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Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown remains committed to supporting Black-owned businesses, empowering communities of color, and fostering generational wealth along the way. On Feb. 14, 2024, Brown announced the launch of OaklandXChange, a sister project to his nonprofit, BostonXChange (BXC). Jaylen Brown announces a new business district and incubator program as part of his Xchange fund in a speech at a community luncheon at Oakstop in Oakland pic.twitter.com/kZwpd0HYEM — Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) February 14, 2025 Founded in 2024, BXC aims to create $5 billion in generational wealth within Boston, MA’s communities of color, AFROTECH™ previously reported. The organization provides funding, resources, workplaces, and mentoring from seasoned individuals to Black and minority entrepreneurs, helping them launch businesses that contribute to sustainable economic growth . According to Sports Illustrated, OaklandXChange, which launched in partnership with Jrue and Lauren Holiday’s JLH...
Bishop T.D. Jakes has sent a message. According to the Saporta Report, the mega-church pastor’s real estate arm has submitted a reported “master plan” for affordable housing on what was formerly a military base for the Confederacy. In the T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures’ “master plan” submission, the affordable housing would be partnered with entertainment districts dedicated to the new communities in Fort McPherson, which is just outside of Atlanta, GA. The five-part plan will provide amenities and other resources that are not currently available in southern Atlanta. In the first part of the plan, the VA hospital and the bungalows surrounding the VA hospital will be updated. That’s followed by the second part of the plan, which is when the single-family subdivision, townhomes, apartment complexes, retail space and a K-8 school along the Campbellton Road corridor will begin construction — in other words, the affordable housing. That will be followed by commercial space, which T.D....
As technology advances, it’s even changing the way we use and save money. With the increased use of digital currencies and online transactions, it makes sense that financial institutions would leverage these advancements to support their business and their customer base. Capital One is a major tech innovator positioning itself as a leader in the financial industry. Maureen Jules-Perez, Managing VP and Head of People Tech, is dedicated to building both high-performing tech teams and an inclusive culture at Capital One that supports its associates, customers and community. She’s responsible for leading the technology team that’s supporting Capital One’s associate experiences with human resources, enterprise safety and security, brand, design, legal, mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy — not to mention workspaces and remote work capabilities, which are a critical component to culture as companies continue to navigate the ambiguity of the pandemic. The road to success for...
Black designers have mastered code-switching while working in predominantly white spaces, but how can they embrace their authenticity more in professional settings? We’re covering this topic during the AfroTech Conference from the lens of Terrence Williams, a Black designer and visual artist who consistently advocates for more inclusive design spaces. He has been working as a senior design lead at Salesforce for the past four years. In the “Designing Blackness: How Black Designers Can Embrace Their Authenticity” session on the engineering and design stage, Williams plans to talk about why it’s crucial for Black designers to embrace being their most authentic selves in workspaces. “As a designer of color, I’ve had to navigate a number of spaces where I may be the only one or may not always feel as connected,” Williams told AfroTech. “I’ve had to learn to build my community as time has gone on.” Williams also told AfroTech that he struggled early on in his career without mentors that...
WorkChew — a Black women-founded startup that transforms hotels and restaurants into on-demand workspaces — just announced an oversubscribed $2.5 million seed funding round raised to further the company’s mission. The round was led by Harlem Capital and saw participation from other VC firms such as Wilshire Lane Partners, Invictus Advisory Group, Techstars Ventures, and RW Capital Investments, Inc. Additionally, individual investments came from angel investors, including Kabbage co-founder Kathryn Petralia, Etsy co-founder Chris Maguire, Kyle Tibbits of Paradox Capital, and Alex Chan, formerly of UBER. The startup plans to use the new funding to further build out its team, product development, and marketing to help increase customer acquisition and build supply across the U.S. WorkChew was co-founded by CEO Maisha Burt and COO Allyson McDougal back in 2018, who at the time were two remote workers suffering from inconsistencies of not having flexible spaces to work from. According to...
Indoor air quality has become a growing concern for many amid the COVID-19 pandemic as evidence has shown that the virus can remain airborne for longer periods and farther distances than originally thought, the EPA reports. However, Yodit Stanton and her startup company OpenSensors have been working to combat this issue with its innovative business model that’s making workspaces much safer during this time. OpenSensors — a tech-based air monitoring platform — offers a transformative and environmentally-friendly solution for those concerned with working out of office buildings. “Initially it just started as a fun hobby project. I was playing around with IoT as in my daughter has asthma, so I was monitoring air quality up in our neighborhood to try to see if I can correlate the particulates spikes and so forth with her asthma attacks,” Stanton told TechCrunch. “I released it as a project for my community to monitor air quality. But it became, I guess a real thing when people asked if...
In conjunction with fundraising platform IFund Women of Color, global finance company American Express has announced another commitment to the Black community — this time targeting Black women. This week, American Express revealed the 100 Black women entrepreneurs it hand-selected to participate in its “100 for 100” program, designed to provide women with adequate funding and business resources. View this post on Instagram A post shared by American Express (@americanexpress) According to a press release , the program specifically consists of $25,000 grants and 100 days of access to business education, mentorship, marketing, virtual networking, WorkSpaces by Hilton hotel reservation credits and more. American Express partnered with IFundWomen of Color — the leading platform for women of color to raise capital — to create a program made to offer support for Black businesswomen looking to jump start and grow their entrepreneurial ventures. “American Express is proud to support the...
