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Please complete and submit this form to learn more about Southern Communities Initiative and how you can partner with us.
Southern Communities Initiative is a consortium of companies with a single mission: to advance racial parity in six Southern U.S. communities.
© Southern Communities Intiative 2023
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Charlotte, North Carolina
Racial Equity Priorities
Southern Communities Initiative focuses on increasing the number and value of MBEs in the region. Southern Communities Initiative specifically aims at raising the economic weight of Black-owned businesses from 2% to 6% of the aggregated value of all businesses in the region.
Additionally, small businesses in primarily Black communities tend to have lower profit margins and concentrate in industries with less potential for growth.
Black entrepreneurs often face many barriers, including a lack of access to capital, technical assistance, procurement opportunities and more.
Creating and scaling a greater number of Black-owned businesses is crucial to generating employment opportunities for people of color and increasing wealth in the community and economy.
OUR AMBITION
Offer 2-5 FTEs to Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) over 5 years to convene corporate partners, assess their MBE spend, develop pipeline to increase MBE spend to 5-10%+.
Partner with CRBA to advise/mentor ~200 MBEs on capital/loan access to help them scale from <$10M to $50M+.
Increase MBE spend to 5-10%+.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Racial Equity Priorities
Digital access is vital for any community to thrive in today’s world. Southern Communities Initiative’s ambition is to increase access to high-speed internet and its affordability for underserved communities. Currently 10% of households in the Charlotte area are without Internet access.
OUR AMBITION
Secure $25M over 4 years for Center for Digital Equity’s longitudinal project on digital access to enhance health efficacy and agency in the health experience lifecycle.
Increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~35K unconnected households.
Secure $1-3M (donations or in kind) to drive door to door and community outreach in low income focus zip codes to get ~12K households onto Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) subsidies in Charlotte.
Provide 20K laptops, internet subs and broadband for ~35K households + grant writing support and internet adoption centers.
Secure $2.2M for ~4K routers, switches and internet backhaul connections for ~80 bldgs.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Racial Equity Priorities
Increasing education quality and minority representation in top job positions can have a positive effect on communities. Southern Communities Initiative aims at increasing Black empowerment and representation in the workforce. In Charlotte, Southern Communities Initiative supports the Mayor’s plan to make of JCSU a top 10 university in the US. Southern Communities Initiative is also planning to help increase the percentage of Black Charlotteans owning college degrees to 59%, and improve the representation of Black/Brown in executive positions to 30%.
Many of those who do graduate from HBCUs, where students are 1.4 times more likely than non-HBCU students to take out student loans and borrow 20% more on average.
Studies have found that taking on student debt can negatively affect academic performance, graduation rates and long-term wealth accumulation.
That is why it is critical to address issues in both enrollment and student loan debt, thus allowing students and graduates to access high-paying job opportunities and build their wealth.
OUR AMBITION
$10M to HELPS program and support ~1.5K+ students per year at 3 HBCUs with emergency expenses – e.g., health.
Offer 2-5 FTEs to Charlotte Regional Business Alliance over 5 years to track and help increase Black-/Brown-exec representation from 10% to 30%+.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Racial Equity Priorities
In Charlotte, 40 percent of Black households are unbanked or underbanked.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) are often viewed as the backbone of community lending and offer favorable terms for low-to-moderate income communities.
However, in order to scale their operations and economic impact, corporations and foundations have a key role in addressing common challenges for CDFIs and MDIs:
Ensuring access to capital for individuals and businesses can spur economic growth and set a strong foundation for wealth accumulation.
OUR AMBITION
$30M to help 4-5 CDFIs over 5 years modernize core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and leverage SWAT teams to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution and give technical assistance, enabling an add’l $330M/yr in capital deployed to ~30K MBEs.
* CDFIs/MDIs being considered (examples and not exhaustive): Security Federal Bank, Institute / North Carolina Community Development Initiative, Sequoyah Fund Inc, Self-Help Credit Union, BEFCOR, Aspire Community Capital, etc.
Houston, Texas
Racial Equity Priorities
Black people make up 17% of the population but Black businesses only represent approximately 4% of businesses and approximately 2% of revenues.
Additionally, small businesses in primarily Black communities tend to have lower profit margins and concentrate in industries with less potential for growth.
Black entrepreneurs often face many barriers, including a lack of access to capital, technical assistance, procurement opportunities and more.
Creating and scaling a greater number of Black-owned businesses is crucial to generating employment opportunities for people of color and increasing wealth in the community and economy.
OUR AMBITION
$3M to hire 3-4 FTEs over 5 years for One Houston Partnership to help companies increase MBE spend from ~2% to 5-10%+ as well as advance BIPOC talent and representation.
