The New Majority: Investing in Founders of Color

Despite how far we’ve come in the U.S., black entrepreneurs continue to face tremendous challenges to launching and growing successful businesses.

Yet there is great power in the founders, funders, and allies who continue to break barriers and create pathways for a new reality to be built.

Please join Impact Capital Forum for an informative and inspiring session with Melissa Bradley, founder of 1863 Ventures, a business development program that accelerates New Majority entrepreneurs from high potential to high growth, and professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Melissa will share her research on the real costs for black entrepreneurs to start and grow, but also her own experience as a successful social entrepreneur helping others launch businesses. We’ll discuss the real skills, cultural assets and values black people bring to their entrepreneurial ventures, and also explore the growing enthusiasm in and vehicles for investing in black-owned businesses at all stages. Melissa will be joined by Cora Miller, Co-founder and CEO of Young King Hair Care, the first natural grooming company for black and brown boys.

The discussion will be moderated by Christa Williams, Senior Vice President and Investing Principal at Citi Impact Fund.

About our Speakers:

• Melissa L. Bradley is a co-founder of venture-backed Ureeka, a community where small businesses gain unprecedented access to the expertise needed to grow their business. The Ureeka mission is to democratize economic opportunity by enabling community and by reducing the cost and risk associated with growing a small to medium business (SMB). She is also Founder of 1863 Ventures, a business development program that accelerates New Majority entrepreneurs from high potential to high growth. In this role she created a community of over 10,000 New Majority entrepreneurs in three years. Melissa serves as General Partner of 1863 Venture Fund, Venture Partner at NextGen Ventures and serves an advisor the New Voices Foundation and New Voices Fund, as well as the Halcyon Fund. She is also a member of the Fast Company Executive Board, Square & Forbes Small Business Advisory Team, as well as the Target Accelerators Entrepreneurs Advisory Council. Melissa is the former Co-Chair, National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and was recently named one of The Most Entrepreneurial Women Investors in 2018.

  Melissa is a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economies and innovation. She recently received The Ideas Worth Teaching Award which celebrates exceptional courses that are preparing future business leaders to tackle society’s largest challenges and create a more inclusive, just, and sustainable version of capitalism. She is also a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sidecar Social Finance, a social impact agency that provides impact investing advisory and capital services to individuals, institutions, and social enterprises.

• Cora Miller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Young King Hair Care, the first multicultural beauty and wellness brand for young men. Inspired by her son, she and her husband launched this company in December 2019 with the mission to redefine male grooming for the next generation. Cora has nearly 10 years of experience as a leader in corporate social responsibility, program development and communications. Previously, she was the VP of External Affairs for UnitedHealth Group where she managed strategic partnerships and evaluation of community investment outcomes.  She holds a Masters of Public Administration with a focus in nonprofit management from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s in journalism and public relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Christa Williams (Moderator) is Senior Vice President and Investing Principal at Citi’s $200 million Impact Fund. She leads investments for the fund’s Financial Services vertical as well as for Citi’s $50 million Black Entrepreneurs Program. Prior to joining Citi, Christa covered consumer finance companies as an equity research analyst at Jefferies and supported companies in their capital raising efforts as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets. Christa earned a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

ICF Members can pre-register at no cost. Non-Members may join for a $15 registration. Membership is available at levels for $25, $50 and $95, learn more.

Login instructions for this Zoom videoconference will be emailed after your registration is completed.