Thank you for an amazing year!

Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Your dedication, enthusiasm, and commitment have been invaluable to us. As the year ends, we must pause and take stock of all we have accomplished. It has been an exciting and successful year, and we wanted to share some of our highlights with you!

Walk thru Memory lane with us !

We created and launched an accelerator program y'all!

MaconThon℠ is a local initiative created, curated, and executed by Macon Black Tech to support, nurture, and create a community for creatives, local leaders, entrepreneurs, social innovators, and technologists.

We created a curriculum that would bring together local innovators, community leaders, early-stage founders, creatives, and technologists in the Middle Georgia area. We were on the hunt for individuals who were deeply motivated to resolve a vast range of social and economic challenges affecting the city they love and would use cutting-edge technologies and entrepreneurial innovation to build together.

Why was this important?

Isolation is a by-product of barriers individuals face (professionally, economically, and socially). Sometimes collectively, sometimes individually... One of the secret sauces of innovation is collaboration. However, there must be trust and empathy. Empathy requires spending time with each other in a safe space.

Let's take a commercial break here. We've been mentioning a safe space since our inception, but we need to define it...

A safe space is not void of conflict or various perspectives. It is sometimes very intricately messy and challenging. But at its core, building trust requires intentionality, respect, and empathy. There must be effort and a willingness to see a human experience through different lenses. To remove all distractions and see experiences for what they are rather than blaming them for what is not. 

When we say building a safe space for black founders, we understand the systemic barriers founders experience, as founders ourselves and as data historically shows. 

Investing in founders of color through cultural competence impacts our community's economy. According to a McKinsey & Company study, the right business ecosystems can mitigate or negate the effects of structural obstacles to business building for Black business owners—and add $290 billion in business equity (ref).

Ok, let's resume our timeline of greatness... (while nibbling on this data)

MaconThon℠ launched at the beginning of the year with 16 amazing founders, community leaders, innovators, developers, and creatives building an MVP to pitch for demo day.

The program consisted of workshops, office hours, and founder's story sessions with the aim of providing the resources to get the cohort ready for developing their MVP.

For 3 months participants met with experts in different sectors to brainstorm and build their MVPs. Some of our special guests included Mbye Njie, Chasity Wright, Shila Nieves, Burney, Ryan Wilson, Justin Dawkins, Damola D' Omotosho, Dana Dickson, Stephen Brewer, Stephanie Howard, Morgan Buras- Finlay, Dr. Gloria Cisse, Carnelia Ajassin, Isabelle Magnin, Shawn Johnson. These individuals represented brands like Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, Atrium Navicent Health, Mercer University, Zane Ventures,

and The Gathering Spot, while also sharing their expertise in areas like healthcare innovation, accounting and finance, community building, building an MVP, raising capital, design thinking, trademarking and so much more...

We are deeply thankful for their dedication and for spending quality time with us.  

Our Bi-weekly (hybrid) sessions focused intently on innovation and design

frameworks.

To close out the program, we hosted our 1st demo day!

Demo Day 

Demo Day is the graduation ceremony for companies in accelerator programs. Each group prepared and presented a brief pitch to an audience.

The group had a chance to pitch to community members and judges. I wish we could have an Oprah moment and fund every project, but we're a growing ESO, and that is the dream of our future. 

Grateful for the memories built as Amber, Ariane, and I spent time working out the kinks to launch. Many late nights and sacrifices led to a beautiful program. We learned so much from this experience; we're looking forward to launching the second one next year!

Last but certainly not least!

Big Shout out to the 1st cohort!

Super inspired by all of you!

& we can't forget our partners and supporters.

Thank you!

This program has been very insightful! As founders, we navigate the intersection of running our companies while running this community organization. Our focus has been creating a safe space without recognizing that we also needed a safe space as we look into what growing in sustainability looks like for us.  

Ecosystem Builders are dreamers that believe in a world where pipelines for their community should consider all aspects of the founder's journey. This work takes grit, perseverance, empathy, and sacrifice. It is a blessing to learn from experts that believe in the vision while investing in the work. Through the program, we connected with many amazing ecosystem builders while also having a safe space to strategize and develop our plans for MBT.

[excerpt from resource article]

"We are a FUBU model. When I think about the future of Macon, it’s going to be filled with Black founders who fuel the culture and the economy. It’s pretty much created a dent in the tech and innovation industry. Not just nationally, but globally. I’m looking to change that mindset of what people think when I say Macon within this sector.”

 - Christele Parham

Congressional Caucus on Black Innovation (CBI).  