Partner with One Houston Together and the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HSMDC) to certify additional MBEs, develop Minority Business Finder database tool and provide resources and services to help local MBEs scale and participate in Pathways to Excellence program.
Increase MBE spend in Greater Houston region to 5-10%+
Houston, Texas
Racial Equity Priorities
About 10% of all Houston area households are without internet access. Ensuring access to high-speed internet is critical to accessing telehealth, remote work and education opportunities.
OUR AMBITION
Invest in setting up internet connections/hotspots, offer laptops/Chromebooks and support adoption (through government subsidy technical assistance and digital literacy) to connect ~145K homes to high-speed internet in the Houston region.
Increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~145K unconnected households.
Help establish Center for Digital Equity (5-10 FTEs over 5 years) to work with ISP partners, school districts and community organizations to exchange data, map household connectivity, help connect households.
Install broadband backhaul at ~30 buildings with ~1.5K routers, switches and internet backhaul connections.
Support City of Houston’s Digital Equity Services Project to implement self-sustaining telecommunication infrastructure to provide affordable broadband and digital connectivity in Complete Communities.
Provide broadband access (hotspots for teachers and parents) to support the Collaborative for Children’s efforts to bring quality early childhood education to the Greater Houston area; Contribute learning manipulatives to improve school readiness and 21st Century STEM skills through Collaborative for Children.
Support the design of an Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in areas of the city with residents that qualify for the program.
Support the creation of a digital equity fund to provide funding for digital inclusion initiatives.
Houston, Texas
Racial Equity Priorities
Black people are about 1.5 times less likely as white people to hold a college degree and Black households earn approximately 57% of what white households earn.
Many of those who do graduate from HBCUs are 1.4 times more likely than non-HBCU students to take out student loans and borrow 20% more on average.
Studies have found that taking on student debt can negatively affect academic performance, graduation rates and long-term wealth accumulation.
That is why it is critical to address issues in both enrollment and student loan debt, thus allowing students and graduates to access high-paying job opportunities and build their wealth.
OUR AMBITION
~$120M : fund the Income Contingent Alternative to Parent Plus to support ~1.2K Black STEM students per year forever at 7 HBCUs.
Houston, Texas
Racial Equity Priorities
In Houston, 41% of Black households are unbanked or underbanked.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) are often viewed as the backbone of community lending and offer favorable terms for low-to-moderate income communities.
However, in order to scale their operations and economic impact, corporations and foundations have a key role in addressing common challenges for CDFIs and MDIs:
Ensuring access to capital for individuals and businesses can spur economic growth and set a strong foundation for wealth accumulation.
OUR AMBITION
$30M to help 4-5 CDFIs over 5 years modernize core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and leverage SWAT teams to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution and give technical assistance, enabling an add’l $330M/yr in capital deployed to ~30K MBEs.
* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: Unity National Bank, Texas National Bank, Unity Bank of Texas, LiftFund, PeopleFund, First Light Federal Credit Union, etc.
Memphis, Tennessee
Racial Equity Priorities
Black businesses only represent approximately 7% of businesses and approximately 2% of revenues.
Additionally, small businesses in primarily Black communities tend to have lower profit margins and concentrate in industries with less potential for growth.
Black entrepreneurs often face many barriers, including a lack of access to capital, technical assistance, procurement opportunities and more.
Creating and scaling a greater number of Black-owned businesses is crucial to generating employment opportunities for people of color and increasing wealth in the community and economy.
OUR AMBITION
Fund to expand technical assistance through business coaches and wrap-around services for 500+ MBEs over 5 years to help them scale from <$1M to $5M+ in annual revenue.
Standup/scale MBE fund* to offer more flexible access to capital arrangements 400-500 MBEs over 5 years.
* Lead organization: The Collective Blueprint; Contributing local organizations for community strategy include (but not limited to): Community Unlimited, Women’s Business Center South, Epicenter and others.
Memphis, Tennessee
Racial Equity Priorities
17% of Black households in Memphis are without Internet access. Ensuring access to high-speed internet is critical to accessing telehealth, remote work and education opportunities.
OUR AMBITION
Partner with local organizations* to invest in setting up internet connections/installing hotspots, offering laptops and supporting adoption (through government subsidy technical assistance and digital literacy) to connect ~135K homes to high-speed internet in the Memphis region.
Increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~135K unconnected households.
Scale team of 5-10 FTEs at CodeCrew over 5 years to work with local ISP partners, school districts and community orgs to exchange data and map connectivity by household.