News — black business matters

Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for being the founder and chairman of Econet Wireless International and Zimbabwe’s first billionaire.

Masiyiwa was born on January 29th, 1961 in Zimbabwe. His father was a miner who later became a businessman, and his mother was an entrepreneur whose interests ranged from retail sales to small-scale farming and transportation. In 1968 Masiyiwa and his family fled to the north-central Zambian town of Kitwe due to regional government instability. At the age of 12 Masiyiwa’s parents afforded him the opportunity to study abroad at a private school in Edinburgh, Scotland. After graduating in 1978, he returned to Zimbabwe with the intention to join the anti-government guerilla forces but was told by a senior officer that the conflict was almost over and that the country needed people like him to help rebuild it. Masiyiwa took the officer’s advice and in 1983 earned a degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Wales.

Masiyiwa traveled back to Zimbabwe in 1984 after a brief 1-year stint in the computer industry in Cambridge, England. He joined Zimbabwe Posts and Telecommunications Corporations (ZPTC) as a senior engineer and would eventually become a principal engineer within the company. In 1988 Masiyiwa left ZPTC due to frustrations with government bureaucracy.

Realizing there was there was great promise for wireless telephones in sub-Saharan Africa, Masiyiwa founded and financed Econet Wireless in 1990. This business venture was met with heavy opposition from ZPTC which had claimed a monopoly on telecommunications and the Zimbabwean government which wanted bribes. After lengthy legal battles, Masiyiwa’s Econet obtained a license to provide cell phone service in Zimbabwe. Econet would go on to have a presence in other African nations as well as New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Masiyiwa later became involved with the privately held London-based Liquid Telecom Group. This company is Africa’s largest fiber optic and satellite business. In 2018 Masiyiwa was named Zimbabwe’s first billionaire and in 2020 he became the first African to be appointed a Netflix Board member.

Known as a philanthropist, Masiyiwa and his wife, the former Tsitsi Maramba, established the Capernaum Trust which is a support program designed to educate Africa’s orphans and vulnerable children. He is also involved with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge initiative. Masiyiwa supports a wide range of health issues and campaigns against cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, and malnutrition. He is co-chair of Grow Africa and has helped organize $15 billion for African agriculture. Masiyiwa’s Ambassador Andrew Young Scholarship, named after a former United States ambassador to the United Nations, provides funds to send African Students to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2015 he was awarded the Freedom Award by the International Rescue Committee for his contributions towards supporting refugees and championing the cause of dignity, individual freedom, and liberty.

Masiyiwa and his wife, Tsitsi have six children. He holds an honorary degree from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and has been named an influential figure by many publications including Time magazine and Forbes.

Inga Gubeka started his luxury leather goods brand, Inga Atelier, with a mission of being recognized internationally as one of the best African-made luxury goods brands. Almost every business thrives when it fills a market gap, and Gubeka is making a name for himself by satisfying his niche clientele with his leather products.

“I realized there’s a gap in the market for luxury leather goods, especially ones that are locally-made,” Gubeka told Business Insider.

The young designer began his journey as a different type of designer. He was into interior design. He graduated with a degree in interior design from the Durban University of Technology.

Then just a little boy from the village of Engqeleni in the Eastern Cape, with nothing but dreams of sharing his creativity with the world, he founded his first company Indalo Décor in 2013. The company was into making handcrafted wooden and leather bags clutches, backpacks, and accessories as well as interior decorating items such as lighting solutions and clocks.

At age 28, Gubeka became the youngest South African to have a whiskey named after him after he designed the bottle. Glenfiddich named a premium single malt whisky after him in 2015.

Indalo Décor was thriving to the point where Gubeka was one of four South Africans to be featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016. However, Gubeka at some point felt he was doing more administrative work than designing. The differences between him and his partners became apparent and that led to his resignation and the birth of his luxury goods brand, Inga Atelier, with his brick-and-mortar location in Cape Town.

The focus of his lifestyle brand is to create luxury leather accessories. Customers can personalize their orders at no extra cost.

