This Founder Is Launching A Digital Space To Help Black Women Navigate Job Loss
Coaching and digital education company Career Love LLC is launching a free Career Love Community, a digital space helping Black women who have been laid off from their jobs. Founded by career coach and DEI Mercedes Swan, the initiative aims to provide a space where Black women can access resources, network, and support after experiencing job loss.
“Black women are tired of surviving systems and spaces that weren’t built for us,” Swan said in a press release. “We deserve more, and I am excited to build a safe community where Black women can come together to grow, plan, and take action together,” said Swan. “This space is our way of offering hope, direction, and inspiration for a better future.”
What will the community offer?
The Career Love Community will offer Black women access to select live events and training, curated community circles for career and business support, and opportunities to upgrade to full membership for deeper coaching, curriculum access, and mentorship.
This launch builds on Career Love LLC’s mission to help Black women achieve alignment, freedom, and abundance in their professional and entrepreneurial journeys. Since its inception, the Career Love Community has grown to more than 290 members, highlighting the strong demand for culturally grounded, strategic career support.
Black women leaving the workforce
Nearly 300,000 Black women left the workforce in just three months, according to gender economist Katica Roy’s analysis of federal data published in MSNBC. Black women were the only major female demographic to see significant job losses in the five-month period between February and July, with 319,000 leaving the workforce.
Unemployment rates for Black women are rising, and economists believe this signifies a broader problem. Black women’s unemployment rate increased from 5.1% in March to 6.1% in April and reached an all-time high in May at 6.2% before dropping to 5.8% in June, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported by The 19th.
Black workers often face the consequences of the economy first due to systemic racism and barriers in the labor market. Black women also face the longest periods of unemployment before finding another job, with the average waiting time being six months for the demographic group.
Image: Mercedes Swan