It’s no secret that harassment and discrimination continue to live in the workplace. Thankfully movements like “me too” were started to bring awareness and help survivors. Then there are also companies like tEQuitable that preceded those movements while utilizing technology. “Before Weinstein and when ‘me too’ went viral, we started before that, and it really was a moment in time where enough is enough,” CEO and co-founder of tEQuitable, Lisa Gelobter, said. The technologist and computer scientist has an impressive resume, including companies like Hulu, Shockwave, BET and more, according to the company’s website. Her list of accomplishments also includes having served as the Chief Digital Officer for the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration. It was during her time at the White House that further expanded her view on the capabilities of technology and ultimately led her to develop tEQuitable. “It was really there that I came to understand that we truly could...
This piece originally published on November 19, 2018. The future of work looks like freelancers, creatives, and entrepreneurs designing and innovating in shared spaces that offer reliable WiFi, networking and events on how to drive growth and revenue for your business. There are more than 4,000 coworking spaces (and growing) in the United States and overall membership is expected to increase by 5.1 million by 2022. Despite this rapid growth in shared working spaces, only a handful of co-working spaces are black-owned and cater to black professionals. Black entrepreneurs across the country are stepping up to create workspaces offering a safe haven for a community of Black creatives and freelancers who seek shared community spaces built around the idea of inclusion. Check out a list of five innovative Black-owned co-working spaces: Femology — Detroit This co-working space catering to Black female entrepreneurs was founded by Detroit native Meagan Ward last year. Over 100 women-owned...
Earlier this year, I committed to the full-time freelancing lifestyle. While I knew that budgetary constraints would be real, I looked forward to a life on my terms. That is, the ability to earn money while traveling to all of my dream locations. Now, after a few months of doing this, here are some things I’ve learned about the digital nomad life as a freelancer: 1. Racism Still Exists In Black Countries This one caught me off-guard because I grew up in a majority-Black country and thought I would feel comfortable in any other majority-Black country. Additionally, I had heard from other Black digital nomads how much safer and more respected they felt outside of the U.S. The truth is, any economy that relies heavily on white tourism will not be entirely accommodating for Black tourists, even if their population is largely Black. Between suspicious glances in restaurants and coffee shops, to outright rudeness from service providers because they assume you’re “just a local girl,” you...
Striking out on your own can be both exciting and rewarding, but it also can be the most financially challenging time of your life. If you had a stable paycheck before jumping into entrepreneurship, you will have to adjust to a new normal. Company-sponsored health insurance and gym reimbursements are just a couple of benefits you might lose in the process. Here are some simple lifestyle changes that can help you make the transition without ruining your finances. 1. Minimize your household expenses I’ve always been proud of my independent spirit. One of my sweetest memories was putting the deposit down on my new apartment with money from my own bank account. However, when I left my high-paying engineer job to pursue my passion for writing, I knew I couldn’t continue my lifestyle. I moved out of my expensive apartment and back into my parent’s home to give myself the space to focus on my work without stressing over rent and utilities. If you have the option to get into a cheaper...
Coworking spaces are popping up around the country to serve different niches of business owners, creatives and everything else in between. These alternative offices are helping entrepreneurs build their networks and grow their businesses, but founders of color are finding that some of these spaces lack inclusivity. Naj Austin saw a void in her Brooklyn neighborhood: There were no spaces that specifically targeted people of color and the businesses they were building. She made it her mission to fill that gap. Austin built Ethel’s Club, a social club for people of color that serves as a personal and professional haven for minority business owners. It joins a host of other social clubs opening in New York City, but it is one of the few completely dedicated to fostering an environment for founders across various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Photo: Ethel’s Club According to a report by AllWork , coworking spaces accounted for nearly ten percent of leasing volume in New York during the...
This week Slack announced that it has removed more than two dozen accounts linked to known hate groups from its platform. “The use of Slack by hate groups runs counter to everything we believe in at Slack and is not welcome on our platform,” Slack said on its website. Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have increasingly been used to spread bigoted ideologies and highlight violence that Slack wants no part of. A survey from the Anti-Defamation League showed that 2018 was a record year for online hate and harassment. It seems that 2019 will not be reversing the course despite platform’s removal of such groups. The survey did not name Slack as an online location where users experienced hate speech — this could be because the platform is mostly used in professional environments where the behaviors would be punished externally. Facebook has done mass removals of groups, ads, and pages associated with hate groups over the past few months. Following its policy updates...
One of the newest tools to strengthen mentorship is coming from the minds of a group of teenagers in Connecticut. Chelsea Cranford, Natalee Best, Elyece Patterson, and Angelique Phillips of Hartford created EBONI — a platform for young black professionals to receive mentorship and guidance on how to navigate predominantly white workspaces. The group of young engineers used Chatfuel, Facebook’s platform for creating chat bots. “It’s a powerful idea for them,” Angelique Phillips’ mom, Jackie told the Hartford Courant. “Creating a pathway of outreach for minority young professionals to know exactly how to navigate the world of work, and to make it a culturally sensitive environment.” The “powerful idea” has gained them an invitation from Facebook after advancing to the finals in a challenge that posed the question of how a social issue could be solved utilizing technology. “We were thinking about everybody in the community,” 16-year-old Cranford said. “I’m glad I took the steps to...
Black founders have a tendency to be overlooked in the tech industry. Overall, Black founders represent one percent of venture-backed companies, according to CB Insights. The #ProjectDiane study by DigitalunDivided reported Black women-led startups have raised $289 million in venture capital funding since 2009. This only accounts for .0006 percent of the $424.7 billion raised in venture funding during that time. Programs like Backstage Accelerator—which last month announced the launch of training programs in four different cities for underrepresented tech founders —offers small companies led by diverse founders support for accessing venture capital to help to build successful businesses. Check out the list below to learn about some other incubators and accelerators. NewMe In 2017, NewME startup accelerator moved their program from the Silicon Valley to Miami in an effort to better serve entrepreneurs of color. “The old [accelerator] model works for a particular type of entrepreneur....