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Comcast Announces Major Expansion of RISE Program to Include All Women-Owned Small Businesses

“Women can sometimes be left out of conversations around funding and technology. If our business isn’t technology-focused, we can find ourselves left out of finding ways technology can advance our business. But every small business can benefit from a technology upgrade, whether you are in the hair, food or mannequin industry,” said Judi Henderson, a RISE Investment Fund recipient and owner of Mannequin Madness in Oakland. “Comcast recognizes the many challenges women business-owners encounter and the RISE grant is helping put women at the forefront.”

Published

4 years ago

January 23, 2022

Oakland Post

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Judi Henderson, a RISE Investment Fund recipient and owner of Mannequin Madness in Oakland.

Small Businesses Owned by Women – Regardless of Ethnicity – Now Invited to Apply for Comcast RISE Program Aimed at Helping Entrepreneurs Recover from COVID-19 Pandemic

By Adriana Arvizo and Maddie Moore

As of Sunday, Jan. 16, all women-owned businesses within Comcast’s California service area are eligible to apply for the Comcast RISE program.

This major expansion of Comcast RISE furthers efforts to advance digital equity and helps provide underrepresented small business owners with access to the digital tools and funding they need to thrive.

Of the Comcast RISE recipients named in the program’s first year, nearly 70% have been businesses owned by women of color, spurring Comcast to take a deeper look into the unique challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

According to a study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, with more than 1,800 new businesses being started every day. This is nearly five times the national average.

However, according to the same study, women-owned businesses are growing at only half the rate of those owned by men, namely because women often face unique challenges when trying to access capital and other resources to help them succeed.

The Comcast RISE expansion to all women-owned businesses recognizes and seeks to help address these persistent inequities women continue to face in accessing the resources and funding that are critical to success.

Comcast RISE, which stands for Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment, is part of Project UP, and is accepting applications through June 17. Small businesses owned by people of color and women in California — in Comcast’s footprint — are encouraged to apply for the chance to receive consulting, media, and creative production services from Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, or technology upgrades based on their specific needs from Comcast Business.

Additionally, Comcast California recently unveiled a new RISE Business Directory for laptops and mobile phones, highlighting nearly 300 small, diverse-owned California businesses that have received grants, marketing and technology services from the Comcast RISE program.

For more information and the applications to apply for either the grant program or marketing and technology services, visit www.ComcastRISE.com.

Adriana Arvizo and Maddie Moore are media representatives for Comcast and Fiona Hutton & Associates respectively.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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7 days ago

November 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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2 weeks ago

November 24, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 20, 2025

Oakland Post

William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.