March is Women’s History Month, an important time to celebrate the progress women entrepreneurs have made. While women-owned businesses positively impact the American economy, owning over 13 million businesses with almost $2 trillion in annual revenues, barriers stand in the way of achieving true success and economic parity. For instance, only 4% of total small business loan dollars go to women, and companies with female-only founders received just 2.1% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups. Women entrepreneurs face conscious and unconscious bias, unequal access to networks and education, and a disproportionate responsibility for caretaking and household work. These challenges contribute to a lack of understanding and connection with lenders. Women entrepreneurs must explore all available resources, including grants and the recently expanded Access to Capital Directory. While many factors affect gender disparities in access to capital, an array of financing options, such as crowdfunding and online lenders, have entered the market. Women entrepreneurs must learn which financing options are right for their situation to raise money faster and at a lower cost. Women business owners are also challenged by their responsibilities at home and need to figure out how to simultaneously build a business and a family. To fundamentally change attitudes about lending to women, we must hold funders accountable by outing the lack of diversity in whom they fund. To achieve more objective decision-making, lending institutions should commit to collecting data and analyzing trends that can reveal personal biases and overlooked opportunities. Celebrating the stories and accomplishments of female founders and highlighting their unique challenges can help eliminate these barriers. The future for women entrepreneurs is bright, with incredible opportunities for female founders, especially if founders, institutions, and investors work together. Reimagining the lending environment for women business owners requires addressing early and short-term funding gaps through equitable, frictionless grants and increasing access to business financing and banking.