On May 1, 2025, Tennessee State University graduate Dorsey West will launch HBCU$™ to help tackle decades of disparities in public funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), according to a press release. HBCU$™ is an alumni giving and wealth-building network that will support the entrepreneurs they produce. Disparities in public funding West was inspired to create HBCU$™ after finding a 2023 analysis by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that found between 1987 and 2020, HBCU land-grant institutions received approximately $12.6 billion less
The consumer boycott against Target will not come to a halt, according to Pastor Jamal Bryant. In March, the retailer announced that it would end its DEI programs, including its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiative and a program focused on carrying more products from Black—or minority-owned businesses. Subsequently, Bryant called for a 40-day boycott against the retailer, which began on Wednesday, March 4. The movement spanned cities including Atlanta, Houston, Jacksonville, Florida, and Alexandria, Virginia. The “Target Fast” coincided with Lent, when some Christians observe fasting. Target’s foot
Djamo, a Francophone digital banking startup, raised $17 million in an equity funding round led by Janngo Capital. The fintech company currently serves one million customers, specifically in Ivory Coast and, more recently, Senegal, according to TechCrunch. The funding will help Djamo expand its product suite for its customers and the thousands of small businesses it has acquired over the past two years. Who are the founders of Djamo? CEO Hassan Bourgi founded the company in 2020 alongside Chief Product and Technical Officer Régis Bamba. Djamo is committed to lessening the financial
Vodacom supports the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (ICASA) commitment to prevent Starlink from operating in the country. The telecom company states that satellite operators, such as Starlink, should be held to the same standards as other terrestrial operators who must comply with local ownership rules, as noted by My Broadband. Vodacome supporting Starlink’s ban in South Africa Elon Musk’s company, Starlink, has not applied for the mandatory Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS) and Electronic Communications Services (ECS) licenses required to operate legally in South Africa. ICASA confirmed that
Kevin Hart’s Coramino Fund is now accepting applications for its $10,000 grant, including AI training to help small business owners learn more about AI. The fund is the brainchild of Kevin Hart and Juan Domingo Beckmann’s Gran Coramino Tequila. It is currently in its third year and is now open for its latest round of grants targeting entrepreneurs and small businesses from underserved communities, according to Fortune. Part of the grant includes “cutting-edge AI technological training and hands-on learning to responsibly and effectively incorporate into their operations.” Addressing the disparity
PepsiCo representatives met with civil rights leaders from the National Action Network (NAN) following Reverend Al Sharpton’s threat to lead a boycott over the company’s decision to roll back parts of its DEI efforts. On April 4, 2025, Sharpton sent a letter to Pepsi specifying the details of a planned boycott. Sharpton then issued a statement on Tuesday, April 15, stating that he and several members of NAN had a “constructive conversation” with PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and PepsiCo North America CEO Steven Williams. PepsiCo changing its commitment to DEI
Nigerian fintech startup Moniepoint announced the launch of MonieWorld, a platform that offers immigrants various financial services, starting with remittances to Nigeria. The new financial product allows users to return money to Nigeria, beginning with the UK. “With MonieWorld, Nigerians in the UK can send money home in seconds directly into any Nigerian bank account. With remittances to Nigeria crossing $20B in 2023, we see this as an opportunity to support economic growth in Nigeria, while bringing families closer,” the company said in a blog post. Customers will be able
James Oliver, founder of the co-founder matching app Kabila, has launched the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund, to support founders’ mental health. Backed by the Social Good Fund, the initiative received a $25,000 seed grant from Techstars Co-Founder Brad Feld. Supporting founders’ mental health Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund will provide free mental therapy for founders in the Kabila community. This includes founders in the Kabila Ventures portfolio, Oliver’s new pre-seed fund. “So many early-stage founders I talk with are having a HARD time right now – making tough decisions
The Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute is calling on social media companies to address the spread of violent speech and warmongering on their platforms to stop a looming war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Researchers at the institute have spent three years analyzing social media platforms’ role in exacerbating the 2020-2022 Tigray war and believe similar failures are happening again. “We performed computational analyses to quantify the level of hate speech on these platforms, and interviewed content moderators to better understand the organizational practices that have resulted in the platforms’ failures
DEI Under Fire is our monthly series that keeps you up-to-date on the latest DEI announcements and changes from the nation’s leading companies. This month, we discovered that Lego removed terms associated with diversity from its annual sustainability report despite adding more “diverse” characters to make its toys more inclusive. NASA fired Neela Rajendra, an Indian-origin official who served as the chief of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Yahoo removed multiple pages and other sections associated with DEI policies from its website. Here are some of the latest changes we
