#RisingLeaders: Four Leaders Working to Bridge the Gap Between Entrepreneurship and Racial Equity

Throughout this month, I’ve had the privilege of featuring four remarkable leaders who are bridging the gap between entrepreneurship and racial equity to reduce economic inequality. Each of them are working to not only make a difference in their own communities, but for Black entrepreneurs everywhere. 

Melissa Bradley is Founder and Managing Partner of 1863 Ventures, where she’s working to de-risk small businesses and help startup founders become CEOs. She shared, “Every day I work to ensure the growth and scale of New Majority entrepreneurs. I do this in part because I am an entrepreneur of color, but also because the data shows that this is the fastest growing segment in business growth.” 

Jay Bailey is President and CEO of Russell Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, where his efforts to empower communities are rooted in the notion that talent and genius are equally distributed, whereas opportunity is not. He also works with other organizations to support underserved communities and minority groups. He shared, “I am committed to going farther together, and that takes very deliberate and intentional work to bring together our collective talents, seek out the greatness in others, support the growth and development of those on your teams, and give opportunities for all to reach their highest and best selves, while cheering them on all the way. I have learned that people matter, that life is about relationships, to make your friends before you need them, and above all – it's by giving that we receive.” 

Shelly Bell is Founder of Black Girl Ventures and her goal is to close the funding gap for women entrepreneurs and Black women specifically. She also has a background in performance poetry and education, which have been essential skills that have carried over into her professional career. She shared, “Understanding how to articulate in a way that is concise, comprehensive, and when necessary, entertaining, has been the foundation of my success.” 

Natalie Madeira Cofield is Founder of Walker’s Legacy Foundation, which works to provide entrepreneurial, financial, and professional support to improve economic prosperity and reduce economic inequality for multicultural women and girls. She shared, “I found myself yearning for a much-needed mentor-mentee relationship with an executive and enterprising woman who looked like me. I then decided to establish an organization dedicated to supporting minority businesswomen, and to name it in honor of continuing the legacy of a woman whose entrepreneurial achievements inspired and uplifted me: Madam C. J. Walker.”

My sincere thanks and appreciation to each of these leaders for taking the time to participate in this month’s #RisingLeaders feature. I’m excited to share more about their organizations and professional journeys.  

Melissa Bradley is Founder of 1863 Ventures, where they’re working to de-risk small businesses and help startup founders become CEOs

1. Tell us a bit about your role and how your organization is working to bridge entrepreneurship and racial equity.

Melissa Bradley: Black women are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs in this country. Latinx businesses are the fastest growing businesses once started. Yet, both groups are overlooked and underfunded. It’s my mission to de-risk these companies through training and technical assistance and set them on a successful glide path for fundraising.

At 1863 Ventures, we work to de-risk small businesses and help startup founders become CEOs by providing early-stage capital that will unlock downstream investors and partners to help create $100B in wealth, by and for New Majority entrepreneurs, by 2030.

Jay Bailey: We are building the largest non-profit center in the world dedicated to growing, developing, and scaling Black-owned businesses in honor of one of the greatest entrepreneurs our city has ever produced: Herman J. Russell. I do not believe in building programs for people without asking and involving those very same people, so before I got started partnering with several organizations, we surveyed 1,500 black entrepreneurs asking about their greatest needs. I would have made a sizeable bet that “access to capital” would have been overwhelmingly number one, but when we got the results, I was shocked to find that “community” was by far the much greater need. It shaped our whole philosophy and theory of change. Our goal was not to be informative, but transformative. We did not need to create another program, we needed to create a safe space for Black entrepreneurs to fail and fly, rooted in a collaborative community that concentrated on culture and covenant first, focused on the whole entrepreneur, and a deep sense of belonging. More than an incubator or accelerator, we consider ourselves a generator, bringing the best resources in the world under one roof, and empowering the community with access and opportunity, hope and belief—a continuum of engagement for the life cycle of business, growing with them, as we grow together. We are building something incredibly special on the Westside of Atlanta: in the community, by the community, for the community.

