00:00This next conversation is for anybody that is interested in becoming their own boss,
00:12which I know sounds fun.
00:16It's a lot of work.
00:18It does not sound fun.
00:20I actually don't think it sounds fun.
00:21I just said that.
00:22I think it sounds like hard work, but I admire people who can do it.
00:25So this next segment is Advancing Black Women Entrepreneurs.
00:29It is just for anybody that thinks I really want to know how to do this.
00:33So let me introduce the panel.
00:35The South Divisional Director for Consumer Banking and Business Development for JPMorgan Chase,
00:41Ms. Bridget Killings, entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor, author, speaker, and co-founder and
00:47CEO of the Fearless Fund, that's a fantastic name, Arianne Simone, and news and politics
00:53editor at Essence, Melissa Noel, who will moderate the discussion.
00:58Thanks so much for getting up early, joining us here Friday morning, kicking things off.
01:03My name is Melissa Noel, and I'm a news and politics editor here at Essence.
01:08And during this next conversation, we'll be talking about Advancing Black Women Entrepreneurs,
01:14with a little help from our partners at JPMorgan Chase.
01:18And this morning, I am joined by two amazing women to help me get into that.
01:24To my left is Bridget Killings, South Divisional Director for Community and Business Development
01:29at JPMorgan Chase.
01:31And to my right is, yes, clap it up, clap it up, clap it up, show some love.
01:38And to my right, we have entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Fearless Fund, Arianne Simone.
01:46Oh, thank you.
01:47Give it up, give it up.
01:49So I want to thank you both for being here this morning, and I want to get right into this conversation.
01:57And I want to start with you, Bridget, by asking you to tell us a little bit about we have you have your finger on the pulse.
02:05Thousands of black entrepreneurs.
02:06We're coming into this new phase of the COVID pandemic, as well as growing support by corporate America to engage diverse entrepreneurs.
02:15So tell me, what are you hearing?
02:16What are things like right now?
02:18Well, Melissa, that's an excellent question.
02:20And it's not so much what I'm hearing.
02:24It's also about what I'm actually seeing.
02:27So let me just give you just a little bit of background.
02:30So in 2020, JPMorgan Chase came out with our racial equity commitment, $30 billion commitment.
02:37And that is to close the racial gap with black and brown communities.
02:43So part of doing that is that of that $30 billion, $2 billion of that is committed to helping established small businesses continue to grow and to scale.
02:56So we are working with senior minority consultants throughout the country who are actually mentoring these small businesses in order to grow.
03:06Right now, when I think about what's happening with entrepreneurship right now, there is no better time probably in the history of this country to take advantage of growing your passion and being able to do that with the resources, corporate resources that are out there in order to really help them to grow.
03:28So that is one thing that the pandemic did do.
03:31It allowed people to time to just sit back and really think about what it is and what talents they have been given by the man above in order to be able to grow those talents.
03:41So there's no better time such as right now.
03:44All right. So we're hearing no better time than now.
03:47And so, Arian, we know that you are a co-founder of the first venture capital fund by women of color for women of color.
03:56We have to clap it up for that one time because that is amazing. Amazing.
04:01Can you share for our audience here today the state of not just women-owned businesses, but black women-owned businesses?
04:09Where are you seeing advancements and where are you seeing the greatest needs?
04:14Oh, my gosh. First and foremost, I definitely want to share a few statistics that support what you're asking me.
04:21Women of color are the most founded entrepreneurial demographic. We are just the least funded.
04:27Black women in particular, since that question was stated, receive .0006% of venture capital funds in the tech space, which is a problem.
04:40Most founded, least funded. Where I am seeing advancements is right now we probably have more black women that have raised more than a million dollars in capital for their businesses,
04:54but the ratio in proportion to all other races is still so far behind.
05:00Right. So support is definitely needed.
05:02We saw a lot of money get deployed right after the wake of George Floyd in 2020.
05:09A lot of people put attention on racial equity, but we have noticed recently in a Fast Company article that the dollars are stopping to flow.
05:17So that has to be addressed because what you do when you stop a certain demographic from receiving capital, you're widening the wealth gap.
05:27Yeah.
05:28And it will continue to get widened if we don't continue to deploy at the same rate we were deploying in 2020.
05:33Yes. Yes. Thank you so much for that. And so you mentioned George Floyd. And so I think this is, you know, considering the climate that we're in right now, just talking a little bit about social justice.
05:44So many conversations happening about that today. I don't think venture capitalism is necessarily a thought that's paired with that commonly, but in terms of conversations about social justice impact or advocacy, talk to us about why it should be.
05:59It definitely should be because this is what true freedom is, which is equity, not just equality. And to be very transparent. This is also why Martin Luther King got shot when he started shifting his subject to economic justice.
06:13Oh, no, they were like, you need you have to go. Basically, this is me talking amongst us, even though this is probably broadcasted, but that is real.
06:21And venture capitalism is social justice for black people to truly be free. We have to be economically free. And that's why this is important.
06:31Thank you so much for that. We definitely have to talk about the times that we're in right now. And I appreciate that response. So the last question for you ladies, and this will go to both of you, is what do you hope to see more of in the near future when you think about black women entrepreneurs, where they are and where black women entrepreneurs can go?
06:49And I'll start with you Bridget. Okay. Well, of course, being a woman, I want to see more, you know, women entrepreneurs. But to Aryan's point, we got to make sure that we're not only supporting these women entrepreneurs, that as corporate entities, that we are helping to sponsor and fund these organizations. That is key. We all can have a dream of what it is that we want to do and that desire and have all the
07:19all the things in place. But that capital is very much needed in order for women entrepreneurs to be successful and to continue to build a legacy of more women entrepreneurs.
07:32Thank you so much, Bridget. Aryan, where do you hope to see more of?
07:36We want to see more black female unicorns. I think we're off to a great start. And what I mean by that is we have a lot of our founders speaking on this stage and multiple stages.
07:48We have Pinky Cole, we have Tracy Pickett, Angela Benton. Every time I look up, I'm like, okay, our girls are rock stars. They're on everybody's Forbes list, magazine covers, you name it. We just want to see more at that level of elevation. They've been blessed to receive capital. We just need more capital in this space.
08:07Yes. And so with that, thank you so much for both of you ladies for your insight, for your time, and just for sharing with us. So black women entrepreneurs, the future is bright. That's what I'm hearing. The future is bright.
08:20So ladies, we are out of time, but it is truly been my pleasure. A very special thank you to our partners at JPMorgan Chase for helping bring this conversation to life. Thank both of you. And we thank you to our audience, especially early on this Friday morning. We're kicking things off because we have to be and we have to make sure the economics are right. So thank you all. Thank you for having us.
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