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