Barriers to Black entrepreneurship widen the wealth gap - cnn international
"That dearth of funding can be attributed to “all those -isms and biases that have built up over the 400 years that we’ve been part of this country,” said Gayle Jennings O'Byrne. O’Byrne, who co-founded the Wocstar Fund, an early stage investment fund that invests in tech innovation ventures led by women of color.But the discrimination is subtle, rather than overt, O’Byrne said. “It looks like, ‘Hey, great job. That’s an awesome idea. Keep going. Come back to me, you know, a year from now. I’d love to see how you’re doing. Hey, stay in touch.’”
And it’s not just a lack of funding for promising start-ups. It’s the lack of sustained support for micro businesses that make up the lifeblood of communities.
“How do we empower those micro businesses? How do we ensure that they have access to capital? How do we ensure they have access to business education?,” Brandon Andrews asked.
Doing so is also likely to help keep a community afloat. “We know that Black business owners and Black entrepreneurs tend to hire from their community, hence spreading the economic benefit,” said Kenneth Ebie, executive director and chief development officer, Black Entrepreneurs NYC.
"Just 2% of businesses with employees are Black-owned, according to a report from the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity."
Insightful. The numbers speak for themselves and reducing the wealth gap is one of the only ways to drive equality.
