On November 20th, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE) hosted its inaugural Black Entrepreneurship Research Symposium. This groundbreaking event showcased the real-world impact of the CBE’s new partnership with the Black Wealth Data Center, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, to cultivate Black entrepreneurship data and research in service of building wealth across Black communities. The partnership aims to identify current gaps in Black entrepreneurship data and research, with an emphasis on expanding the existing body of research, including setting the data agenda and mobilizing cross-sector leaders to act on identified solutions.

The Symposium featured remarks by Entrepreneurs, Political Leaders, and Best-Selling Authors Stacey Abrams, Senior Fellow, Brookings Metro and Director, Center for Community Uplift Andre Perry, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute and Research Director, The Maven Collaborative Ofronama Biu, BEA CEO Samantha Tweedy, and Greenwood Initiative Lead, Bloomberg Philanthropies Garnesha Ezediaro.

It also featured a panel conversation with Alaina Beverly, Executive Vice President of the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, Latresa McLawhorn Ryan, founder and CEO of Blackbird Strategy Group, Grant M. Warner, Ph.D., Bank of America Endowed Professor and Executive Director of The Center for Black Entrepreneurship, and Erika Williams, Senior Program Officer of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Greenwood Initiative.

The inaugural class of the CBE’s Research Faculty Fellows also presented their research at the Symposium, which was held in Atlanta on the campus of Morehouse College.

In September, the BEA Foundation convened “The Forum” – a leadership discussion among Black mayors and select private sector and philanthropic leaders on the subject of advancing Black economic prosperity, during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference week in Washington, D.C.

Co-hosted by Mayor Justin M. Bibb, City of Cleveland and Mayor Steven Reed, City of Montgomery and President of the African American Mayors Association, the program engaged Black Mayors leading on economic opportunity and select corporate and philanthropic partners – including Head of Bloomberg Philanthropies Greenwood Initiative Garnesha Ezediaro; Head of Community Impact & Investment, Capital One Kerone Vatel; Senior Vice President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth Salah Goss; Program Officer, Family Economic Security, W.K. Kellogg Foundation Jeanne Wardford; and Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation James Crowder – committed to advancing economic inclusion.  The program explored the critical need for public, private, and philanthropic strategies to defend and advance Black economic opportunity during this time of clawback of Black economic progress and an unpredictable federal policy landscape. BEA Foundation offered the Architecture for Action and the Policy Agenda to Advance Black Work, Wages and Wealth as solution sets to guide cross-sector investments and public/private and philanthropic partnerships at the local level that achieve high-impact and sustainable outcomes for Black prosperity.

This August, BEA hosted our annual event, The Gathering on Martha’s Vineyard. Featured speakers, Governor Wes Moore, RGB Consulting Principal Roz Brewer, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and Author Andre Perry, W. K. Kellogg Foundation President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron, and NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson discussed Owning our Economic Future: Advancing Black Work, Wages, and Wealth in 2024.

McDonald’s Commitment to the Black Community Owning our Economic Future

McDonald’s is a proud BEA partner committed to BEA’s mission of advancing work, wages, and wealth in the Black community. In 1968, Herman Petty became the first Black McDonald’s owner-operator, and today, the new applicant pipeline is over 70% percent diverse, with 12% of restaurants being Black-owned.

As Brad Bogan, VP of US Strategic Franchising at McDonald’s shared from the stage at BEA’s The Gathering on Martha’s Vineyard, “We at McDonald’s believe we are responsible for adding value to the communities in which we operate and are proud to play an active role in communities across America. McDonald’s is working to grow its pool of restaurant owner-operators who represent the society in which we operate – including the dynamic members of the BEA network working to drive progress and prosperity in the Black community.” You can click here to get connected to a member of the McDonald’s franchising team to learn more and spread the word.