Business - Page 22

Fizz Partners with Breakthrough Ventures to Connect Aspiring Founders at HBCUs with Capital and Mentorship

Fizz, the social media platform created by Gen Z for Gen Z to form authentic digital communities, today announces a new partnership with Breakthrough Ventures, a startup accelerator for young early-stage student founders. Fizz will provide Breakthrough Ventures with advertising credits to promote the accelerator on its platform. Through Fizz, Breakthrough will recruit founders to apply for its next cohort, with a focus on reaching aspiring entrepreneurs at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Gen Z isn’t waiting until graduation to start company building. Across college campuses, students are turning ideas into businesses. Fizz co-founders Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer are first-hand examples.

WNBA & Mielle Launch HBCU Intern Program at All-Star 2025

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The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Mielle, one of the fastest-growing Black-founded and women-led beauty brands, announced today an expansion of their third-year partnership to include a new Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) initiative. At the start of the 2023 season, Mielle made history as the first “Official Textured Hair Care Partner” of the WNBA and will continue to serve in that capacity and as an Official Marketing Partner. The WNBA and Mielle will launch the HBCU Event Intern Program at the AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025, which is a one-of-a-kind event internship experience that provides career development opportunities

Tariffs Fuel Rise in Secondhand Shopping, Experts Say

By Rachel Treisman Amid tariffs, trade wars and general economic uncertainty, many Americans are thinking extra carefully about how to spend and save their money. Consumer confidence tumbled in March, with the Conference Board’s Expectations Index — based on consumers’ short-term outlook on business, income and the labor market — dropping to 65.2 out of 100, the lowest in 12 years. And that was before President Trump announced a new round of sweeping tariffs, prompting retaliatory taxes from multiple countries — including China and the European Union — and fueling concerns about a possible recession. While he announced a 90-day delay this week, a 10%

Trump Tariffs Threaten Black Small Businesses’ Survival

By Gerren Keith Gaynor President Donald Trump‘s Wednesday announcement of soaring reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports has resulted in a slump in global markets and serious concerns among investors and consumers alike. The concerns are particularly felt by Black small businesses. “I’m concerned as to whether we’ll be able to survive this,” said Gladys Harrison, owner of Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering in Omaha, Nebraska. Harrison told theGrio that despite opening the soul food eatery’s doors during the 2007 financial crisis and enduring the challenges of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, “Food prices were very reasonable.” She explained, “We could provide

HBCU Innovation Internship Boosts Alabama Tech Talent

The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) graduated the third cohort of the HBCU Innovation Internship Program. The event, held at Innovation Depot in downtown Birmingham, was not one of pomp and circumstance but instead was a professional development opportunity for the graduating participants, as well as members of the incoming fourth cohort. Students had the opportunity to sharpen their networking and interview skills with group and one-on-one talks with professionals from Alabama Power and other area businesses and organizations. Graduating participants made presentations sharing highlights of their internship experience. For the second half of the day, the incoming fourth cohort had the chance to

Black Consumers Boycott Brands Over DEI Rollbacks

By Janelle Griffith Protests from conservatives and a new president in the White House who describes diversity initiatives as “illegal and immoral” have cleared the runway for private companies to roll back or completely abandon diversity, equity and inclusion commitments. Companies, including Target, Walmart, McDonald’s and Amazon, announced plans to scale back or cut DEI programs in their businesses, signaling to some Black customers that it’s time to rethink where they spend their cash. NBC News spoke to nearly two dozen Black people across the country about why they are boycotting certain companies and the impact that changes to DEI initiatives

U.S. Retailers Quietly Sustain DEI Initiatives Amid Public Rollbacks and Political Pressure

Several U.S. retailers that publicly scrapped diversity, equity and inclusion programs — including Target, Amazon and Tractor Supply — are maintaining certain efforts behind the scenes. The three retailers, while they’ve ended DEI programs on paper, have told advocacy groups and individuals they will continue to offer financial support for some LGBTQ+ Pride and racial justice events, as well as provide internal support for resource groups for underrepresented employees. These contradictions between public remarks to investors and those made to individuals or small groups illustrate the tightrope they’ve walked since U.S. President Donald Trump deemed some elements of DEI illegal and threatened possible investigations into firms that practice it. Advocates say DEI programs aren’t

Fisk University Wins $40K for Financial Literacy App

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Courtesy of Fisk University A four-student team from Fisk University took the top prize in the #IYKYK Pitch Competition (If You Know, You Know) for their business idea to make financial literacy and credit education a rite of passage for young adults, sponsored by Experian and HomeFree-USA. Nicknamed Team FinLit, Ansana Regmi, Destiny Marshall, Remilekun Ore and Sovit Lekhak earned a $40,000 scholarship for their proposal, “FinLit HQ.” It’s a personalized gaming experience for teenagers that helps them develop good financial habits and combat money dysmorphia. As they enter their early twenties, users move onto more advanced app-based credit education via gaming missions for real-world financial scenarios,

Paramount Ends DEI Policies Citing Trump Order

By Russell Leung, CNBC and Lillian Rizzo, CNBC Paramount Global told its employees this week that it’s ending numerous diversity, equity and inclusion policies, according to a memo obtained by CNBC. In the memo sent to employees Wednesday, Paramount said it would comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning the practice in the federal government and demanding that agencies investigate private companies over their DEI programs. Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins cited the executive order in the memo, as well as the Supreme Court and federal mandates, as the impetus for the media giant’s policy changes. Among the changes, the company said it “will no

As retailers drop DEI programs, Black founders could face obstacles to staying on shelves

By Melissa Repko, CNBC Fragrance brand Brown Girl Jane’s perfume bottles sit on shelves at Sephora near some of the most storied labels in the fashion and beauty world, including Prada and Dior. For the Black-owned brand, getting a retailer to bet on it was just the start, Brown Girl Jane CEO and co-founder Malaika Jones said. She said Sephora has supported the company so it can better compete with well-known brands with huge marketing budgets and glossy celebrity endorsements. Brown Girl Jane got a $100,000 grant last year to help grow its business through Sephora’s Accelerate program, which aims to boost founders

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