It is my hope that this caucus will become a space for new innovation pioneers to access the resources they need to reinvigorate our economy with their ideas and form meaningful connections with other innovators. One of our nation’s greatest strengths is our diversity, and we must ensure that our world-class innovative industries reflect that diversity.” ref

 -Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15)

On April 26, we gathered with a delegation of Black Innovation Alliance members to be part of the official launch of the Congressional Caucus on Black Innovation (CBI).   The Congressional Caucus on Black Innovation (CBI) is composed of Members of Congress who believe in the indispensable role of Black innovators in advancing American economic growth. Led by U.S. Representatives Stacey Plaskett (VI-00), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), and Ritchie Torres (NY-15), CBI exists to engage policymakers in advancing full Black inclusion in the innovation economy and has emerged as a direct result of BIA’s advocacy.

It was a historical moment where policymakers were educated on a variety of issues, including data collection, algorithms and bias, the future of money and cryptocurrency, IP rights, the metaverse, and the future of work.

The new caucus seeks to develop policy that will address systemic racism and bias that prevent Black innovators from accessing the capital that allows them to sustain and thrive compared to their white counterparts. ref

To learn more or to be involved visit here

Growing in sustainability

Back in the Black Tour

In September we partnered with Google!!!!

The Back in the Black tour was created to elevate the conversation on the power of technology to help Black businesses scale and stay ‘in the black. This BIA and Google initiative sought out 4 entrepreneur support organizations state-wide to disburse this funding through and host their town halls. We were excited to be amongst those 4 cities. 

The four cities included Macon, GA, Twin Cities, MN, San Diego, CA, and Philadelphia, PA.

This initiative highlighted business owners who leveraged technology in various ways to survive and thrive through the COVID-19 pandemic. The town halls provided local entrepreneurs tactical tips and strategies so that they too might activate key platforms, products, and online tools to take their business to the next level, build generational wealth and spur economic development!

THE RESULT:

Four winners were selected from the BITB cities (Philadelphia, Macon, Twin Cities, San Diego). Each winner received $10,000 and was invited to share their story at their city’s town hall. 

Why is this Important?

[Excerpt from a recent McKinsey Study]

• 58 percent of Black-owned businesses were at risk of financial distress before the pandemic, compared with about 27 percent of white-owned businesses.

• The pandemic contributed to tipping 41 percent of Black-owned US businesses into closure from February to April 2020.

• More than 50 percent of the owners of surviving Black businesses surveyed in May reported being very or extremely concerned about the viability of their businesses. This concern may be linked to having a more difficult time accessing credit since the COVID-19 crisis began; 36 percent of Black business owners responding to the survey said they had experienced this, compared with 29 percent of all respondents.

   

Black Americans have never had an equal ability to reap the benefits of business ownership. While about 15 percent of white Americans hold some business equity, only 5 percent of Black Americans do. Among those with business equity, the average Black American’s business equity is worth about 50 percent of the average American’s and a third of the average white American’s. (ref)

Shout out to Kayla for repping the 478 and winning  the local prize of the Back In the Black Contest!

Congrats Kayla!

Check out Ava's Apple to support her.

Additionally, during the Macon Town Hall, we gave out different resources such as

• Two month free license of Typeform sponsored by Typeform

• $2,000 to 2 different local businesses

• A scholarship to Entrepreneur's Academy sponsored by NewTown Macon

Conferences & Tings!

We also had a chance to attend multiple conferences and many conversations this year. From Collision in Toronto to the Congressional Black Caucus Conference, Georgia Power Luncheon, and so much more...

Cyber Hygiene Workshop

For more information on the Black Policy lab, check out their website.

Web Summit

Lastly, we closed our work year at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The Web Summit is considered “the world’s premier tech conference”. The conference's topics center on internet technology, emerging technologies, and venture capitalism. The Web Summit's partners range from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, with attendees representing all levels and sectors of the global high-technology industry.

During our stay in Lisbon, we enjoyed quality time with the Black Excellence Global Network. While in Portugal, we experienced our version of Wakanda. OUF! So grateful!

We dived into deep conversations with our peers about the state of ecosystem building  across the globe and met different startups building cool things.

What a year!

We accomplished so many Milestones and we're so grateful!

We want to give a special shout-out to the Black Innovation Alliance, its members, and the ecosystem builders we crossed paths with in this journey. They are the epitome of what it means to build equitably and the proof that this equitable model of creating a safe space is more than sustainable.

What to look for in 2023

Here is a sneak peek

Our website is changing to reflect our new mission, our pillar programming, and our focus. 

