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Goalsetter is making sure the next generation of Black and Latinx Americans is free from the financial burdens that have held us back for so long! As previously reported by AfroTech, Vista Equity Partners’ Robert F. Smith and Goalsetter’s Tanya Van Court announced the “One Stock. One Future.” initiative in October 2021. The initiative served as a call to action for both organizations and corporations to build up young people of color and set them on a path to financial freedom. It kicked off after Smith gifted five shares of stock — equivalent to about 15,000 total shares — to nearly 3,000 students, educators and staff members at the Eagle Academies for Young Men, a network of public, all-boys schools serving young men of color in New York City and Newark, NJ, according to a press release. As this called for a celebration, those Black students, the Black Billionaire, Black tech entrepreneur, Black educator and young Black men from the Morehouse Class of 2019 all graced the NYSE...
Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition is certainly living up to its name. A $100,000 award has reportedly been granted to Spelman alumna Mya Havard and her co-founders Ibrahim Conteh, Nashawn Chery, Faisal Gedi and Simrun Mannan from Williams’ Black Ambition. As AfroTech previously reported, the Black Ambition, and Black Ambition HBCU, created in 2020, partners with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to provide resources for Black and Latinx current and former HBCU students with startups in tech, design, healthcare, and consumer products or services. The initiative also provides entrepreneurs mentorship opportunities, capital gain, and pitch feedback along with prize money of up to $250,000. “With Black Ambition, the goal is to help strengthen the pipeline of talented entrepreneurs and close the opportunity and wealth gaps derived from limited access to capital and resources,” Williams stated in a press release. The funds will be allocated to support Shea.d, which...
As it pushes to support more Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs in innovation and technology, New Jersey-based digitalundivided launched a new fellowship program, according to a news release. The social impact nonprofit is hosting the Do You Fellowship as a 12-month program to boost 12 Black and Latinx women founders with coaching support, $5,000 in funding and other professional development resources. The inaugural cohort will also receive access to digitalundivided’s newly formed Mentorship Council which is a growing network of CEOs, investors, industry leaders and other supports looking to help guide minority women founders. “We launched the Do You Fellowship to better position these diverse founders to lead, raise capital, become profitable, and scale,” Lauren Maillian, CEO of digitalundivided, said in a release. “The Do You Fellowship received incredible support from corporate, foundation, and accelerator partners, all eager to invest in this first, powerhouse cohort of...
Latinx culture is often seen as overlooked and neglected when it comes to celebrating it across mainstream media. Hence why actor, activist, and entrepreneur Jesse Williams’ Visibility Media company has launched a new gaming app as its latest rollout honoring cultures across the diaspora. After successfully launching BLeBRiTY — an award-winning Afrocentric trivia gaming app — Williams and his colleagues — conceptual artist Glenn Kaino and former Apple, Nike and NBA Latin America exec Arturo Nuñez — felt their newest app, “Ya Tú Sabes,” was the next step in bringing forth another revolutionary app that’s now uniting Latinx and American culture. Courtesy Graphic “Our vision is simply to develop and produce content to media that’s inclusive and actually representative of cultures that we value and see ourselves in,” Williams told AfroTech. “We wanted to make sure that we’re always building products that celebrate and center us first, and include as many people as we can in the...
Magic Johnson just teamed up with Cigna to tackle the effects of the global pandemic on LatinX, Black, and woman-owned businesses. According to the LA Sentinel , the basketball legend and president of the U.S. Commercial Business at Cigna, Mike Triplett will lead the conversation on the effects of the pandemic through a roundtable discussion. The collaboration for change seeks to make a ripple effect across the county and eventually the nation. Johnson shares there should be no surprise when it comes to the major differences in impact among ethnicities. “We lost 41% of the members of Black business owners since the pandemic, and 32% decline in Hispanic businesses and then [a] 25% decline in women-owned businesses,” said Johnson. “It’s so important that we first try to keep the doors open for women-owned, Black-owned, and Hispanic-owned businesses.” Cigna’s Triplett also shared his thoughts on the mission of his organization. “As a global health service company, Cigna’s mission is to...