As Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown launches a nonprofit whose mission is to close the racial wealth gap in and around Boston, existing incubators and funders with a similar focus are welcoming the high-profile spotlight he brings to this arena.
Brown’s new nonprofit, called Boston Xchange (BXC), plans to back entrepreneurs of color in the creative economy from design and music to fashion and the culinary arts.
“You have a very prominent athlete, who is committed to his local community. They’re asking the right people the right questions around making sure that it’s not duplicative and that (the) efforts are working with existing programming here,” said Glynn Lloyd, who runs Mill Cities Community Investments in Lawrence, a Black-led community development finance institution.
Nearly a decade ago the Boston Federal Reserve Bank reported that the median net worth of non-immigrant Black households in Greater Boston was just $8. One avenue to improve that dismal figure, advocates have long argued, is entrepreneurialism.
That’s been challenging in Massachusetts. Black and Latino people comprise more than a fifth of the state’s population but owned just over 3% of businesses with employees in 2018 — less than half the national rate of Black and Latino business ownership, according to a U.S. Census survey of entrepreneurs.
Lloyd said recent events raised awareness of the challenges facing entrepreneurs of color, from the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd to the COVID pandemic which disproportionately hit communities of color and minority business owners.
That awareness spurred more government grants and support for these business owners, he said.
“People who have been in the space, whether it be on the capital side or on the technical assistance or the advocacy side, we strengthened our relationships and there’s more trust and cross-fertilization,” Lloyd said. “All in all, I think this ecosystem is pretty strong.”
Orlando Watkins, vice-president at The Boston Foundation, cited the growth of several organizations already dedicated to addressing the huge racial wealth gaps — from the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts to Amplify Latinx and the Asian Business Empowerment Council.
“What’s been born out of a lot of this work over the last six years is a pretty robust infrastructure, to serve BIPOC businesses,” Watkins said.
But there are also headwinds. Watkins and Lloyd both pointed to recent pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion and decisions from U.S. Supreme Court undermining race-targeted efforts.
In that context, Brown’s effort to create a new incubator for creative people of color in Greater Boston is even more meaningful, said Watkins.
“Someone like Jaylen in the middle of that potentially chilling effect saying this is something as a community we have to keep our eye on — it’s really powerful,” Watkins added..
Makeeba McCreary, who runs The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund in Massachusetts, said that minority-led businesses and nonprofits still find it very hard to access funding and loans.
“Small businesses and grassroots sort of organizations, both are really challenged and struggling to find liquid resources that allow them to operate unencumbered, if they are led by people of color,” she said. “That is what we are.”
McCreary is optimistic that Brown’s nonprofit can make a significant difference in Boston by helping creative people of color become what she calls “part of the fabric” of the city.
“If they’re able to fully participate in that, we’re going to be that world class city that we talk about,” she said. “Without them, I fear we won’t get there.”
