Arif Gursel, founder and CEO of Pan-African Center for Empowerment (PACE), has launched SEA619, a program created to support Black entrepreneurs in the Seattle area. Gursel is launching multiple programs within SEA619, taking an individual approach for each business. The organization’s name is a combination of the Seattle-Tacoma airport code, SEA, and 619 to honor Juneteenth. “I believe people come into things at varying needs, skill sets, and understandings, and when you try to put something on a rail, some of those carts go faster. Some of those carts go
Two Black founders have teamed together to create Dreamward Ventures, a new Seattle-based fund that plans to invest in diverse founders, including early-stage startups led by Black entrepreneurs. Dreamward Ventures Dreamward Ventures offers early-stage capital, technical due diligence, and network connections to founders who need them most. According to GeekWire, founders Evan Poncelet and Jesse Posey met at a Seattle Angel Conference event and decided to address the gaps in venture capital for Black founders and investors. “It’s hard for the venture capitalists and angel groups to reach out to founders of color, specifically Black
Seattle-based Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) hosts programmes for diverse young women, including their Y-WE Tech program. Young Women Empowered Y-WE is a youth development organization founded ten years ago in Seattle. Their mission is to cultivate the power of diverse young women, non-binary and gender-expansive youth ages 13-26 to be creative leaders and changemakers through their community programs. They held their first program in 2010, a seven-month pilot leadership program, which led to the organization offering year-round programs for girls and women. They are an intersectional feminist organization for all racial identities,