The bags have gained global grounds and doing extremely well in his home country, South Africa, as well. He speaks of his brand “as a fusion of African luxury and Scandinavian design elements, with specifics on clean lines, attention to detail and simplicity.”

As a first-generation entrepreneur, Gubeka believes in excellence. The leather he uses is mostly sourced from Ethiopia and some South African vendors. It takes nearly five hours to create a single bag. He oversees the designing and cutting. Then his highly qualified and trained team hand stitches and assembles the bags. The stitching is especially a slow process because “everything has to be accurate”.

In February 2019, he sold out his entire range of luxury leather bags after tweeting about his company. “Sales have been ridiculously crazy,” he said at the time.

The Durban raised designer recently had the opportunity to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where he distributed 120 leather bags to all 120 diplomats including South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.

He believes there is a market for his products and being a Black African will not stop him from thriving in his chosen line of work. He rightfully said, “the right products don’t know color.”

“The world is my oyster, our time is now as black people and we have arrived,” he told GQ.

Duane “Myko” Cheers, Danita Claytor and Jumoke Jackson founded Everything Legendary in 2019 in D.C. to create a healthy food choice for their mothers. Cheers and Claytor teamed up with Jackson, a chef, to create their burger, made of pea protein and other vegan ingredients and seasonings.

They started selling at local pop-ups and street festivals. Since then, their plant-based business has gained traction with a wider audience. “Once we had that, we took it to the streets with pop-up stores and street festival sampling, and let the community taste it for themselves,” co-founder Cheers said. 

“We all know that today’s consumers are demanding that their food be nutritious and supercharged with flavor.”

The trio took their business to the “Shark Tank” on ABC. They pitched their plant-based burger on season 12 of the show. “One of the largest vegan restaurants based down in Atlanta, they tried to buy us early on,” Cheers told the show. “But there weren’t any sharks. I don’t want to make deals with stingrays; we came here to do business with the great whites!”

After pitching their business, billionaire Mark Cuban was convinced about their business model and decided to invest $300,000 for 22% of the business. “Amazing, driven, smart entrepreneurs with a great product always make a great investment,” Cuban told the Washington Business Journal. “Duane really impressed me and has continued to impress me since we started working together.”

After striking a deal with Cuban, the trio sold $250,000 worth of burgers online within 24 hours of the episode airing. “This is a vegan, flavorful movement that we’re starting right now. And we’re revolutionizing the entire industry,” Duane “Myko” Cheers, co-founder of Everything Legendary, said. 

“I believe that our product is better. You guys heard it on Shark Tank. All five sharks shared that this is the best plant-based burger they’ve ever had.” 

The trio launched their business with $17,000 in personal savings and an additional $30,000 in credit, Cheers said. Prior to featuring on Shark Tank, they had made $165,000 in sales.

“Our only challenge now is to market the business more,” he said. “We have capacity to produce 400,000 burgers a day,” Cheers told Washington Business Journal. The company has now evolved to a six-person company and is now focused on global expansion and staffing.

Black businesses remain largely unattractive to venture capitalists. As such, many Black entrepreneurs source funds through family and friends to launch or expand their business. Although the Black Lives Matter movement has shed some light on the challenges Black businesses experience, not much has changed.

Some social entrepreneurs have taken it upon themselves to highlight Black businesses through informal meetings and other formal events. Some social media influencers and Black media personnel are also playing their part by bringing to the fore Black-led businesses.

A Sacramento entrepreneur, Chris Lodgson, is also highlighting Black businesses in his region. He is the founder of Facebook pages Sac Black Biz Community, Sac Black Biz United, and Sac Black Biz Market, which are dedicated to Black businesses.

The purpose of these platforms is to bring Sacramento business owners, who are mostly African-American, Caribbean, and people of African descent, together to support one another. Also, Sac Black Biz United has become the first and only online source to finding Black Business and Event information throughout Sacramento.

In all, his group pages feature over 500 businesses and a membership of more than 10,000 people. Lodgson believes the creation of the Facebook business page, Sac Black Biz Community, is his contribution towards supporting Black enterprises.