Shelly Bell: At Black Girl Ventures (BGV), we work to create access to capital for Black and brown women founders. One of the ways we do that is through our unique crowdfunded pitch competition, which can be described as a mix between Shark Tank and Kickstarter, but live. In these competitions, Black and brown woman-identifying founders pitch from a stage, and the audience votes with their dollars for the pitch that they favor. We focus on community, leadership development, and entrepreneurial education. We are working actively on economic justice and the generation of wealth.

Having the personal experience of being a Black woman business owner, I know firsthand the struggles in accessing social and financial capital and I wanted to solve that for women who look like me. With BGV, my goal is to provide all the things that I needed in my journey that were just not available at the time.

Natalie Madeira Cofield: Nearly eleven years ago, I found myself yearning for a much-needed mentor-mentee relationship with an executive and enterprising woman who looked like me. I knew that women of color were making great strides in the business world but were noticeably void from mainstream media coverage. After many failed attempts of emailing notable women trying to solicit mentorship, I was at an impasse. I then decided to establish an organization dedicated to supporting minority businesswomen, and to name it in honor of continuing the legacy of a woman whose entrepreneurial achievements inspired and uplifted me: Madam C. J. Walker. Our first event was held at the Charles Sumner Museum in Washington, DC, and included nearly 30 women. More than a decade later, I am proud to say that the work of Walker’s Legacy and the Walker’s Legacy Foundation has touched tens of thousands of women across our nation and counting.

Jay Bailey is President and CEO of Russell Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, where they are dedicated to growing, developing, and scaling Black-owned businesses 

2. How can we capitalize on the global call for racial justice to form a brighter and more equal future?

MB: To help those interested in racial justice, we must do at least three things. First, help them understand how we got here and learn the outputs and outcomes of systemic racism, as we cannot fix what we do not understand. Second, engage in meaningful and courageous conversations with communities of color, as we need to stop the historical presence of patriarchy and allow the communities to address their own problems. And third, invest in the communities that have been starved for capital to implement the solutions they know will work. 

NMC: I would say something more to the effect of how we can rise to the moment, which is where we are right now—and that's through excellence and hard work. When COVID hit, Walker's legacy was everywhere. But it was clear that this is the time where everyone will begin to understand what we've been doing for the last 10 years and why it matters. Women and people across the country are all trying to find resources, assistance and support for entrepreneurship due to the effects of COVID. Every time there is a great recession, it deeply impacts minority women. We are first to be laid off from corporate America and we are the primary breadwinners of our community. In a moment such as this, you see the intersection of economics and racial justice coming to a head in a way that the civil rights movement attempted to achieve, but was always thwarted. This is probably the first time in history that it has been starkly evident that you can't have those two conversations as separate. Economic and racial justice are interconnected. And so the way that organizations can be a part of ensuring that support, acknowledgement, recognition, and funding goes into their communities is by providing excellent services that the community can benefit from. And, to do so in a way that's authentic to the people who receive it, which I think is important.

Shelly Bell is Founder of Black Girl Ventures, where they work to create access for Black and brown women founders

3. What value do you admire and believe is most important for a leader to possess?

MB: The most important value is empathy. You must be able to understand others and their paths in order to be helpful, engaging, and in partnership.

JB: Humility, empathy, and compassion. You must genuinely love the people that you serve, be able to walk in their shoes and see through their eyes. You must care about their issues as if they were your own and fight just as vigorously for those issues as they would, and often when they cannot. I think the best leaders are those that are always seeking to pour into others, planting seeds that will grow trees whose shade they may never sit under. I believe one of the most important attributes of any leader is the ability to grow and develop others, with the whole goal of ensuring they have the tools necessary to carry the torch even further than you. Your actions should inspire others to dream more, become more, do more. In my book that is the single most important role and attribute of a leader: Build as you climb.

