AAEA Access to Capital Workshop Series Topic: Grants: What you need to know to be prepared Presenter: Cherrise Wilks, GPC, MPA, FCCM Affinity Group, CHERRISE L. WILKS, MPA, GPC Cherrise’s mission is to directly impact 1,000 small businesses in previously overlooked communities to help them with the structural foundation needed to scale their business by doing the following: gaining access to capital funding, additional lines of credit, securing a grant, or winning local, state, corporate, or federal contracts. Her goal is to elevate the financial game of micro and small businesses.