“We measure ourselves by how well the businesses that we serve are doing and how well those businesses are serving their clients (and customers),” Lodgson tells Sacbee.

Aside from the business pages, the New Yorker has also raised thousands of dollars to support business activities for Black people in Sacramento.

Lodgson first migrated to Sacramento in 2015. “When I got here, I noticed that a lot of the same problems we were having in New York, in terms of Black folks, poverty, unemployment, our economic condition and our social condition too. A lot of the same problems that were in New York were happening here” said Lodgson. These factors pushed him to create his Facebook business pages.

In addition, he has announced a partnership with the app “Local Black Info.” The app enables users to find and support local Black-owned businesses, professionals, and events, according to news. Also, the partnership allows Sac Black Biz to market Black businesses in Sacramento and the U.S.

In the wake of protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, there was a renewed support for local Black-owned businesses. Lodgson said he did not only help in highlighting Black businesses through his group page Sac Black Biz Community, but he was also able to provide a complete Sac Black Biz digital database of Black-owned businesses in the county.

“The database became a valuable resource for the community that was easily accessible and allowed people to find everything from Black-owned bakeries, barbershops, restaurants, floral arrangements, home maintenance and repair, plumbers and more,” he said.

Brian Brackeen, founder and former CEO of Kairos, was fired by his company’s board of directors in 2018.

The successful entrepreneur raised $13 million for Kairos and garnered national attention for his groundbreaking facial recognition technology. But Brackeen’s refusal to sell his company’s technology to law enforcement may have led to allegations against him that eventually pushed him out of the company. A year later, the legal battle between Brackeen and the Kairos board ended in Brackeen’s favor.

Now, Brackeen is returning to Kairos as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. All parties involved in the 2018 debacle have departed. Kairos’ new leadership team has voted to bring Brackeen back to the company to continue his mission and goals for Kairo.

“We are delighted to have Brian back at the company, now more than ever the world needs to address fairness and inclusiveness in AI and Kairos continues its mission with Brian on board to deliver bias-free face recognition software to the world,” said E Jay Saunders, Chairman of Kairos, in a statement. “We look forward to having his insights and working with Brian to grow the company worldwide.”

Leading Kairos to Success

Brackeen is the brains behind Kairo. He worked as a senior project manager for Apple Inc. and senior managing consultant for IBM before launching his masterpiece.

Kairos is a human analytics company that uses facial recognition to help companies better interact with their stakeholders. It blends together social science and technology, allowing businesses to obtain data that impact consumer decision-making in real-time.

In 2016, Brackeen was the recipient of the Innovator of the Year award at the BLACK ENTERPRISE Tech Summit. During the event, he spoke about the team’s remarkable accomplishments.

“In the last 12 months, we processed 250 million faces. We’ve grown revenue 200% year over year and we’ve declined marketing spend on that time. Also, last quarter was our best quarter ever. Last month, was our best month ever. We just continue to trend upward and up. Kairos is Greek for the most opportune moment. We really believe that this is it.”

Nearly three years after his departure, Brackeen is returning to Kairos to bring his expertise in algorithmic bias. As chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, he will continue his work to address and eliminate racial bias from the technology.

“In my first action in this role, I’ve directed the company to focus on a new API— the “Bias API”, which will allow firms all over the world to detect and fix biases in their algorithms.” Says Brackeen. “We intend to do deals with the big players like AWS, Google Cloud, and others to expose our service in their clouds to their customers, as well. Kairos will cement its place as a leader in this space, right at the correct time. We have learned so much over the last nearly 10 years, it’s time to use that knowledge for good beyond Kairos’ walls.”

Brackeen’s Battle to Keep His Company

Brackeen’s disputes with his board raised questions about white investors and their treatment of Black founders.

Brackeen encountered a series of problems from the board and investors after refusing to sell his technology to law enforcement.

