarding Her grant or attended any part of a previous Academy.
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We require applicants to be at least 18 years of age and to have operated their business for a minimum of one full calendar year prior to enrollment.
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To be eligible for the Academy program, your business must have been operational for at least the past 12 months. If your business opened in June 2023 and has consistently maintained operations, achieving a minimum of $250K in sales over the preceding 12 months, we will consider your application.
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Yes, you will need to provide basic information about the business (name, website, social media, location, type of business, and number of employees).
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If you do not have a brick & mortar, you are not required to provide a proof of lease agreement or mortgage. If you don’t have a lease or mortgage, please provide an explanation as to where and how you run your business.
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We require these materials to be submitted in order to apply. Shortly after announcing the selected cohort of the 2024 Academy each scholar will be given a one-on-one review of their business financials and an advice session with a top CPA in their area. Because of this, we need the P&L information submitted with the application. An example of a P&L lives here.
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Common mistakes include incomplete applications, missing financial documentation, and not clearly demonstrating eligibility criteria. Be sure to thoroughly review the application instructions and double-check your submission before sending it in. Please contact Kim Velazco at kim@regardingherfood.org if you have any questions during the completion of the application.
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Grant applications will typically be reviewed through a systematic process that involves multiple stages. Initially, a team of reviewers, often composed of experts in the relevant field, will evaluate each application based on predefined criteria such as project significance, feasibility, impact, and alignment with the grant's goals. The reviewers will then score each application to facilitate a comparative assessment and discuss the top candidates to select the final 20 grant recipients/Academy participants.
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Both LA and DC DMV chapters have grant selection committees made up of industry leaders, restaurant owners, chefs, and Regarding Her members from the DC and LA regions. Both committees will be led by Kimberly Velazco, Director of Grant Relations.
Regarding Her staff and Board Members are not a part of the selecting committee.
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All applicants will receive a letter of acceptance or a letter of refusal. Should you receive a refusal letter please do not be discouraged. We hope you will re-apply for the Academy next year.
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Participation in the Academy is free for selected members. However, participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses for any in-person events.
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You can stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media in LA and DC, and regularly checking our website for new announcements and opportunities.
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Once all requirements of the Academy have been met each grantee will be sent an informational email to include a link to an ACH form for fund disbursement.
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No. The $5k grant funds must be used for efforts to drive growth of your business. Examples include increasing awareness of your business through branding/marketing, purchasing equipment or technology needed to grow your business, hiring professional services to make your business more compliant or efficient, educational programs for you or your team members, moving to a bigger location or opening an additional location, developing new products, etc. The funds may not be used for items such as lapsed rent, payroll, or vendor bills. However you finally decide to use the grant must be communicated to Regarding Her clearly and tangibly. Explanations cannot be vague or open-ended.
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To qualify to receive the $5k grant at the end of the Academy, attendance is mandatory. You must adhere to the 2024 Academy attendance requirements, which include:
Must attend the following four in-person classes, which occur on:
Monday, July 22, 2024
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Monday, September 9, 2024
Must attend both virtual/zoom one-on-one sessions, which need to completed within the time frames provided below:
Financial Review with a CPA must be completed between Saturday, July 13, 2024 - Sunday, July 21, 2024
Marketing Review with Expert must be completed between Monday, August 12, 2024 - Thursday, August 22, 2024
Of the remaining 18 class sessions, you can only miss 3 classes (meaning you must attend 15 of the remaining 18 sessions). While we offer some flexibility, we cannot stress enough the importance of attending all sessions. It's not just about gaining knowledge from our instructors and guest speakers but also about networking and connecting with leaders in various fields. An overview of the curriculum lives here for your reference.
Please note that all scholars must attend in-person classes and events, regardless of their distance from the venues (most will be held in DC and LA proper).
Please see Attendance Policy here.
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Unfortunately, if a scholar does not attend the required number of classes, they will not be awarded the $5k grant.
Please see Attendance Policy here.
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The application process begins on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 and ends on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Selected applicants will be notified by no later than the week of July 15, 2024.
The Academy program will run from Monday, July 22, 2024 through Thursday, September 26, 2024.
A summary of key dates lives here for your reference.
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In-person classes will primarily be held in venues within the DC and LA proper areas. Specific locations will be communicated to the selected participants.