In August, I was honored to be among several Black businesswomen in Houston selected to participate in #ShareTheMicAndTheMoneyNow. This innovative virtual event was designed to amplify our voices, heighten our marketplace exposure, and open access to at least $40 million in supply chain opportunities with these major organizations that are active on the forefront of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Houston, and Waste Management joined forces to build a dynamic four-day program expressly for Black businesswomen to engage bold conversations, solidify connections to mentors and peers, and propel our opportunities to prosper in Houston’s corporate landscape.
Event coordination, which typically would be expected to take months, was tightly compressed into weeks. The result was a highly compelling program with actionable business content — digitally delivered to bridge the social distances forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and urgently accelerated by what has become the transformative movement to rectify centuries of systemic inequities based on race and gender.
According to an American Express study between 2007 and 2018, the number of firms owned by Black women grew by a stunning 164% compared to 58% growth for women-owned businesses overall. Black women between ages 35 to 54 own more than 2.4 million businesses, and we are the only racial or ethnic group with more business ownership than their male peers, according to the Federal Reserve.
There is a wide gap, however, between the average revenue for businesses owned by Black women ($66,400) versus businesses owned by white women ($212,300). What’s more, on average, annual sales at Black women-owned businesses are two times smaller than at businesses owned by Hispanic women and close to five times smaller compared to sales for all women-owned businesses.
I am inspired and hopeful that #ShareTheMicAndTheMoneyNow is a model that will be replicated throughout the U.S. Now is the time to recognize and leverage the unparalleled, purpose-driven professionalism of Black women in business to inject some much-needed and long overdue invigoration into America’s corporate supply chain.
Look | Narratives for Now, Next, and tHe uNceRtaiN (CCMA Strategies business pitch)
Listen | Renee Griffin: A journey into the corporate supply chain (Lead2Lead Podcast)
Watch | Highlights from the Corporate Supplier Announcement Ceremony (YouTube)