The Kairo board accused Brackeen of using company funds for unauthorized trips, meals, and expenses. Brackeen denied the allegations and filed a countersuit. In a letter to his investors, he shared that the board filed an exaggerated lawsuit against him to justify termination. He also believed they used it as leverage against him to force him to work for free.

Brackeen filed a lawsuit against the Kairos board.  It alleges that an investor pressured Brackeen to reconsider selling the company’s tech to law enforcement. It reveals that a “fundamental clash” ensued. This fueled the board and investors’ mission to “push Brackeen out of Kairos.”

In 2019, Brackeen and the Kairos board reached a settlement in court. The Company and Brackeen agreed to part ways. They also agreed that Brackeen would continue to be recognized as founder and remain a shareholder.

“Founders of color and women are under-invested in,” he shared. “We are either not getting great representation or we don’t have VC’s (venture capitalists) on our side. For those that are able to overcome that huge hurdle, they are then squeezed from the other side.”

There is a long way to go to achieve funding parity and remove racial bias from decisions. But Brackeen is using his voice and capital to level the playing field.

A Black businesswoman has accused a Connecticut bank of racism after officials there allegedly refused to allow her to withdraw her money. Gwen Samuel said she felt humiliated by the alleged incident that took place at the Southington-based branch of TD Bank.

According to her, officials of the bank did not offer any explanation why they refused to give her the money. She later used the ATM of the bank’s other branch to withdraw her money.

Samuel is a social activist and founder of the Connecticut Parents Union, a group advocating for equal educational opportunities for children in Connecticut. She said she has been a customer of the bank for 16 years and had gone to withdraw an amount of $1,000 from the bank to pay a vendor.

“I go inside, I had my TD Bank card and my license. They were cordial. I’m not even gonna say they were rude,” she told Fox61. According to her, the teller at the branch spent a lot of time going through her account before refusing the withdrawal.

“She hands me my license and she says, ‘I don’t feel comfortable giving you the money.’ So, I got confused, so I said, ‘You don’t feel comfortable giving me the money,'” she said. “Well, you just deposited the check yesterday.”

Even though Samuel told the teller that the check has been cleared and verified, the teller responded: “And she said ‘oh yeah it cleared. The money is available. I just don’t feel comfortable giving it to you,'” a speechless Samuel said. 

In a statement, TD Bank said it is proudly serving a diverse community and does not discriminate against its customers. The statement also described the incident as regrettable and noted that it was contacting the victim to address her concerns.

“At TD Bank, we proudly serve diverse communities and customers and do not discriminate in the services we provide or the products we offer,” the statement said. “The security of our customers’ accounts is a top priority and we regret that the specific reasons why the transaction could not be completed may not have been explained to Ms. Samuel at our Queen Street store in Southington.”

Kevin Livingston is the Founder and CEO of 100 Suits for 100 Men. Founded in 2011, the organization was created to serve the needs of men and women in need of business attire in New York City.

In 2015, the organization obtained 501 (c)(3) non-profit status and expanded its programs beyond suits. 100 Suits has tackled socio-economic issues and has been an integral part of the communities they serve. Recently, the organization shifted to food delivery work to support seniors and others in need during the pandemic.

“No one could have told me that when I started the senior delivery in the first week of March…that it would turn into a Cutlery program,” says Livingston. “And we would hire several young people from our community people to run it. Truly amazing!”

100 Suits Supporting Families During Pandemic

When the pandemic hit in March 2020,  millions of Americans were faced with unexpected challenges. Livingston decided to step up to the plate, organize a team of individuals, and make a difference where it was needed most.

On March 6th, Livingston created a senior delivery program to help those most vulnerable to the woes of the pandemic. Since March, 100 Suits has delivered over 22,000 home groceries and meals to seniors in Queens, New York. Through the 100 Soups Program, the organization provided weekly home-cooked soups to families in homeless shelters. The organization also developed the #Feed500 initiative to provide fresh produce boxes.

Livingston created a culinary program for youth to fuel these initiatives. During the summer, the youth came together and cooked meals to be delivered to seniors. This program created 12 new jobs for youth who were impacted by the cancellation of traditional jobs.

