The Black Economic Alliance Foundation – a national nonprofit organization working with private, public, and social sector leaders to advance work, wages, and wealth for Black Americans – announced a grant partnership today with Visa Foundation to support the development of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship housed at historically Black Spelman and Morehouse Colleges in Atlanta.
The new center, supported by a $5 million grant from the Visa Foundation, aims to grow the pipeline of Black entrepreneurs and connect them to investment opportunities. Visa Foundation’s commitment will support the development of an entrepreneurship program, which includes hiring faculty and building curricula for students at Spelman College and Morehouse College, as well as making online upskilling courses globally accessible. Through academic training, access to mentors, and exposure to the program’s robust network of business leaders and investors, students will be supported in navigating the structural challenges Black entrepreneurs traditionally face when setting out to launch and sustain a business.
“We appreciate Visa Foundation’s generous investment in the mission of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship,” said Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College. “The Center for Black Entrepreneurship will provide invaluable resources for our students interested in entrepreneurship by providing them with the opportunity to build the skills and networks necessary to thrive as future business leaders and founders. This is especially important since Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs.”
David A. Thomas, president of Morehouse College, added that “Visa’s generous grant will help us further the Center for Black Entrepreneurship’s work of addressing the historic and systemic challenges Black entrepreneurs traditionally face in accessing capital and peer networks.”