SB: The value that I admire and believe a leader should possess is a deep understanding, respect, and empathy for the people that follow them. If you don’t have any followers could you really say you are a leader? I think understanding your “how” has been bigger for me than understanding my “why.” My “why” has been inherited.

NMC: The most important value that a leader can possess is perseverance. It is very important to continue to push yourself to grow, and in order to achieve growth you have to be uncomfortable. Throughout the years with Walker's Legacy, I've had to persevere through every component of my career. I've had to persevere because I've always put myself in a challenging new environment. And you could either rise to that occasion, or leave it before you learn from it. And the reality is you're never fully ready for growth, because it's growth. There's no perfect time for that. You just have to move through it and keep going. I find that the people I've always admired have fantastic stories about overcoming something that you probably wouldn't have expected that they went through. And I can still look at them and deem them to be successful. It's not just about their money that makes someone successful. I think people can be successful in the race of life based on their ability to persevere through challenging times.

Natalie Madeira Cofield is Founder of Walker’s Legacy Foundation, where they are working to provide entrepreneurial, financial, and professional support for multicultural women and girls

4. What events, influences, and/or moments in your life or career inspired you to get involved in the work you’re doing today?

MB: When I was starting my own company, I was told by the Small Business Association that I did not qualify for a loan because I was a Black female and the advisor didn’t know of any successful Black people in that sector. This was angering, but also motivated me to make sure what happened to me would never happen to someone else who looked like me and who dared to envision a life bigger than what others could have imagined for me.

JB: My mother was the first philanthropist I ever knew—even before I knew what a philanthropist was. She was a juvenile justice worker that never made over $40K a year, but found a way to give tirelessly, effortlessly, and generously. I lost my mother at the age of 19 and that loss rocked me to my core. She was my support system, my encourager, and my rock. Losing her spiraled me into a depression, and a deeply guarded space where I worked hard to keep the world out. As I graduated school, took jobs, and eventually struck out on my own, money was my crutch and my only motivation—profits without passion—and I know that is why I failed. But when I began to allow myself to recount the fond memories of my mother’s life, a life well lived and devoted to the service of others, I was reminded to put the community first and to always serve. The pain of her loss made it difficult to remember, but once I did, her legacy is something I will never forget. It inspires me, drives me, motivates me, and has given me lifelong purpose. She did not teach me how to love others, she showed me through her actions. My great mentor the late great Civil Rights Icon Dr. CT Vivian once told me, “ALL the power is in the DOING!” She believed that she lived that and through her efforts I found my north star. My “why” today is absolutely rooted in her work, and my work is always fueled by my “why.”

SB: I think that my own entrepreneurial journey influenced a lot of the work that I’m doing today. Prior to starting Black Girl Ventures, I had started other companies, including a T-shirt line and a successful print shop. During that time, I realized how lonely a journey it was and I felt the effects of lack of access to capital. Despite that, I was able to level up my company by doing business with corporations and building my networking. When the news came out that Black women were not receiving enough access to capital, I felt compelled to do something about it. Like I mentioned, I know firsthand the struggles a Black woman entrepreneur faces when trying to get access to funding or social capital, and I thought that collectively we could do something about it.

NMC: When I started my first company, I was 27. I had a lot of issues with sexual harassment when I was younger. And I went home one day, and I was crying. So one of my male friends asked me an important question, “Well, who's your female mentor?” and I realized that I didn’t have one. And that's kind of how Walker's legacy got started. I realized that I never wanted to be in a position where somebody had that much power over me and my destiny and what I was trying to do. I believe the impact of Walker’s Legacy has a real place in history as we continue to empower, uplift, and support each other and other women of color as they navigate through their professional careers.

Follow #RisingLeaders to stay up to date on the series, and share with me a rising leader in your life – it can be someone you know personally or someone you haven’t met, but from whom you draw inspiration.