100 Suits was also there to provide personal protective equipment (PPE). The team distributed 30,000 PPE which included masks and sanitizer.

Building the Next Generation of Leaders

100 Suits has been on the move since the pandemic started. The organization has been able to help the most marginalized individuals in Queens, ranging from underprivileged youth to seniors.

“As I look back we have done a lot and one of the proudest moments I have is our senior program is supervised by an 18 yr old,” says Livingston in an email to Black Enterprise. “I love my team because they along with myself put our lives on the line to help others.”

Even during the pandemic, 100 Suits has stayed true to its core mission: providing resources that create employment opportunities. Before the pandemic, this outreach came in the form of suits, free haircuts, and salon referrals. Colin Kaepernick has been an instrumental supporter, donating custom suits to prepare more men and women for job interviews.

Now, the organization has been a part of the job creation process. 100 Suits provided 10 jobs to formerly incarcerated men and women to become Social Distance Community Ambassadors. The team handed out PPE masks and sanitizers, They also encouraged testing to ensure the safety of residents.

“Children, young men, and men of color need to see people like themselves represented in a positive light by “ordinary” people. Furthermore, it provides a framework for them to understand that dreams coupled with hard work lead to success and empowerment. It speaks to possibility, demonstrates hope, and has the capacity to spur someone else to pursue their dreams despite the lack of initial support.”

Siebert Williams Shank & Co.‘s(SWS) Clear Vision Impact Fund announced Thursday it will begin making small loans to small businesses that are either minority-owned and operated or serve underperforming communities that experienced a lack of support.

The Clear Vision impact Fund was started last year by the financial services firm and received capital commitments from Microsoft, Apple, Comcast, eBay, and Constellation Brands. Each brand has made a significant financial commitment to advance racial equity and economic opportunities.

The funds will go toward small businesses that employ, train, and serve minority and underserved communities and the people that live and work in those communities. The effort will not only help businesses in these communities thrive by partnering them with their community. It will also help by growing those businesses from the closest proximity to them outwards into other areas.

Mike Cavanagh, the chief financial officer for Comcast, said in a statement that the Clear Vision Impact Fund provided an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

“Suzanne Shank, Chris Williams, and team have created an incredible platform to provide minority-owned
businesses operating in underserved markets with immediate and much-needed capital at a
critical time,” Cavanagh said in a release. “We hope that our $25 million investment in the Clear Vision Impact Fund and ongoing great partnership with Siebert Williams Shank & Co. will have a meaningful impact on diverse communities nationwide, as our company continues to accelerate its efforts to address systemic
inequality and create a more equitable society.”

Small business owners that qualify can apply for a grant at contact@clearvisionimpact.com.

Apple Vice President and Corporate Treasurer Gary Wipfler said the Clear Vision Impact Fund will provide multiple windows of opportunity for those who have great ideas but do not have the capital to see them through.

“Providing capital to minority-owned businesses is critical to ensuring economic growth and job
opportunities for the future across communities nationwide,” Wipfler said. “Apple is proud to be part of the Clear Vision Impact Fund and support their work to address inequality by expanding access to economic
opportunity.”

For so many years, the agriculture sector has been the mainstay of Africa’s economy until it was recently overtaken by the services sector. Many development analysts have said agriculture is the surest way the continent can escape from extreme hunger and unemployment.

However, the challenge confronting many of the continent’s youth who want to go into farming is the lack of access to capital, logistical constraint and other incentives. For instance, in Europe and America, farmers enjoy subsidies from the government but the situation is not so in many African countries. 

Farmers are virtually on their own and what makes it worse is that they face competition from cheap imported frozen chicken, fish and other agricultural products from western capitals. 

Therefore, for one to venture into full-time farming in Africa, it takes not only courage but true love for the profession. That’s exactly how Ayodele Pamela felt when she wanted to start poultry farming in Nigeria. 

