100 in 1
During National Black Business Month 2021, our organization set and achieved a goal to volunteer 100 hours at Black owned businesses.
What is National Black Business Month?
In August of 2004, Frederick E. Jordan, an engineering entrepreneur, and John William Templeton, president and editor of a scholarly publishing company, sought to bring attention to the difficulties that black entrepreneurs experienced trying to jump start their businesses.
With only 4% of Black American businesses surviving the start-up stage, Black Business Month is an opportunity to turn our words into action.
THE ROAD TO 100 HOURS.
We tracked and reported our progress throughout the month.
Supporting Black Businesses (2020)
With the help of our community, in 2020, we were also able to support ten Black owned businesses (brick-and-mortars) across the country by giving each an unrestricted grant of $1,000 to help them rebuild.
In addition, we also supported the Gilly Brew Bar, a Black owned businesses housed in Stone Mountain (a location known for Ku Klux Klan activity), with a $1,000 donation.
Understanding that $1,000 is a micro grant when compared to the damages several of the businesses have faced, we decided it was also important to capture their stories, to help them receive more support.
Our Board Co-Chairs and many of our members connected with, captured and shared the stories of Black-owned businesses in Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
