Tech entrepreneur Holly Rachel has been named the first executive director of an Innovation Center at Fisk University, a Nashville HBCU. Fisk University Fisk University is a private Historically Black College & University (HBCU) and is the oldest institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee. Their mission is to produce graduates from diverse backgrounds with the integrity and intellect required for substantive contributions to society. They have now announced the opening of the Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center, which is set to open at the beginning of 2024. The center will
A report by ResumeBuilder.com found that over 40% of Black workers would take a pay cut for a shortened workweek. There were 976 business leaders surveyed to determine their current attitude toward a 4-day workweek policy. 4 in 10 companies plan to shorten the workweek. The survey of business leaders revealed 3 in 10 companies have plans to utilize a four-day workweek by the end of this year. Over 40% said they plan to implement a 4-day workweek by 2024, while 8% said they would shorten it by 2025 or later. Nearly
Elizabeth Nyamwange is a 17-year-old inventor of Etana, a device addressing the identification crisis that affects millions of impoverished women globally. Her solar-powered fingerprint scanning device enables users to create unique biometric digital identification without relying on internet access. The identification crisis NPR reports that around one billion people around the world do not have any official identification, leaving them without important documents, including birth certificates and passports. Nywamwange, who hails from Byron, Illinois, has dedicated herself to solving the worldwide digital identification gap that primarily impacts women in low-infrastructure environments. She told
Newark-based Audible is offering incentives for creative-tech startups, particularly those with founders of color, to relocate to Harriet Tubman Square in downtown Newark. Audible’s Newark Headquarters The Audible office is based in Newark, the second-most racially diverse municipality in New Jersey. The racial and ethnic makeup of Newark is roughly 50% Black people and 90% people of color. Audible was among the first tech companies to put down roots in Newark, relocating from Wayne, Indiana, in 2007. The office overlooks Harriet Tubman Square and her monument, which Audible helped develop for the
Henrietta Lacks’ family is suing a second company for unjustly profiting from her cells. Lacks was a Black mother of five who died of cervical cancer in October 1951 at 31. Following a tumor biopsy, doctors saved a sample of her cancer cells without telling her and passed them on to a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Although most cells die quickly in the lab, Lacks’ continued to multiply and didn’t age. These “immortal” cells were named HeLa (after her first and last name) and were sent to labs
A new report from the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and Shorelight Education has found that students from African nations and the Global South are more likely to have visas rejected. What did the report find? The data from the report was collected through public records requests and found that visa denials to study in the U.S. rose significantly from 2015-2022, especially for Global South countries. African students faced a visa rejection rate of over 50% in 2022, up nearly 10% since 2015. The report stated that in 2015,
This article was first published by Cheryl Lyn here. Many African American small business owners face challenges with funding due to post-pandemic hardship, inflation, and fierce competition. Yet black-owned businesses have been integral to the U.S. economy in the past and present. To help you out, we’ve rounded up a list of 20 places where you can seek grants and funding for your business in 2023. Backstage Capital What’s cool about Backstage Capital is that they intentionally back underrepresented founders, particularly those of color, female genders, and LGBTQ orientations. Founded in 2015, this private firm
Fearless Fund: VC Fund For WOC Responds To Racial Discrimination Lawsuit From Conservative Activists
Fearless Fund has responded to the lawsuit filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) after it accused them of racial discrimination. What happened? Conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, which supports women of color who own small businesses. The lawsuit accuses Fearless Fund of violating Section 1982 of the Civil Rights Act of 1886, which bars racial bias in private contracts, by opening its grant competition to Black women alone. Lawsuits brought by Blum and the conservative group led
Seven former employees are suing Twitter – rebranded as X – alleging that the company’s mass layoffs unfairly impacted employees with protected characteristics, including Black employees. The Lawsuits The complaints were filed in federal court in Oakland, California, after claims that Twitter violated America’s Family Medical Leave Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Omolade Ogunsanya is among the seven suing Twitter. According to the lawsuit seen by Rolling Stone, he alleged that his firing was “the product of unlawful race-based discrimination against Black employees.” Ogunsanya worked
Libbie Health, an AI-powered app that gives women of color tools to reduce anxiety, was announced the winner of this year’s Make It in Brooklyn pitch contest. Libbie Health The app was founded by behavioral health coach Colette Ellis in 2022 to address racial and cultural disparities in mental health care. It also aims to create positive health outcomes for women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and marginalized leaders. Ellis was trained in Emotional-Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping in 2013 and began building it into her client work. “If you’ve ever been in a situation where you smelled
