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Queen Latifah is helping a Black woman-owned soul food restaurant receive a well-deserved blessing. During a taping of “Street You Grew Up On,” hosted by actress Kerry Washington, it was revealed that Latifah selected Newark, NJ-based Vonda’s Kitchen to receive a $10,000 financial award. The investment is made possible through a partnership between fintech platform Intuit QuickBooks and Washington, aimed at fostering discussions around entrepreneurship, community, and mentorship. As part of the initiative, featured guests are given the opportunity to select a small business to receive funding, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. As a Newark native, the selection was full circle and Latifah emphasized its importance, believing the funds would be well-used under the leadership of owner Vonda McPherson. According to the company website, McPherson transitioned into entrepreneurship after a corporate career with Fortune 500 companies, opening her first restaurant in 1988....
After co-creating the beauty app Beautified, Hannah Bronfman recognized the importance of investing in startups, which are often the last to receive funding or the resources needed to scale. Today, she takes pride in her work as an angel investor, helping to advise and raise venture capital for budding businesses. As a former DJ, content creator, and now trusted angel investor, Bronfman’s desire to help companies achieve their goals by putting investments behind them began when she joined Annie Evans and Peter Hananel as a co-founder of Beautified. This app allows users to book beauty services, including haircuts, manicures, facials, massages, and more, with various salons and spas offered on the platform. Since the inception of Beautifed in 2013, Bronfman has also become an expert in marketing. She’s advised companies on building a strategic online presence well before the rise of today’s influencer-driven marketing landscape. In 2017, she became an investor. “I started actually to...
Ira Salls is an inspiration for her history-making role as a McDonald’s franchisee. Salls, a Cincinnati, OH, native, graduated from Northern Illinois University and later earned both an MBA and a master’s degree in public administration from Northwestern University. She secured her franchise title in 1991, as she explained during an interview with WHAS 11 in 2021. Before becoming an owner and operator, she first worked at the fast-food chain as an accountant. “I was hired by McDonald’s because I already had a degree and (was) a CPA. McDonald’s was forward thinking, and they wanted Black CPAs working in their accounting department,” she recalled to the outlet. Salls’ pivot to owning her own McDonald’s locations led her to become the first Black woman franchisee of the chain in Kentucky and Indiana in 1991, the Louisville Business Journal reports. She would go on to become one of the company’s most successful operators, managing six locations in Louisville, KY. She also understood the...
An observation Amber Hill made as a medical researcher jumpstarted her founder journey. In conversation with TechCrunch, Hill notes that she found manual administrative tasks tedious and felt that the time could have been put to better use. “I was spending so much time doing manual tasks that didn’t require any medical expertise. It’s a process that’s completely broken, and I knew it could be fixed,” she told the outlet. In 2020, Hill launched London, England-based Research Grid. The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven platform is intended to increase efficiency in clinical trials by automating manual processes, its website mentions. It currently offers two products: Inclusive and Trial Engine. Inclusive is described as a “community engagement sourcing and management platform” to support early trials through smart automations and patient engagement. This feature has grown a network of over 300 million patients across at least 90,000 communities. Its second product is Trial Engine, a...
Whoopi Goldberg is launching a sports platform for women. During a taping of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she announced the launch of All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), which has already broken ground in Asia, the Middle East, and India with the help of partners CommonSpirit and Jungo TV. “It’ll be the home for live women’s sports from around the world. Everything from soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, curling — you name it. If a woman is playing it, we’re showing it,” Goldberg said on the show. Goldberg’s motivation for the network was planted when she was a child. She recalls a time when her brother would play a variety of sports, but she was often left out due to her gender, mentions Yahoo Sports. Throughout her career, she recalls engaging in conversations about how to move the needle in women’s sports. “Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to play sports. My brother could play … he played everything,” she explained. “So, for years, I’ve been talking to...
