Redefining Capital: An Intersectional Call to Action for International Women’s Day
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the innovation, resilience, and leadership of women entrepreneurs around the world. But celebration without accountability falls short. One of the most persistent and defining barriers facing women-owned and led businesses is access to capital.
Despite decades of conversation about equity in entrepreneurship, venture capital continues to shape the dominant narrative around growth. Yet women receive only a fraction of venture funding globally, and the numbers are even more stark for women of the Global Majority. The gap is not about a lack of ambition or capability. It is about systems designed to reward familiarity.
As Gayle Jennings O’Byrne, CEO of Wocstar Capital, notes, “Access to capital remains one of the defining barriers for women-led businesses. Venture capital continues to shape the narrative around growth, yet women receive only a small fraction of those dollars… Capital is not only money, it is access to networks, information, and decision-making rooms.”
Her words underscore a critical truth: capital is as much about proximity and power as it is about dollars.