On October 11, the exclusive Asheville screening of the documentary Show Her The Money–about the inequities women in business face–had to be postponed due to Hurricane Helene and our community being shut down for weeks. Now, the screening has transformed into a recovery fundraiser with the goal of raising $10,000 to grant one woman-owned business by selling out A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium. 

“Ferguson holds 400 people, so we’re encouraging women to make it a girls’ night out and bring their friends or team,” Shawndra Russell, founder of Mad Genius Foundation, explains. The documentary crew has generously waived the licensing fee to support this event as a fundraiser for Western North Carolina’s long road to recovery with estimates at $52 billion and $585 million already lost from the local economy in just four months post-storm. A pre-show happy hour will feature chocolates from Womb Wise Collective, and Together We Recover Merch from Snow in July Designs will be available for purchase. Post-show, there will be a live digital panel with the documentary crew, including Catherine Gray, founder of She Angel Investors and host of Invest In Her podcast.

Future Builder sponsors can buy bundles of 5 or 10 tickets that will be donated to students at UNCA, Mars Hill University, A-B Tech, and Western Carolina University. “We hope a wide age range will come out to support a more equitable future for women in business. Anyone who wants to see $7-12 trillion added to our global economy by addressing these gender inequities and supports more funding and paths to business ownership for women, please join us!” Russell adds. Current sponsors include Gratz Park Private Wealth, Hatch Innovation Hub, Ernest Co-Warehousing, and UNCA. 

And special thanks to Dr. Susan Clark Muntean and Dr. Nana Harrison for being supporters and advocates of this documentary and fundraiser. They are working with students to create a docuseries about local women entrepreneurs recovering from Hurricane Helene to help support awareness about Show Her The Money and the issues it raises.

About Mad Genius Foundation

Mad Genius Foundation is a 501(c)3 formed in May 2024 with a focus on supporting women in business through programming, events and circles. The goal is to launch a social impact fund to continuously raise funds for woman-owned businesses and move the needle on gender inequities in business, including that women are rejected twice as often as men for business loans, women only own 10% of businesses, and men receive 98% of startup/growth funding.