Causes

Community & economic development Civil rights Gender equity & justice

Posted by

Jill J.

CEO

Our mission

We envision a future with inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems in which people from historically marginalized populations have equal opportunity for success. In pursuit of this vision, our mission is to eradicate the systemic barriers that prevent people of color from being able to access the knowledge, networks, and capital required for entrepreneurial success and wealth creation.

What we do

Our three programmatic areas are:

Relationship Capital Connections - We believe that relationship capital is the conduit for access -- access to capital, access to contracts, access to opportunity. People open doors for people that they know, like, and trust. Unfortunately, the know-like-trust circle often includes people with similar attributes to the person at the center of the circle. Our goal is to help more Women of Color entrepreneurs get on a grow-scale-exit trajectory that leads to wealth building.

Investor Inclusion - We launched the Making of Black Angels as our first campaign to increase diversity and inclusion within the angel investing sector. We believe that this inclusion will lead to more black entrepreneurs and small businesses gaining access to early-stage capital. Having black angel investors involved in this asset class and more black entrepreneurs able to access early-stage capital ultimately promotes wealth building in the black community.

Community-Building Small Business Initiatives - Our small business capacity-building programming is designed to support economic development objectives for Main Street businesses and in low-income communities. This innovative model for small business capacity-building leverages community-based partnerships and incorporates corporate skills-based volunteerism to provide hands-on support to struggling business owners.