Black Women Still Face Overwhelming Odds in Starting Businesses
Elizabeth Leiba
2X Bestselling Author | Writing Coach & Hybrid Publisher | Keynote Speaker | Social Justice Warrior | ADHD | Bipolar | Epileptic | DV & SA Survivor | Afrofuturism ??? | ?????? | Seen in NYTimes, Forbes, TIME | ΔΣΘ ??
Although we were looking fly in our Chucks ?? and pearls ?? yesterday, not enough of us are breaking glass ceilings in Corporate America!
If you’re a Black woman, who’s navigated predominantly white spaces during your professional working career, you’ve probably heard about or been subject to microaggressions. The “Excuse, me I’m speaking” meme that we all laughed at a few months ago is a real thing!
When we think about the workplace, women are having a worse experience than men. Women of color are having a worse experience than white women. And Black women, particularly, are having the worst experience of all!
This is NOT my opinion. This is a FACT, backed up by study after study and statistic after statistic.
?? Black women are significantly underrepresented in leadership roles.
?? Black women are less likely to get the support and access they need to advance.
?? Black women face more day-to-day discrimination at work.
STILL:
?? The number of businesses owned by Black women grew by 164% over the past decade.
?? There are about 2.4 million Black women-owned businesses, most owned by women 35 to 54.
HOWEVER:
?? In venture capital, only 2% of capital goes to woman-owned companies, with .0006% to Black women's businesses.
?? Black women are denied loans and pay higher interest rates than white counterparts, even after controlling for factors such as credit score.
?? The average annual sales for businesses owned by Black women was $27,752, compared to $143,731 for all women.
?? Black woman's businesses remain micro because Black women have difficulty accessing credit and face capital constraints, making it hard to access funding to grow.
Despite the overwhelming odds, many Black women are taking their destinies into their own hands to create their own ventures outside corporate America.
I launched my subscription-based, unlimited access e-learning platform Black History & Culture Academy with 20+ courses to have a direct impact on helping educate about African history and literature, African American history and literature. I also offer Diversity Equity, and Inclusion classes.
I'm passionate about the importance of Black history and why the complete and accurate narrative about the African diaspora must be shared. This is not an option. It's an absolute necessity.
The brilliant author and activist Maya Angelou expressed it best when she said:
“I have great respect for the past. If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going.”
“I have respect for the past, but I'm a person of the moment. I'm here, and I do my best to be completely centered at the place I'm at, then I go forward to the next place.”
Veteran Registered Nurse with multi-faceted knowledge in the quality improvement aspects of nursing, healthcare, informatics & education.
3 年That's what I thought, of course y'all look alike.
Veteran Registered Nurse with multi-faceted knowledge in the quality improvement aspects of nursing, healthcare, informatics & education.
3 年Thank you for the information on why we need complete & accurate Africn American history. Why would anything else be done?
Freelance Writer - opinion, poetry, research, instructional, biography
3 年Hey everyone. I am interested in starting a non-profit that has multiple facets to it. I have been interested specifically in hiring low-income and/or non-skilled people to help them gain work experience and ultimately improve their chances of getting employed or moving up into better jobs. What I want to do won't be glamorous or high paying, but that is not my goal. My goal is, well, multi-faceted. The corner-stone of this is to have a tool lending library, with a remakery, which will serve to reduce things that would otherwise be sent to the landfills. It is meant to be a green business that serves 3 cities in my community. The remakery will be open to adults and children to help people explore their creativity while repurposing and upcycling items that are donated and collected. To help support this facility I also want to include a consignment shop in which items that have been created can be sold. Part of the proceeds would go to the person who made the item and part of the proceeds would go to expenses of the facility. I would also like to eventually add a few classrooms, where low-income/at risk K-12 students can receive free tutoring in subject matter they are struggling with in school. nd finally add meeting rooms for free workshops to help at risk* people learn basic skills that may not be taught in schools, but are essential to successfully navigating our world (such as better communication, how to balance a checkbook, how to prioritize expenses, how to avoid businesses that prey on the poor, how to keep a credit record clean or repair it and the importance of this, and how to improve one's sense of self-worth and learn they are in control of their lives, stop the cycle of victimhood thinking, gain confidence, and so on... Much of this dream of mine is to not only have a green business that helps our community, but to also help the most disadvantaged people of our community to gain a foothold and begin an upward journey instead of continual decline or stagnation. I've realized that the people who fit into this population are very often the black and brown skinned folk who have been marginalized and taken advantage of in practically every way there is. I have become much more aware of racism and all that comes with it in our country and it breaks my heart to know just how insideous it is, having become ingrained in our language, thoughts, and actions. I have realized that I am not immune. I want to make a difference in our world, or at least the community in which I live, and maybe other communities will catch on and this idea will grow. I only have one major hurdle: part of this dream is not exciting me and I have been dragging my feet around it for a year because of that lack of enthusiasm. I realized this last weekend that what I need is a like-minded person who also wants to serve her (or his) community in growth and would be willing to partner up with me to take on, oversee, and manage that part of this dream that has me frozen in time. One of the things I have learned duirng this pandemic is that we have to stop being individualistic and self-serving. It is in giving that we gain strength in our souls and in our community. I saw this post and I want to help. No one that sees themselves in this position will see a glass ceiling, but will be rewarded in knowing they have made a difference in man people's lives. I would be honored to know of someone here who might be interested in working with me. In addition, as a white woman, my commttment to you is to learn more about how to best honor and respect you, without feeling the need to lead or direct you, or engage in microaggressions. My goal is a true partnership in which we can both grow as people and help our community to blossom.
CEO at Vendelations Telehealth Bathrooms, LLC (TM)
3 年Let's Network ! I'm a startup looking for qualified staff. Can I get any suggestions? Let's hope to raise the whole Black Village, that gets less than 1%.
MPA. Technology and public policy analyst. Ex-BOD; VP of public policy at Confluence Ballet.
3 年I have no idea how I missed so many of your posts, Elizabeth Leiba! Yes. Yes.