“Watch” says Wells Fargo “as Five Small Businesses take the next step.” When it came time to put their money where their corporate mouth was, NO ‘female or minority owned business’ took this next step.

Surprising? Yes, because all the finalists merited winning yet, the bank FORGOT to include the very demographic it targeted for this contest.

Hi, my name is Elaina Redmond and I was one of the excited 25 finalists in the contest. I’m an entrepreneur, children’s book author and I also write and perform comedy. When I saw the list of the actual five winners and NO woman or minority owned business had won, I was shocked. I realized the winners were NOT chosen on merit, but on a white male anatomical part and a long tradition of funding the status quo.

It may be easy for some to dismiss this article because they may want to kill the messenger, point a finger and say, “you didn’t win Elaina, you’re just upset." Sure, I thought it was odd my business mission of Abraham Lincoln, financial literacy and civics for children was dismissed by a bank, and instead, one of their chosen winners was a 90 year old white business man relatively new at selling a food condiment.

(Of course, I think teaching America's children and contributing to the nation's future matters more, but that is my opinion. I’ve been in the business trenches a long time. I’m used to obstacles and people forgetting that children matter.)

However, I knew I wasn't chosen prior to the winners list being posted. What really got me and was more shocking, was that I wasn't alone, NO other woman or minority business were chosen, yet they all merited one of the five grand prizes. I thought there is something really unfair going on here. Why did Wells Fargo only fund the white guys and a traditional Mad Men era business couple out of 3,785 businesses?

What happened? Why did Wells Fargo fail at their own marketing message of inclusion and diversity when all the woman or minority owned business finalists were terrific and also deserved to win?

Wells Fargo even featured in their new contest, two women/minority owned business finalists (see photo below) and only one winner as their primary marketing campaign for their new small business contest. Wells Fargo appears diverse friendly yet again, but these women were NOT the winners. If these women finalists were good enough to be in all their ads and videos, why were they not chosen as the winners to begin with, winning the big opportunity?

So, I decided to do some detective work...

The contest overview went like this: 25 diverse fantastic finalists were chosen out of 3,785 small businesses nationwide. Each business received $1,000 and entrance to the next round. Out of 25 finalists, five businesses won $25,000 and 6 months of corporate mentorship valued at $25,000.

This contest sounds like a great opportunity for small business owners, right?

Wells Fargo thought so too! Cheerleaders for diversity, they promoted this strong theme on their corporate and social media sites. I was drawn in. This is why I was so shocked that no woman or minority had won as it was the exact opposite of their inclusive marketing.

I don’t think Wells Fargo intentionally set out to ignore their own marketing message, but often women and minorities make it to one stage, but not to the very top. A contest with a glass ceiling. When the time came to give the big money, the big opportunity, Wells Fargo FAILED BIG at diversifying.

But wait, Wells Fargo did diversify! Let me explain. They diversified the four white males. They didn't just stick with young white working males, but courageously gave business ‘Viagra’ to the white males over 40. This included an opportunity of a lifetime given to the sweet 90 year old man selling condiments, the one I mentioned earlier. Wells Fargo, you succeeded in one area! No age discrimination for white males. Bravo, Don Draper would approve.

When I contacted Wells Fargo, the representative explained how one of the winning businesses, the business couple straight out of “Leave It To Beaver” did have a woman partner. She said, “it’s the [little] lady who runs things.” Isn't that a line describing a token female from the Mad Men era?

This rep couldn’t grasp the difference between a ‘woman and minority owned business’ from a status quo, non-minority business. However, the US government gets it. Light years ago the government set up the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and Small Business Association (SBA) and legislated many laws governing discrimination.

After this inquiry, I did some research. Guess what, there are NO discrimination laws that govern national professional contests. Laws give women and minorities the same rights as the white guys. It’s sad to say, but sometimes you need to legislate common sense.

My question to Wells Fargo: If an anti-discrimination law were in place, HOW would you have organized your small business contest differently?

I discovered, through a quick google search, a few groundbreaking statistics in funding. Go get a tissue as you may need one when you check out the dismal stats. Senator Maria Cantwell’s 21st Century Barriers on Women’s Entrepreneurship report, July 2014 says: “Only 4 percent of the total dollar value of all small business loans goes to women entrepreneurs…. The U.S. Government has never met its goal of awarding 5 percent of federal contracts to women owned business.”

IT GETS WORSE…..READY?

The usual money conversation today is on the gap in pay wage, right? Well, guess what no one is talking about and is shockingly much worse? I call it the Funding Gap. The report goes onto say “In other words, just $1 of every $23 in conventional small business loans goes to a woman-owned business.”

What?! I realize now this Wells Fargo contest outcome is not an anomaly. It is just one example, the tip of an iceberg, of an existing gigantic glacier of disparity in support and business funding for diverse humans that are not white males.

Next time, I'll borrow a white guy to entice funding, any volunteers?

Of course, leaving out women and minorities in opportunity is not new. Unconscious or not, it’s a common occurrence, like breathing in air pollution or driving over a pothole. It just happens over and over again, slowly damaging us, while we go on with our lives.

