By Veronica Mackey

This month, to honor the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, tennis legend Venus Williams

and Los Angele Sparks Forward Cameron Brinks have partnered with SoFi to launch the Give Her Credit campaign. It is aimed

at leveling the financial playing field for women.: With this national initiative, SoFi will begin accepting submissions to award

$500,000 to 50 people (each receiving $10,000) to advance financial independence for women.

The groundbreaking law was signed on October 28, 1974, making it illegal to deny credit mainly based on gender, marital status, or race. Before the ECOA, banks could restrict women from getting loans and credit cards, as well as access to other credit based financial products, without a male co-signer.  Today, 90% of women either manage or share household financial decisions with their partner, and single women own more homes than single men.  In 2023, however, women still lagged behind men, earning 22 percent less, according to the Economic Policy Institute. 

“At an early age, I had clear ambitions and drive to be the best, with the discipline and determination to win, but soon learned of the inequalities and imbalances I would have to face to succeed,” said Williams, who will serve as a judge for the ‘Give Her Credit’ campaign.”

 Brink, SoFi’s newest brand athlete said, “Partnering with SoFi on the 50th anniversary of the ECOA through the Give Her Credit campaign is deeply personal to me. As a female athlete, I’ve seen firsthand how vital financial independence is to women’s progress, and it’s been a key part of the conversations I’ve had to navigate my own career. Just fifty years ago, women like me wouldn’t have had access to credit or the opportunities I have today.”

Williams’ interest in financial wellness — especially for women, people of color, and other marginalized groups—has grown into a serious passion. But that wasn’t always the case.  In an interview with Pop Sugar (10/15/24), the tennis superstar with a net worth close to $100 million—who fought for and won the right to equal prize money at Wimbleton—admitted she was once a money avoidant:

“I grew up old school, being told you’re not supposed to talk about money, that it’s rude,” she said.  But a pride-wounding shopping trip in Italy made her reconsider. She was admiring some fabrics but didn’t want to seem cheap by asking about the price, when an Italian-speaking friend overheard the shopkeepers discussing a plan to rip Williams off. From that point forward, she knew she had no choice but to stick up for her own wallet.

“It was this wake up call, after that I was completely changed,” she says. “You have to not only ask for the price, but also a discount. It’s my money, it’s how I want to spend it. It doesn’t matter if I seem like Ebenezer Scrooge. I have to talk about it.”