In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Loan Mantra reiterates its commitment to female small business owners and entrepreneurs by announcing a $5,000 grant to female business owners in South Carolina.
The inaugural Loan Mantra She Leads SC Grant called on female entrepreneurs across South Carolina to share their stories. What they sent us was extraordinary. From rural Lowcountry to college campuses, from AI-powered workforce programs to patent-pending health innovations, the women who applied showed us exactly what it looks like when purpose meets grit in the Palmetto State.
Our selection committee — comprised primarily of female business owners, bankers, and financial professionals — reviewed every application with care. Today, we're proud to introduce the three 2026 finalists competing for community selection, and three honorable mentions we simply couldn't leave unrecognized.
Scroll to meet them. Then vote for the one who moves you most.
Meet the Finalists: Eligible for Community Voting
The following three women advance to the community voting stage of the 2026 She Leads SC Grant. Watch their pitch videos, read their stories, and cast your vote below. They are listed in alphabetical order according to business name.
Awendaw Sanitation Services: Stacia McNeil Dawson | Awendaw, South Carolina
Stacia McNeil Dawson grew up in Awendaw, South Carolina, watching her rural community load trash into personal vehicles and haul it to faraway dump sites. Or worse, they would leave it to pile up in the woods. There was no curbside collection. No reliable service and no help to be seen. Stacia saw the problem and she launched into action.
In 2022, she launched Awendaw Sanitation Services. Stacia became the first African American woman to found a waste management company in South Carolina. She raised nearly $250,000 from her own resources, built her fleet from the ground up, and began providing weekly curbside trash collection to the rural households of Awendaw, McClellanville, Huger, Buckhall, Tibwin, Jamestown, and Shulerville.
Stacia wasn't just picking up garbage. She was delivering dignity.
Awendaw Sanitation now serves both residential and light commercial clients across rural Charleston County. Its track record earned Stacia the 2024 LEAP 1st Place Award from the South Carolina Community Loan Fund. With the She Leads SC Grant, she plans to invest in critical fleet equipment, project a 40% increase in collection efficiency, and hire additional team members from underrepresented backgrounds all while preparing to serve the 200+ new homes coming to the area.
🌐 awendawsanitationcompany.com | 📷 @awendaw_sanitation | 📘 Awendaw Sanitation Services on Facebook
The GraceWorks Initiative: Rev. Shennice Cleckley | Columbia/Lexington, SC
Rev. Shennice Cleckley has spent her career at the intersection of faith, technology, and community transformation. She's a Mastercard-recognized CEO Force for Good, a Google-certified Digital Coach for the state of South Carolina, an award-winning AI strategist, and the co-founder of Grace In Action CDC. This is an organization that has helped South Carolina families access food, dignity, and economic opportunity.
Her latest venture? Now she's channeling everything she's built into The GraceWorks Initiative.
GraceWorks is a trauma-informed, two-phase workforce development ecosystem designed to transform women in low-wage service roles — cashiers, hospitality staff, fast-food workers — into high-earning, tech-enabled professionals. Phase One is GraceWorks Academy, a virtual training platform teaching AI prompt engineering, Emotional Intelligence, and professional business communication. This arms women with the specific skills that corporate employers are actively seeking. Phase Two is GraceWorks Career Solutions, a boutique staffing agency that places graduates with corporate partners and reinvests 100% of its profits to fund future cohorts.
The numbers tell the story: women represent nearly 60% of South Carolina's low-wage workforce, and the average woman in this state loses nearly $400,000 over her lifetime to the wage gap. Rev. Shennice believes the fastest path to closing that gap runs directly through skill acquisition. With her vision, GraceWorks is the road that gets women where they want to be as professionals.
The $5,000 She Leads SC Grant would fund software licenses and targeted digital marketing to recruit and train the first 100 women. One seed investment for a permanently self-funding economic engine.
🌐 graceinactioncdc.org | 💼 linkedin.com/in/shennicecleckley
Rally Higher: Amanda Simeone | Greenville, SC
Amanda Simeone didn't set out to start a company. She set out to help her mom.
Her mom lives with Type 1 diabetes and like the estimated 50,000 South Carolinians who share that diagnosis, she navigates the constant, unpredictable risk of hypoglycemia: dangerous drops in blood sugar that can cause seizures, loss of consciousness, and worse. Existing solutions like juice boxes, glucose tablets, or even candy can take 15 minutes or more to work. When cognitive function is already impaired, that wait time is dangerous.
Amanda graduated from Miami University's Farmer School of Business with a double major in Finance and Entrepreneurship and a minor in Nutrition. She launched her first glucose innovation as a class project, guided it through 500+ customer conversations, entered 7 pitch competitions across the country, and secured funding in 6 of them. That company became HERO Glucose. HERO eventually became Rally Higher.
Rally Glucose Melts are patent-pending, fast-dissolving effervescent tablets that begin absorbing glucose through mucosal membranes as they dissolve . No chewing, no water, no waiting. Designed for simplicity, speed, and reliability, they represent what Amanda believes to be a genuinely new standard in diabetes emergency care.