Sheryl Sandberg, a respected business leader inspiring all the females across the globe to “LEAN IN”, says “It’s long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream.” We have the dream, Sheryl. We need opportunity! We are sitting at the table, but we’re living in a 21st century version of “be seen, and not heard.”

Today it means “be seen, and not funded” hence a giant Funding Gap.

With fancy marketing the illusion of progress is created and doesn't reflect how funding has not changed in over twenty years. The status quo for diverse humans is not just a glass ceiling, but it’s glass walls and houses built on unconscious bias without any ventilation and I’m suffocating.

My business, Spencer Publishing, was the foundation for creating my children’s book, The Power of the Penny: Abraham Lincoln Inspires A Nation and for a platform to educate American children on civics, financial literacy, kindness and character. The irony of carrying Abraham Lincoln’s legacy of equality and justice forward to the next generation is not lost on me.

Here’s a snippet from my Wells Fargo Contest essay. It shares the story of Angel, an African American eight year old girl who was impacted by an image, an idea, that sparked her imagination and moved her to aspire to leadership.

Excerpt from contest:

“One highlight was participating in the 5th Annual Social Justice Day for Peace4Kids, a nonprofit organization serving foster children in Watts, CA. On this day, I wore our themed Penny t-shirt Girl For President, as presented in the book. At the end of the book reading, the kids lined up to make a wish with a penny, using their mind and heart for their own or someone else’s life.

A volunteer shared with me what happened next. She said, “Angel made her penny wish to be a teacher, but then she told me, that wasn't her REAL wish. Angel whispered in my ear, ‘I want to be President.’ Today a whisper of a dream…tomorrow?” I also dream one day, little girls don’t feel the need to whisper their big aspirations for fear of ridicule.

While talking with my good friend, the same volunteer at Peace4Kids, about this contest’s lack of diversity in outcome, she asked me two questions that stopped me in my tracks.

She asked: "You don’t think everyone wants to see these minority kids succeed, DO YOU? If your name was John Redmond, do you think you would have won the contest?”

What do you think the answers are?

Unconscious bias is prejudice without awareness. It’s like the strangling of human potential without a judge or jury. Even Google and Facebook have recently implemented programs to counteract it. Did the five judges Wells Fargo hired to choose the winners and whom several would be the very mentors of the winners, get a visit from the spirit of unconscious bias?

Ironically, the same Wells Fargo rep, also a female, pointed out that several judges were women, implying there could be no bias. Women are entrenched in societal bias, both as a recipient of ‘second generation gender bias’ and also as sexist offenders toward other women and often it’s even blatantly conscious.

Let’s look at another example of what could appear to be unconscious bias from this Wells Fargo contest. There were two finalists whose businesses are both old school movie theaters and comparable to each other.

The Bijou Theater is owned by two gay women, married lesbians with 6 kids, all participating in the theater. It’s the oldest theater in the US, multi-functional and hosts a film festival that started in 2013. Their business goal was infusion of capital for marketing and building a strategic marketing plan going forward.

The other finalist is The Radford Theater, an old community theater remodeled for modern times, is owned by a likable white guy, mid 40’s, working with a group of investors. His business goal was to open the theater balcony, adding 40 new style, premium seats.

Guess who won? If you said the white guy, you were right! Can I get a shout out for Status Quo?

I will wrap up with a quote from the Wells Fargo rep, “It was just a coincidence that there were no women or minority owned businesses. If we do the contest next year we will factor this in and HOPE to do better.” Next year is here. The results of Wells Fargo new grand prize winners will be released soon.

I too HOPE that Wells Fargo does better this year and diversifies the winners.

I also HOPE this article inspires you, the reader, to write to your Congress Representative and Senators to consider creating a law that would dissuade discrimination and bias governing nationwide professional contests. By having a law in place, national contests, held by Wells Fargo and other giant companies, would result in greater diversity and a ripple effect of awareness.

Funding breathes the life force into dreams.

I HOPE this article increases human connectivity. Maybe someone reading this will expand their portfolio and fund more women and minorities. Maybe a positive ripple effect of openness and inclusion will shine upon the whole giant club of white working males, you know, the startup world, entertainment, business circles, and politics.

I can at least HOPE.

I’m sure you’re wondering what I did with my $1,000 finalist money. I wrote and directed a two minute animated cartoon “Abraham Lincoln Saves American Dream Using The Power Of The Penny” inspiring future generations of Americans to build real world skills and values that matter.

“Honorable in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best HOPE of earth.”

Abraham Lincoln

If you would like to support my efforts, donate here. Every dollar will go to books for children. For more information and to purchase a copy visit the Penny website or Amazon. Consider buying a book and donating it to a school or library. Free videos and a Penny toolkit with activities for teachers and parents are on the website.

Elaina Redmond is a writer, comedian, producer and an award winning author and creator of a children's book called The Power Of The Penny: Abraham Lincoln Inspires A Nation. Elaina graduated from Fordham University at Lincoln Center, NYC with a degree in economics.

Fun facts: Elaina's grandma was a New York Radio City Rockette and her great, great grandfather was a NY Supreme Court Justice.