The new site will include more information on each of our pillars and highlight resources that encourage collaboration between partners and individuals.

MaconThon℠

We're excited to announce that the MaconThon℠ accelerator will be returning! We've taken the feedback from the first cohort and used it to make some changes. You can expect more details in 2023.

Storytelling and Narrative Change

We are excited to launch our MBT Pod Media platform in the coming year in collaboration with some partners. This expanded media outlet will help us share important stories and change the narrative around the black experience. Our goal is to inspire and motivate our audience by featuring disruptive innovators, futurists, and technologists who are making a difference in our Macon-Bibb and Middle Georgia communities. We believe that by sharing their stories, we can help create a more positive and hopeful future for everyone.

Data is King and Queen and then some!

Data is at the heart of ecosystem building. We have been building a robust data infrastructure to support our work. Stay tuned for findings from our team next year.

Symbiotic Partnerships

We are looking to launch initiatives that involve more collaborative partnerships, and more collaborative events with current and future partners. We believe the work we're doing is sacred. In building partnerships we consider the following:

• That partnerships are not harmful to the community we're serving.

• They are not extractive. 

• That each stakeholder believes in value exchange and that social impact is a 2-way street. 

   

If you believe in strengthening the infrastructure of support while strengthening resources for early-stage black founders in Macon in technology and innovation. 

Let's talk!

Why is this important?

Black business owners face many challenges when starting and growing their businesses. While economic, market, sociocultural, and institutional barriers are all linked to racial discrimination in the United States, each barrier presents its own unique set of difficulties.

Economic barriers can disempower Black entrepreneurs and make it difficult to access the capital needed to get started. Market barriers often result from unaddressed needs and can include challenges related to access to capital, expertise, and services. Sociocultural barriers encompass the biased and exclusionary ways in which Black entrepreneurs are more likely to be blocked from gaining social capital, such as helpful relationships that make up business networks.(ref)

We are working on being part of the solution.

Before we go!

Can we talk for a second?

Hi friends,

As we all know, the new year is a great time for us to reflect on the past year's accomplishments and goals.

This year with MBT we really focused on the following three goals:

• Launching a program that reflected our core values

• Establishing the infrastructure for growing Macon Black Tech

• Connecting with partners in alignment with the work we are doing

Wow!

I must say I’m really proud to see how much we’ve accomplished.

• We stepped out of our comfort zone dreamed big and saw the fruits of our labor

• We built partnerships with global brands

• We were part of black innovation history

   

This has inspired us to persevere!

Often times when I think about my journey in innovation and entrepreneurship, I often think about Noah building an ark. To persevere when the vision is plain, you need the audacity to build your vision. You need to be a student of your vision and be nimble to tweak as needed. One of the best lessons I learned this year from Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition is being able to identify distractions and obstacles.

• Distractions keep you away from your vision.

• Obstacles when mastered equip you for your vision. They help you build your core.

Our hope and vision as we continue our journey with Macon Black Tech is to ​create an equitable path for black founders in the Middle Georgia ecosystem. Going forward, this is our new mission. What does that mean?

To continue the work that we’re doing while being intentional, we have to see the ecosystem holistically.

1. Look at the barriers to access impacting founders in our local ecosystem

2. Build the data infrastructure while looking at the experiences and available data to better support rather than penalize the entrepreneurs

3. Invest in entrepreneurs with resources we gather and fundraise

4. Grow our team to better support the early-stage founders locally

Why is this important?

 [excerpt from McKinsey & Company study]

• Location can limit Black entrepreneurs’ business potential. Sixty-five percent of Black Americans live in 16 states that are below the US average on indicators of economic opportunity. Within their communities, Black Americans are also disproportionately concentrated in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Black entrepreneurs from these communities are less likely than their white peers to have exposure and access to lucrative business opportunities.

• Black entrepreneurs might also lack access to the networks and relationships that could help them make optimal business decisions. Research on New York–based start-ups shows that founders who are mentored by top-performing entrepreneurs are three times more likely than their co-located peers without mentors to become top performers themselves. (shamelessly plugging in MaconThon)

• Crucially, Black entrepreneurs struggle more to secure capital and access to credit. Even with strong personal credit, Black business owners and other entrepreneurs from marginalized groups are about half as likely as their white counterparts to receive full financing. Friends and family may not be able to contribute capital either. Most Black families surveyed said that they didn’t know anyone who could lend them $3,000

