North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council

ABOUT

More growth-oriented Black-owned firms means more innovation, more jobs and significantly more wealth creation for Black people, impacting communities as a whole. However, the number of Black-owned firms is disproportionately low at nearly every stage of development. This Black entrepreneurship gap is due to systems that result in a lack of access, exposure, networks, funding and resources.

The North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council (NC BEC) was created to lead NC IDEA in its programmatic and grant making ambitions to address the challenges of Black entrepreneurship in North Carolina. The Council works closely with the Foundation to identify, recommend and support partners, grant recipients and programs to serve the entrepreneurial aspirations and economic potential of North Carolina’s Black community.

Elevating Black Entrepreneurship

Equitable entrepreneurship is vital to our economic recovery. Partnering with organizations, including our fourteen NC BEC ECOSYSTEM partners, fourteen NC BEC ENGAGE partners and 5 accredited North Carolina HBCUs, creates greater opportunity to economically empower Black people with entrepreneurship, and collectively work to combat inequalities that perpetuate racial imbalances. Under the leadership of the NC BEC and less than three years after its formation, the Council has deployed more than $2 million in grants to organizations supporting Black people in their ambition to start and scale growth-oriented companies, as well as seven GROWTH grants to Black-led startups previously receiving NC IDEA SEED grants.

Celebrating National Black Business Month and 3-Year Anniversary of NC BEC

NC BEC Grant Recipients
$ 0 M+
GRANTS AWARDED
0
GROWTH GRANTS
0
PARTNER & HBCU GRANTS
0
COUNCIL MEMBERS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Nikita Allen

Nikita Allen

GROWMETIX (CHARLOTTE)
Doug Speight

Doug Speight

ANNEXTECH PARTNERS
Shannon Baylor-Henderson

Shannon Baylor-Henderson

Content Commanders
Terik Tidwell

Terik Tidwell

VentureWell
Dee McDougal

Dee McDougal

Capco
Ray Trapp

Ray Trapp

NPower
Kevin-J-Price

Kevin Price

NAT'L INSTITUTE OF MINORITY ECON. DEV.
Nikita Allen

Nikita Allen

GROWMETIX (CHARLOTTE)
Shannon Baylor-Henderson

Shannon Baylor-Henderson

Content Commanders
Dee McDougal

Dee McDougal

Capco
Kevin-J-Price

Kevin Price

NAT'L INSTITUTE OF MINORITY ECON. DEV.
Doug Speight

Doug Speight

ANNEXTECH PARTNERS
Terik Tidwell

Terik Tidwell

JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY
Ray Trapp

Ray Trapp

Research Triangle Foundation (RTP)
council members

André Blackman

Onboard Health (Raleigh-Durham)
Spencer Disher

Spencer Disher

CHARLOTTE ANGEL FUND (CHARLOTTE)
Katrece Boyd

Katrece Boyd

SBTDC (RALEIGH)
Jerry Edmonds

Jerry Edmonds III, Ed. D

VANCE-GRANVILLE CC (HENDERSON)
Carrie Cook

Carrie Cook

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (CLT)
Ijeoma Emeka

Ijeoma Emeka

BANK OF AMERICA (CHARLOTTE)
Jamila Davis

Jamila Davis

Meck. County’s Office of Econ. Dev. (CLT)
J Hackett

J. Hackett

Black Wall Street AVL and GRIND (AVL)
Perry-Harker

Perry Harker

CARTERET CC (BEAUFORT)
Tonya Lynch

Tonya Lynch

THE BLACK LIGHT PROJECT (GREENVILLE)
Alyssa Martina

Alyssa Martina

DOHERTY CENTER (ELON)
Gerry McCants

Gerry McCants

MCCANTS, LLC (GREENSBORO)
Dana Newell

Dana Newell

BENTONNEWELL COMM. (GREENVILLE)
Karl Ricanek

Karl Ricanek

LAPETUS SOLUTIONS INC. (WILMINGTON)
Kristi Tally

Kristi Tally

KD7 ENTERPRISES INC. (RALEIGH)
Iesha Usher

Iesha Usher

SMIILE (GREENSBORO)
Natalie Williams

Natalie Williams

NAW4 Integrated Business Solutions

André Blackman

Onboard Health (Raleigh-Durham)
Katrece Boyd

Katrece Boyd

SBTDC (RALEIGH)
Carrie Cook

Carrie Cook

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (CLT)
Jamila Davis

Jamila Davis

Meck. County’s Office of Econ. Dev. (CLT)
Spencer Disher

Spencer Disher

CHARLOTTE ANGEL FUND (CHARLOTTE)
Jerry Edmonds

Jerry Edmonds III, Ed. D

VANCE-GRANVILLE CC (HENDERSON)
Ijeoma Emeka

Ijeoma Emeka

BANK OF AMERICA (CHARLOTTE)
J Hackett

J. Hackett

Black Wall Street AVL and GRIND (AVL)
Perry-Harker

Perry Harker

CARTERET CC (BEAUFORT)
Tonya Lynch

Tonya Lynch

THE BLACK LIGHT PROJECT (GREENVILLE)
Alyssa Martina

Alyssa Martina

DOHERTY CENTER (ELON)
Gerry McCants

Gerry McCants

MCCANTS, LLC (GREENSBORO)
Dana Newell

Dana Newell

BENTONNEWELL COMM. (GREENVILLE)
Karl Ricanek

Karl Ricanek

LAPETUS SOLUTIONS INC. (WILMINGTON)
Kristi Tally

Kristi Tally

KD7 ENTERPRISES INC. (RALEIGH)
Iesha Usher

Iesha Usher

SMIILE (GREENSBORO)
Natalie Williams

Natalie Williams

Charlotte Area Fund Inc. (CHARLOTTE)