Tori Bell is helping companies ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not an afterthought. Interest In DEI Work The Agnes Scott College graduate’s interest in DEI work was sparked during her early career stages in investment banking in Atlanta, GA, at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. She served as an analyst and associate program manager between 2012 and 2015, managing the summer analyst program, her LinkedIn mentions. She later joined Jopwell, a career platform for minority students and professionals. The platform had received backing from a number of investors, including Magic Johnson, who had participated in a $3.25 million seed round in 2016, according to Inc. magazine. “What I saw during my time there was that you can hire diverse individuals into these major companies, but if they’re not prepared to support them i t’s kind of like you’re yelling into a void, ” Bell told AFROTECH™. “You’re not really doing much to move the needle, because you’re going to see turnover...
Kristen Dunning has received a stamp of approval from Oprah Winfrey. The entrepreneur’s recognition is the result of her foray into entrepreneurship. As AFROTECH™ previously shared, Dunning’s journey as a founder began with a desire to create a soap for sensitive skin and people struggling with skin conditions. She has battled severe scalp eczema since the age of four, but prescribed remedies like creams and steroid shots continued to cause discomfort. According to her website, Dunning turned to medicinal plants and botanicals, deepening her knowledge while studying agricultural communication and horticulture at the University of Georgia. Under the guidance of faculty member Dr. David Knauft, she was able to discover botanical alternatives commonly found in anti-inflammatory treatments. Her first soap was created in 2019, and she developed more recipes during the COVID-19 quarantine. In 2020, Gently Soap made its official debut in the market and now offers four products, including:...
Shontay Lundy has revealed she has only one regret in her journey as a founder. Lundy’s brainchild, Black Girl Sunscreen, launched with a personal investment of $33,000, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The company offers products designed to provide hydration without leaving a white residue—a common issue encountered by many in the Black community when applying sunscreen. It was this gap in the market that incentivized Lundy. “I’m a woman of the sun, the time I was living in Miami, I currently live in Los Angeles. I love being on the beach. It was ‘Okay, what do you think about sunscreen?’ My friends would offer me sunscreen and I would tell them, ‘Do you see my complexion? That sh-t don’t work on this complexion,'” she explained during a conversation on with AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas on the Black Tech Green Money podcast. “So I jumped on the computer and just started to type in keywords, sunscreen for ethnic skin. Sunscreen for Black girls. Sunscreen for brown girls....
Former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe continues to champion the future of STEM. In 2020, Bowe founded LINGO, a company that offers kits allowing individuals of all ages to engage with projects that promote problem-solving and coding. The goal is to increase exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathways. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lingo (@stemlingoco) What’s more, LINGO has been well received in the education sector and among Fortune 500 companies, its LinkedIn notes. It is also faring well among investors, raising $2.3 million in a November 2024 round led by Pinnacle Private Ventures, according to a news release. 1863 Ventures, Sequoia Capital via the Scout program, and Dr. Joy Johnson also participated in the round. “This funding round highlights LINGO’s potential to reshape the future of STEM education,” Sean McCurry , founder of family office-owned private investment firm Pinnacle Private Ventures, said in the news release. “We...
The journey of building a carbon negative future is going to require all hands on deck. Lisa Dyson, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Air Protein, fully joined in on the mission before she founded her startup. The idea was initially sparked when the scientist visited New Orleans, LA, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “As a scientist, I was thinking about climate science and how climate scientists have been telling us that we’re going to have these weather events that are going to be more intense and more frequent,” Dr. Dyson recalled at the 2023 AFROTECH™ Conference in conversation with James White, executive chair of Air Protein and former CEO of Jamba Juice. “And just seeing how that impacted people’s lives, it caused me to want to see how I could be a part of creating a different future, a different reality, and join the many people that are out there, and started working on climate solutions.” Purchase your ticket to AFROTECH™ Conference now! During the fireside chat, Dyson shared how...
