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Women of color are a principal force within the U.S. entrepreneurship community, according to a new report released by the Center for American Progress. The report lays out the current landscape of women of color entrepreneurs, explores the factors in the traditional workplace that push women of color to start their own businesses, and offers recommendations in order to ensure women of color continue to pursue entrepreneurship and thrive.

“Empowering women of color to capitalize on their own talents is a must if we hope to strengthen our nation’s economy,” says Farah Ahmad, policy analyst for Progress 2050 at CAP,  and author of the report. “Their contributions to the economy by providing services, products, and jobs, all while contributing to their own families’ economic stability, is an opportunity.”

With U.S. Bureau of the Census projections predicting women of color will make up the majority of all women by 2045, the success of entrepreneurial women of color, breaking down of barriers to entrepreneurship, and supporting more equity in the workplace has become vital, notes Ahmad.

The number of women-owned firms in the United States grew by 59% from 1997 to 2013—one and a half times the national average. Women of color are the majority owners at close to one-third of all women-owned firms in the nation. African American women are both the fastest-growing segment of the women-owned-business population and the largest share of female business owners among women of color, at 13%.

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Source: Black Enterprise | Carolyn M. Brown