Amanda has relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, and is building Rally's market here first. This is where it began, and where it matters most. With the Loan Mantra She Leads SC Grant, she would fund participation in Breakthrough T1D walks across Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston this fall, reaching 3,000+ people directly and converting early users into the loyal customer community that will carry Rally Higher forward.
🌐 rallyhigher.com | 💼 linkedin.com/in/amanda-simeone
Cast your vote
Community voting is open May 1–31, 2026 through the form below. Make your decision and help give seed money to a deserving female entrepreneur.
Any U.S. citizen 18 or older can vote. All you need is your email address and zip code. Repeat emails will not be counted regardless of form submission.
The finalist with the most votes receives the $5,000 Loan Mantra She Leads SC Grant, plus complimentary financial strategy sessions with Loan Mantra CEO and Forbes Business Council member, Raj Tulshan. The winner will be publicly announced on South Carolina Day, August 31, 2026.
Honorable Mention: Leaders of the Pack
The She Leads SC selection committee was moved by every application it reviewed. These three businesses were too important to leave without recognition. While they are not eligible for community voting, they represent exactly the kind of women-led business leadership that Loan Mantra was built to support. We encourage you to follow their journeys and connect with us about future opportunities. They are listed in alphabetical order, based on owner/founder name.
S³ (Shaping Second Stories): Lesley James Baker | Greenville, SC
S³ is a nonprofit mobile pop-up model that provides curated professional clothing, interview preparation, communication coaching, and mentorship to underserved individuals at the pivotal moment of workforce transition. Lesley's insight is simple and powerful: you cannot separate what someone wears from how they carry themselves. S³ serves the whole person, not just the resume.
Within her first year, Lesley aims to serve 300+ individuals, host 6–10 community events, redistribute 3,000+ professional garments, and establish 10+ community partnerships across the Greenville area. S³ is a Greenville-based initiative that is growing with intention and with heart.
Studio Smoothie: Caris Mitchell | Spartanburg, SC (Wofford College)
Caris Mitchell is a full-time accounting student and a full-time entrepreneur. Studio Smoothie, her on-campus smoothie business at Wofford College, is an LLC she built from a market observation, a pitch competition win, and a lot of early morning prep work. Open twice a week in Wofford's Galleria, Studio Smoothie has expanded to off-campus delivery, is preparing a second location with Wofford Athletics, and is developing community business education partnerships across Spartanburg.
Caris leads with what she calls a service-first mindset — and it shows in everything from her menu (named for Wofford traditions) to her community partnerships (raising money for St. Jude, collaborating on youth entrepreneurship programs). She is 20 years old, and she is nowhere near done.
📷 @studiosmoothie_ | 💼 linkedin.com/in/carismitchell
Gems Leadership Academy: Jasmine Owens | Orangeburg, South Carolina
Gems Leadership Academy is a South Carolina-based initiative dedicated to developing confident, capable young women leaders through mentorship, structured programming, and community. GLA fills a genuine gap in accessible leadership development for girls creating the safe spaces, skill-building experiences, and adult mentorship relationships that help young women step fully into their potential.
Founder Jasmine Owens and Gems Leadership Academy is recognized by the selection committee for the depth of community impact and irreplaceable nature of its mission.
About the She Leads SC Grant
Your Vision. Your Business. Your Mantra.
The Loan Mantra She Leads SC Grant is a $5,000 annual award for female entrepreneurs who are not just building businesses — but building up their South Carolina communities. Launched in 2026 in honor of Women's History Month and International Women's Day, the grant is designed to provide high-impact seed capital at the exact moment it matters most.
In its inaugural year, the award winner is selected by the citizens and business owners of the Palmetto State through a one-month community voting period in May. The selection committee — comprised primarily of female business owners, bankers, and financial professionals — reviews all applications and selects the three finalists who advance to the community voting stage.
The grant winner receives $5,000 in seed capital plus up to three hours of complimentary financial strategy and development sessions with Loan Mantra CEO Raj Tulshan and other Loan Mantra team leaders.
Questions about the grant? Reach us at hello@loanmantra.com
Adjudication & Judging Criteria
The grant committee evaluated the applications on the following:
- Community Impact (30%) – How deeply are you woven into the fabric of your South Carolina community? How will/does the business benefit the community?
- Feasibility (25%) – Is the $5k use-of-funds realistic and objective for the proposal?
- Innovation & SROI (25%) – Is this a fresh solution to an old problem?
- Video Pitch Quality (10%) – Your pitch doesn’t need to be Hollywood ready, but does it clearly articulate your "why"?
- Engagement Potential (10%) – Is your business concept shareable and inspiring?
Are you a woman building a business in the United States?
The She Leads SC Grant is one way Loan Mantra supports women entrepreneurs, but it isn't the only way. From SBA loans to equipment financing to startup capital, we're built to help businesses like yours grow. Whether you're ready to apply for funding today or just want to explore your options, we're here to help! Become finance-ready, acquire prudent capital, and scale your business for the future with our team.