“I never had the tiniest of intentions of going into farming at all,” Pamela told thefounders. “In fact, I would have strongly disputed it if I had been told that I would ever be involved in farming.”

Her comments reflect the general lack of interest in farming among a new generation of African youth. Despite the lack of interest, the sector remains the second-largest employer and still attracts a considerable number of young people.

Pamela started her poultry business on the back of buying catfish and eggs. One day, she saw a vacant land, asked for the price, purchased it and commenced fish farming on the land. She later bought 100 Layer Chicks to start her poultry farm.

“Having nowhere to house the chicks, I begged someone to allow me keep the chicks with him, then I go to feed them,” Pamela said. “When the chicks started laying, I just used to dash it out.”

Her husband impressed on her to start selling the eggs since there is a market for them. This would not only let her earn some income, but it will help her recover the money she invested in feeding the chicks.

“Whenever the eggs reach 10 creates, I’ll sell them; I then noticed that this was a profitable venture, that’s when I now built a suitable housing for them, then I moved 100 birds there,” Pamela said. “After my husband supported me to get 500 birds to add to the existing ones,” she added.

According to her, she starting her fish farming and poultry business having no knowledge of it. “I practiced with my own chicks and fishes, no prior learning at all,” she said.

One of the recurring challenges confronting Pamela is the supply glut in the industry. She said due to excess supply, she is sometimes forced to drop her price in order to sell. She is, however, “still very much strong” in the business and has even expanded.

The majority of Blacks and other minority groups are underserved and underbanked in America. The situation has been attributed to the fact that few banks operate in Black communities. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in a report noted that Black and Hispanic households are more likely to be unbanked or underbanked. 

It found that more than 15 million colored people did not use America’s formal banking system in a survey published in 2015. However, according to the Center for Financial Services Innovation, underserved people in 2016 spent $173 billion in interest and fees. 

Two Black entrepreneurs have set out to address this challenge. Darnell Parker, founder of Ingenious Financial, and Derek Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Ingenious Financial, have announced plans to raise $200 million to purchase an existing bank to serve underserved and underbanked communities.

Parker and Taylor say the rationale for wanting to purchase an existing bank is to avoid the strict regulations and other challenges that come with starting a bank from scratch.

“When larger financial institutions absorbed some of the minority deposit institutions banks, they left a tremendous void for these banks, who previously served minority communities by providing small to medium-sized business loans,” Parker says.

Minority banks have long been considered innovators in the banking industry, Parker says, adding that they play a significant role in the economic empowerment of minority groups. “But in recent years, they have not always managed to keep up with technological advances,” he said.

The new acquisition will be named Bank of Ingenious and its primary focus will be on supporting underserved retail and business customers who need loans, specifically targeting independent physicians, dentists, veterinarians and similar professional services providers.

Additional details of the bank’s operation include operating with a small physical presence and setting up branches at institutions that are needed. Its operations will also be migrated online to meet current demands and dynamics.

Parker and Taylor plan to complete the acquisition of their first bank by the end of the third quarter and acquire more in the fourth quarter and in 2021. So far, they are meeting prospective targets and are looking for a bank within a metropolitan area with between $50 million and $600 million in assets.

“We hope that this investment will sustain African American financial institutions in the American history, foster popular, engaging workflows, and bring innovation to every client, customer and community we serve,” Parker says.

Ashley Lamothe started working at Chick-Fil-A when she was 15 years old in her hometown of Atlanta so as to save money to buy a car and go to college. The young entrepreneur continued to work at the restaurant chain as a director on the leadership team while at Spelman College.

Lamothe later rose through the ranks to become a franchise owner. She first opened a Chick-Fil-A location in Los Angeles in 2011 at age of 26, making her the youngest franchise owner in Chick-Fil-A history. She opened a second location six years later in downtown Los Angeles.

Lamothe achieved success through hard work. She recalls balancing her entrepreneurial journey with academics. She is grateful to her operator for giving her a flexible schedule that allowed her to school and engage in extracurricular activities.

