Lifting as We Climb: The Journey Towards Financial Equity for Black Women Founders

by: Casey Ariel Thobias, Founder/CEO of Blaze Group

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, recognized on July 9th, symbolizes the ongoing struggle Black women face in achieving pay equity. This year, the day followed closely on the heels of ESSENCE Fest, a vibrant celebration of Black culture, highlighting a persisting disparity that we cannot turn away from dismantling. 

New Voices Foundation led the charge to address the issues of pay disparity and lessening the racial wealth gap for Black women founders at ESSENCE Festival of Culture™️ 2024 through its robust programming and activations. 

New Voices is a part of the Sundial Media Group alongside ESSENCE Communications. Naturally, these two powerhouse organizations have aligned to support Black women founders in a host of important ways. 

As the Founder and CEO of Blaze Group and a graduate of the New Voices Foundation’s 2023 Grow & Scale Cohort of the Madam CJ Walker Institute PACE Bootcamp, I have firsthand experience in addressing these challenges and witnessing the important strides made by the New Voices Family towards lessening this gap.

The Wealth Gap and Community Origins

For Black women entrepreneurs, pay and wealth disparities don’t begin in the workplace or their business ventures. Implications of disparate economic opportunity are pervasive in households and the communities that rear us into womanhood. According to a study by RAND Corporation, Black households are shouldering more student loan debts yet earning consistently lower incomes – and less wealth – for that education. Though three-fourths of Black women entrepreneurs hold at least a college degree (the highest of any other cohort), education is an intangible asset that cannot serve as collateral – making it hard for Black families to service their student loans when they face temporary financial difficulties.

According to a report from the Brookings Institution, Black college graduates typically hold $24,720 more student loan debt than white graduates ($52,726 versus $28,006). This debt burden limits the ability of Black women to invest in their businesses and build wealth. Furthermore, almost 70% of middle-class Black children are likely to fall out of the middle class as adults, underscoring the systemic issues that perpetuate economic instability and threaten the attainment of generational wealth. The racial wealth gap doesn’t only individual lives – it constrains the overall US economy too. It is estimated that the racial wealth gap will cost the US economy between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion between 2019 and 2028—an estimated 4 to 6 percent of the projected GDP in 2028.

Challenges Across Professional Landscapes

According to Blaze Group’s State of Black Women-Owned Businesses Report®, two-thirds of Black women entrepreneurs leverage jobs in the labor market to fund ventures. Research shows that Black women face numerous challenges in the professional world as well. Black women are more likely than any other demographic group to experience microaggressions in the workplace, including having their experiences and expertise questioned, which has the effect of holding Black women to higher levels of demonstrated competence. (McKinsey) These barriers often result in Black women taking supportive roles in established industries rather than roles in high-growth sectors. 

Additionally, many Black women forego private-sector roles with higher earning potential for the relative stability of public-sector roles. However, this stability is diminishing as public-sector employment contracts and funding become more volatile, leaving Black women with fewer economic options. Compounding systemic challenges and the dire need for accessible capital is the fact that 47% of Black households are un-/under-banked. “The relative lack of access to mainstream banking” and “high availability of high-cost financial services (such as payday lending in neighborhoods where black families disproportionately live) lead to higher expenses and contribute to the racial gap in family savings.” (McKinsey)

New Voices Foundation: Bridging the Gap

Despite these challenges, significant strides are being made, particularly through organizations like the New Voices Foundation. My participation in their 13-week PACE Bootcamp in 2023 provided invaluable opportunities for growth and empowerment. This program, designed to support Black women entrepreneurs, offers mentorship, resources, and a robust network to help scale businesses.

The New Voices Foundation’s impact has been profound. It has invested in my company Blaze Group and the communities I am passionate about serving by offering opportunities that foster economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. My PACE Bootcamp mentors have provided me with opportunities to pitch my business, explore product-market fit, and establish meaningful partnerships. A notable moment was in December 2023, when New Voices allowed me to showcase my business at the DC Gathering Spot during its 2023 Holiday Mix, sponsored by Shea Moisture for Men. I am still capitalizing on the powerful connections that I made that night. 

Upon graduation from this program, I had the opportunity to speak at the 30th Annual ESSENCE Fest, which attracted over 500,000 attendees. New Voices allowed me to extend my mission of providing culturally relevant business education to Black women in ways that are visible to a host of other well-aligned partners. At the ESSENCE Fest, I spoke on panels about scaling businesses with artificial intelligence and getting into accelerators and incubators – sharing tangible strategies and insights that flatten the learning curve for other Black women entrepreneurs. These experiences revitalized my spirit and reinforced the positive impact I can make within my community.

A Critical Reminder

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day serves as a critical reminder of the work still needed to achieve pay equity. However, with organizations like the New Voices Foundation and events like ESSENCE Fest, strides are being made each day to dismantle barriers that Black women face. By investing in Black women entrepreneurs, providing access to resources, and fostering networks of support, they are driving sustainable, scalable momentum that is working to close the racial wealth gap and create a more equitable future.

As a Black woman founder, I am grateful for the opportunities and support from the New Voices Foundation. Their commitment to empowering Black women entrepreneurs has put powerful mentors and heroes at my arm’s length. Together, we are working to create a world where equal pay and economic equity are not just aspirations but realities for all Black women.