Jessica Taylor has landed her coffee product in a new major retailer. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Taylor, a former Toyota diversity, equity, and inclusion business partner, became the founder of Ezra Coffee in 2021. The idea for the company stemmed from a soy and nut allergy developed by her sister who was also lactose intolerant. Taylor started conjuring recipes on a stove top, creating flavors that could be enjoyed without milk-based creamers. That passion and drive has now grown into an array of products sold through Ezra Coffee such as Candied Yams and Toasted Southern Pecan light roast coffee, as listed on its website. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ezra Coffee Company (@ezracoffeeco) Since launching, the company has secured placements in Target’s online store and was also stocked in more than 40 Texas-based H-E-B stores by October 2023. “This has been such a labor of love and an amazing experience, and I can truly say I could have not done this with out you...
Sheena Allen has announced the closure of a venture supporting unbanked communities. Since 2018, Allen has been the founder of CapWay, a mobile bank inspired by her upbringing in Terry, MS, a small town near Jackson, where there was only one bank at the time. “Jackson has some of the highest rates of unbanked residents in the United States,” Allen previously told AFROTECH™ . “I was very familiar with people not having fair or proper access to mainstream financial services and products.” Creating a solution, CapWay offered savings tools and allowed users to cash checks, establish checking accounts, and send money from their phones, as AFROTECH™ reported. Allen also believed the fintech company’s offerings geared for underserved communities were essential back in 2018 given that she felt this area had been overlooked by Silicon Valley. “Silicon Valley’s definition of real-world problems and everyone else’s definition of real-world problems are not the same,” Allen said. “They live in...
Serena Page could soon be stepping into the haircare industry. Page is the Season 6 winner of Peacock’s “Love Island USA” alongside her boyfriend, Kordell Beckham. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the pair split a prize pool of $100,000 for their victory. Since leaving the show’s villa, opportunities have been endless with partnerships that include NYX Cosmetics, Dunkin’ Donuts, Spotify, and Cécred. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CÉCRED (@cecred) During the ESSENCE GU Disruptor Summit held in Atlanta, GA, on Oct. 12, 2024, Page revealed that while she is in her influencer bag she hopes to step into her businesswoman era by 2025. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Girls United (@essencegu_) Her desires could materialize into leading her own haircare line, which is already in the works. This wouldn’t be her first step into entrepreneurship as she ran a braiding business for four years when she attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. As a result of her...
Keke Palmer is more wise with her earnings after filing for bankruptcy in her early adult years. The Illinois native, born in Harvey but raised in Robbins, entered into the industry as an actor at the tender age of 9 years old. She snagged her first role in the film “Barbershop 2: Back in Business” (2004) and was later featured in “Madea’s Family Reunion” (2006) as Nikki before landing her first lead role in “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006), reports US Weekly. For many child stars, navigating the industry is a journey, and Palmer had the backing of her parents throughout the highs and lows. They took the step of hiring a business manager when she was 12. “That has helped me immensely,” she said during the Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow Financial Empowerment Summit held on Oct. 12, 2024, at the UIC Forum in Chicago, IL. Despite the guidance of a business manager, Palmer still found herself in financial troubles. When she was between 18 and 19 years old, she filed for bankruptcy. “I...
A movement that was birthed out of the COVID-19 quarantine has raised millions of dollars to support Kamala Harris’ quest as the first Black woman president of the United States. “Win With Black Women” (WWBW) is a mantra and group conceptualized by Jotaka Eaddy, a social impact consultant in politics and technology who founded Full Circle Strategies. She understood the importance of community early on as a high school student looking to attend a conference geared towards those seeking law careers, Fortune reports. Raised in a humble environment in South Carolina, the $3,000 cost for the conference was out of reach for her parents. However, through the support of Black women church-goers she was able to attend. “Black women in my church and in my community sold chicken dinners and held bake sales to raise money to send me to that conference and to put me on an airplane that many of them have still never been on,” Eaddy said, according to Fortune. She went on to make history as the...