It has to come from us.
Black people have power. Our talent and ideas have value. We envision a world where Black prosperity is as abundant as Black genius.
Black prosperity is money in our pockets, assets in our accounts, and land in our names.
Black prosperity fuels communities brimming with joy, resilience, opportunity, and peace. It is a state of being, in which Black people experience health in mind, body, and spirit and have the emotional space to build strong and loving bonds. Black prosperity empowers us to use our gifts to rise to the highest heights and live life to its fullest. In Black prosperity, we seek a freedom that has eluded us for 400 years.
Our People
We claim the right for Black people to profit fully from our contributions to this age of innovation. We are the Black Innovation Alliance (BIA), an entity comprising support organizations that serve three types of Black innovators:
1) Founders of high-growth tech companies
2) Entrepreneurs leading small and medium-sized businesses focused on long-term and sustainable growth;
3) Creative technologists and artists who use emerging technologies as their mediums.
The Alliance believes that there is great power in our unity. And we will leverage that power by using capital, education, public policy, research, and media as our cudgels and our change agents. These cultural building blocks are essential for designing our shared future, building it, and then bringing it to the masses.
All five ensure that Black people may participate in the innovation economy as builders, owners, and creators, not just as source material, workers, and consumers. We reject the mining of our people for labor and ideas. Instead, we seek equitable offers that will create wealth for us all.
Our Pledge
In the next 10 years, the Black Innovation Alliance will recruit at least 500 organizations to support, fund, and sustain one million Black innovators.
Our Organizations Pledge:
To improve Black prosperity by increasing Black participation in the innovation economy.
To use capital, education, public policy, research, and media as levers for change.
To prioritize people over profits, and individuals over corporations.
To create innovative and disruptive social justice solutions within the realm of business.
To prioritize working with Black-run organizations that already have deep and authentic relationships with Black entrepreneurs and creators.
To form a distributed network that shares mutual values, long-term priorities, real-world initiatives, and resources.
We are the Black Innovation Alliance
Our Power Is Us.
Grow with us. Protest with us. Build with us. Invest in us. Join us.
SIGNED:
Aniyia Williams, Founder and Executive Director of Black & Brown Founders (Co-Convener)
Kelly Burton, Founder of Founders of Color (Co-Convener)
Erin Horne McKinney, Co-Founder of Black Female Founders
Lisa Osborne, Director of Emerging Media at Black Public Media
Roshawnna Novellus, CEO of EnrichHER
Fallon Wilson, Founder of The National Black Tech Ecosystem Builder Association
Preston James, CEO of DivInc
Kerry Bowie, Managing Partner at Msaada Partners
Monica Wheat, Founder of #BLKTECH2020
Sherrell Dorsey, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Plug
Justin Dawkins, Managing Partner of COLLAB Capital
Barry Givens, Managing Partner of COLLAB Capital
Hadiyah Mujhid, Founder of HBCU.vc
Makisha Boothe, Founder of Sistahbiz Global Network
Regina Gwynn, Co-Founder of Black Women Talk Tech & TresseNoire
Esosa Ighodaro, Co-Founder of Black Women Talk Tech
Lauren Washington, Co-Founder of Black Women Talk Tech
Boris Moyston, Co-Founder of Black Men Talk Tech, MOBIP & Fundr.ai
Abiodun Johnson, Co-founder of Black Men Talk Tech
Felecia Hatcher, Co-Founder, Code Fever & Black Tech Week
Erika Jefferson, Founder of Black Women in Science and Engineering (BWISE)
Jessica Norwood, Founder of Runway Project
Lauren Ruffin, Co-Founder of Crux
Terell Sterling, CEO and Founder of Go Paladin
Thomas K.R. Stovall, Founder of ImBlackInTech and Intention Mastery
Kiera Smalls, Executive Director, Philly Startup Leaders
Aaron Saunders, CEO of Inclusive Innovation Incubator (In3)
Stephanie Lampkin, Founder & CEO of Visible Figures and Blendoor
Kunbi Tinuoye, Founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz
Chika Umeadi, Partner at tiphub
Naji H Kelley, Founder & CEO of BLNDED Media
Luis Martinez, MSOL, Founder & CEO of We Tha Plug
Jonathan ‘Chaka’ Mahone, Co-Founder/Director of Divine and Conjure Enterprises
Carmen Mays, MPA, Founder & CEO of Elevators
Brian Williams, Founder of Wayne and Reed
Kori Hale, CEO of CultureBanx
Melinda Weekes-Laidlow, Founder & CEO of Beautiful Ventures
Justin McLeod, Founder & CEO of Surthrive
Essence Lofton, Director of Community Relations & Strategy at Flagship Founders
Winston Henderson, Co-Founder & General Counsel at Clear Scientific, Inc.
Lekiesha French, Founder & CEO of PRENEURology Global Inc and “The Future In Color” Initiative
Benjamin Vann, Founder & CEO of Impact Ventures