“Chick-Fil-A has been part of my life,” Lamothe told Rolling Out. She said being a franchise owner does not make her feel she is making history. “That said, it’s really cool that so many people have been inspired by my journey and that feels like a huge honor,” she said.

In college, Lamothe changed her major to economics as her aim was to own a Chick-Fil-A restaurant. The course change was to afford her the opportunity to know how the market plays out and have a fair understanding of economic fundamentals.

When she launched her second Chick-Fil-A restaurant in 2018, Lamothe felt great that everything she labored for was yielding fruit. “I love the diversity of downtown LA; there is something for everyone. I’m excited to bring the unique hospitality that we offer in a fast, casual environment,” she said.

The young entrepreneur said in an interview after the launch that she is motivated by the fact that she has 85 people on her payroll. “The responsibility I owe to them to help them reach their goals and dreams keeps me motivated,” she said.

Every successful entrepreneur goes through a period of challenges. Lamothe is quite familiar with this as an entrepreneur. Recruiting, hiring and retention have been really challenging, nonetheless, she believes building a culture inside the restaurant has helped her to keep a consistent, happy and engaged staff.

For others who aspire to be franchise owners, Lamothe said the first thing to do is to gain experience at a local restaurant. “A lot of people say they want to own a franchise but have never worked in a restaurant. It’s hard, hands-on work and you really have to know what you are getting into,” she said.

Ariel Investments, the first black-owned mutual fund firm in the nation, announced the launch of Ariel Alternatives and the Project Black initiative.

The firm is stepping into the private fund business with a $200 million commitment from JPMorgan Chase. Led by Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson and global investment manager Leslie A Brun, the fund seeks to invest and scale minority-owned businesses to close the racial wealth gap.

“It is no secret that the racial wealth gap in America continues to widen, day by day, says Brun in a release. “While we have been encouraged and inspired by the supply chain diversity commitments recently made by large corporations, we believe that it is time to accelerate these promises with real, measurable steps. Our work will aim to bring operational excellence, financial resources, minority ownership, and leadership to these companies.”

Introducing Ariel Alternatives ‘Project Black’ Initiative

Founded in 1983 by John W. Rogers, Jr., Ariel Investments has grown to manage $15 billion in assets by leveraging a patient investment philosophy. Now, the company is embarking on a new journey through the establishment of its private asset management firm, Ariel Alternatives.

The firms’ first mission: Project Black. The goal is to invest and scale minority-owned businesses that can become leading suppliers to Fortune 500 companies. The project will focus on suppliers to various industries, including transportation, technology manufacturing, and media and marketing,

Project Black Vision

According to a release, Project Black will invest in middle-market companies that are not currently minority-owned. The entities will be transformed into certified minority business enterprises, as well as existing Black and Latinx-owned businesses. The team hopes that Project Black will “forge a new class of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs” and support supply chain diversity goals.

These goals will have a trickle-down effect, boosting economic activity, increasing jobs, and providing access to opportunities for underrepresented populations at all levels.  Ultimately, the project will play an instrumental role in closing the racial wealth gap.

“Through Project Black, we plan to ultimately disperse opportunity throughout underrepresented communities. We want to change the narrative and foster true action and demonstrable change,” says Ariel’s co-CEO Mellody Hobson, in the release.

JPMorgan Chase Provides Initial Funding

According to the Chicago Tribune, Project Black was born from a conversation between JPMorgan CEO and Hobson. In 2018, JPMorgan Chase elected Hobson to its board of directors. Dimon and Hobson discussed ways to promote minority-owned businesses and the new fund was created.

JPMorgan is supporting the efforts of Project Black by providing $200 million in initial funding. This investment is part of the firm’s goals to advance racial equity. In October, the firm announced a $30 billion commitment. Over the next five years, this capital will provide economic opportunities to underserved communities.

“Systemic racism is a tragic part of America’s history,” said Dimon in a statement. “We can do more and do better to break down systems that have propagated racism and widespread economic inequality, especially for Black and Latinx people. It’s long past time that society addresses racial inequities in a more tangible, meaningful way.”