Black Girl Ventures Pitch Program

The Global Citizen and PayPal Small Business Impact Awards provide small and medium-sized business owners around the world with $20,000 cash prizes, along with data and insights, technical training, and marketing and brand activations to accelerate their work. Administered through a partnership between Global Citizen, a global advocacy and citizenship platform, and PayPal, the awards recognize creative business leaders who have developed innovative products and services that drive measurable social or environmental impact in their communities. Multiple winners are selected each year (five winners were honored in 2025). To be eligible, applicants must be the owner, founder, or CEO who plays a crucial role in the business, operate a small-to-medium-sized business with fewer than 50 full-time employees or annual revenue under $1 million (subject to local regulations and standards), maintain an online presence that allows customers to buy their product, have between 1 and 5 years of demonstrated impact in their community, and live and work in one of four eligible regions: North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, or Latin America. Demonstrated community impact may include supporting local causes, charities, or nonprofits, engaging in community development projects or partnerships, implementing sustainable practices that benefit the local environment or economy, or creating jobs or educational opportunities for community members. Franchises and businesses that are part of national or international chains are not eligible, and businesses affiliated with organizations subject to U.S. financial sanctions cannot receive awards. The application consists of four parts: basic information about the applicant and their business, a 1 to 2 minute pitch video explaining why they deserve the award, four short-answer questions describing how the work aligns with the judging criteria, and supplemental organizational details if requested. Applications are evaluated on three core criteria: Innovation (how the business's innovation supports its mission and creates positive societal or environmental impact), Vision (a compelling vision and concrete plans for expanding the work over the next 3 to 5 years), and Impact (a demonstrated track record of measurable impact advancing one or more of the United Nations' Global Goals). Up to 50 finalists are selected for additional review and asked to submit three letters of recommendation before final winners are chosen.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) encourages applications for investigator-initiated, early phase, clinical trials of natural products (i.e., botanicals, probiotics, and products marketed as dietary supplements), which have a strong scientific premise to justify further clinical testing. For this NOFO, natural products include promising nutritional regimens that standardize the amount of a specific naturally occurring nutritional compound (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids, anthocyanidins, or polyphenols) and have compelling preliminary evidence. Under this NOFO, trials must be designed so that results, whether positive or negative, will provide information of high scientific utility and will support decisions about further development or testing of the natural product. This NOFO will provide up to three years (R61 phase) of support for milestone-driven testing of pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and assessment of the natural products effect (i.e., measure of mechanism of action) when used by humans on a specified target measure. If milestones in the R61 phase are achieved, up to 3 years of additional support (R33 phase) may be awarded to replicate the impact of the natural product on target engagement(s) when used by humans and assess whether there is an association between the degree of the impact on the target engagement and clinical outcomes in a participant population. Applications are encouraged to design R33 studies to determine how to optimize the impact of the natural product on the target engagement by optimizing the delivery of the natural product through examination of different doses or formulations. In addition, applications can be designed to combine the natural product with another treatment approach that is known to impact the same target engagement measure; or study the impact of the natural product in a population that is more responsive,

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) aims to support new biomedical, behavioral, and social science investigators who are in the early stages of establishing independent careers in tobacco regulatory research. The R03 grant mechanism supports different types of projects, including pilot and feasibility studies, secondary analysis of existing data, small, self-contained research projects, development of research methodology, and development of new research technology. Applicants are encouraged to conduct projects that ultimately have the potential to inform regulations on tobacco product manufacturing, distribution, and marketing. Research projects must address one or more High-Priority Research Topic(s) related to the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) as mandated by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA), Public Law 111-31. The awards under this NOFO will be administered by NIH using funds made available through FDA CTP and the FSPTCA. Research results from this NOFO are expected to generate findings and data directly relevant to informing the FDA's regulation of the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products to protect public health.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce and its divisions, including the Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, and Pass Christian Chambers of Commerce, are now accepting applications for their respective Small Business Development Grant programs. Grants, starting at a minimum of $500, will be awarded to Chamber members selected by a judging committee. Elligible businesses include any members of The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce with fewer than 50 employees.

The Guaranteed Work Force Program provides funds for West Virginia employers to cover the costs of training, retraining, and upgrading worker skills at all levels of an organization. Both new and tenured employee training is eligible. Awards are limited to $2,000 per trainee, and overall funding is based on average starting wages, location, number of employees, and the number of trainees.