The racial wealth divide persistently compromises America’s full economic potential. The intergenerational cycle of poverty facing communities of color is perpetuated by a system that excludes them from the wealth-building opportunities that come with owning assets, such as having savings in the bank, owning a home or a small business. Overwhelming research continues to demonstrate that support of Black entrepreneurship can significantly reduce the racial wealth gap, while simultaneously reducing Black unemployment. Local entrepreneurship has historically and consistently been a powerful theme in Black self-help. Fostering and scaling Black entrepreneurship is an investment in both individual and community impact. Additionally, this approach intentionally departs from traditional economic development models that incentivize "big businesses" to relocate, which too often does
not
have the corresponding opportunities for local residents to benefit.
Three organizations have taken innovative steps to help address wealth inequity, both locally and nationally, by supporting Black businesses and entrepreneurship. On
Wednesday, March 28th at 1P/12C
, join
Janelle Williams
(The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site) and
Tené Traylor
(The Kendeda Fund) as they share their strategies for building a locally-based collaborative that is committed to eliminating the wealth divide in Atlanta, Georgia. They will also be joined by
Connie E. Evans
(Association for Enterprise Opportunity), who is leading a national effort to build and strengthen Black businesses through a new Black business initiative launched by AEO.