• Business networks can support Black entrepreneurs, but Black entrepreneurs are less likely to know and hear about relevant networks that can help support and promote their businesses. Indeed, Black entrepreneurs are likely to be excluded from receiving information about high-potential opportunities, even though focus-group participants said that they would like to connect with a variety of business professionals and mentors. This exclusion translates into fewer connections to formal hubs such as banks and venture-capital funds, and from informal networks. One sign of this disconnection is that corporate and government procurement programs that target Black-owned businesses tend to be underused. The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) found in 2016 that Black-owned businesses saw less utilization relative to their availability than white-owned businesses did in the same industries. The median share of contract dollars awarded to Black-owned businesses across five key industries—architecture and engineering, construction, goods and supplies, professional services, and other services—was 4 to 44 percent of contractors’ availability, compared with 49 to 61 percent for white-owned businesses.

   

The aggregate barriers to starting and sustaining a Black-owned business translate structural bias into less access to capital, lower revenue, and dimmer prospects for business growth. The mainstream financial system’s role in those barriers has helped to maintain Black Americans’ distrust of the financial sector as well as their fear of debt. (ref)

Ok, We're back!

When we’re thinking about creating strategies that are human-centered and design-thinking focused, we concentrate on designing strategies that put real people at the center of the development process, enabling individuals to create products and services that resonate and are tailored to their audience’s needs. The goal is to keep users’ wants, pain points, and preferences front of mind during every phase of the process. In turn, organizations build more intuitive, accessible products that are likely to turn a higher impact because the community has already vetted the solution and feels more invested in using it. 

Can we be honest?

We have a long way to go. Many founders that have solutions to our local pain points are suffering silently. They feel isolated by systems considered harmful to the black business experience. Investing in diversity requires us to look into our local landscape to brainstorm and execute plans that unravel barriers of access to business owners. In return, this will create spaces of empowerment that fuel our local innovators to thrive. Sifting through these barriers do the following:

-Creates room for founders to be more creative. 

-Impacts our local economy 

-Creates a network of experts that can compete in global markets. 

Investing in this diversity plan in the technology and innovation sector is a win for Macon-Bibb...

These spaces are not exploitative. They are intentional in seeing how history has impacted every Founder's journey. Innovators should not feel like their livelihoods are at stake because they see the “house is on fire”.

My goal in this letter is for us to start having honest and uncomfortable conversations about "How might we create a safe space for all local founders?"(despite race, social economic background, and experiences). One of the best feedback I received during the MaconThon was “You said this is a safe space. I do not feel safe”. In a world of "Bless your Heart", it is important to have authentic conversations. Being able to hear that feedback was not personal to me. How do we build sustainable healthy spaces, if we are not having real conversations? This allowed me to go back to the drawing board to master what this space was missing. 

Safe spaces need access to capital, resources that fuel the economy, and empathy for its end user. 

The Black Innovation Alliance, the Center for Black innovation, and Surdna Foundation recently came out with a Black Innovation Census. Within this study, they highlighted the Southern Strategy. In ecosystem development, Black entrepreneurs in the South need full and equal access to economic resources, opportunity, support, and agency. They compared Black Innovator Support Organizations (BISOs) nationwide and saw the lack of these resources within the southern regions. It is not a local issue but a regional issue. To strengthen the core of innovation and technology, we need to fuel and invest in spaces that empower founders to build and tap into their creative space with adequate resources. (ref)

[Quote from Black Innovation Alliance's website]

Black people have power as we have historically been disruptive innovators. One of my favorite exhibits I’ve seen was actually at our local Tubman Museum. It showed all the inventions of black intellectuals, founders, disruptors, technologists, and innovators throughout history.

Our talent and ideas have transcending value. It is important that our intellectual property is protected and valued and not exploited.

How do we rethink our approach?

As you reflect on your own goals as an entrepreneur, innovator, community leader, or funder, I encourage you to pledge to yourself to be intentional next year. 

• Be intentional in having crucial conversations

• Be intentional in advocating for equity

• Stand in solidarity with the movements from all over the United States that are changing systems that are harmful and depleting to communities of color

• Educate self about the history of oppression and how it has shaped the systems in place.

• Think about nurturing these communities holistically. Invest time, resources, and energy into the communities fighting for these changes.

• Advocate for fair and equitable systems and policies that support the well-being of all people.

• When exchanging efforts with communities and organizations of color, think about the opportunity cost for everyone. All wins are not created equal. Value exchange may be different. Define what they are at the beginning of your partnership, middle, and end.

• Remembering regardless of the size or influence of the stakeholder, all stakeholders matter

   

I hope that you can find time to support those goals.

Chat soon,

Christèle

Christèle