Meet Black Women Invest, a sisterhood formed around the mission to turn one million Black women into high-level investors.
Schelo Dorin founded Black Women Invest after an abrupt end to her “dream job.” It started as a Brunch Tour in four cities across the U.S. that brought together their online Facebook community of over 12,000 women. Brunches were hosted in Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, and Houston.
Since forming the community of investors, Dorin has helped more Black women gain knowledge about investing in stock and developing an investment portfolio.
“I went on a search to find like-minded women who were also on their investment journeys. I desired a supportive community; however, the research revealed a surprising lack of dedicated platforms for Black Women,” she told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“Instead, I found that more groups were focused on saving and budgeting – not investing. Therefore, I started Black Women Invest to provide Black women with a safe place to flourish and learn tangible investing strategies together.”
With chapters in Columbus, Georgia, Charlotte, North Carolina, Houston, Texas, Louisville, Kentucky, and an online chapter, Black Women Invest is now adding Washington D.C. to the list. It’s been a labor of love for Dorin who is passionate about breaking many of the stigmas Black women might have about investing.
“Some of the biggest stigmas I hear include the misconception that you need a lot of money to invest, which is far from the truth,” she declared.
“First, women need education, and then they need consistency. I teach people that even $50 a month can make a difference in your long-term portfolio.
Dorin has also heard women compare investing to gambling, which she says couldn’t be further from the truth.
“This fear of financial loss comes from a lack of knowledge,” she explained.
“I recently taught an investing class and showed my students how to properly analyze a stock. At the end of the session, someone replied, “This is what people mean when they say ‘do your research.’”
She continued. “Black women might perceive investing as risky behavior, particularly if they don’t have a good understanding of what they’re investing in. Getting educated helps them to overcome that fear.”
The most recent BWI brunch was held in Washington D.C. where attendees were gifted with 15 free stocks to begin their investing journey and were invited to join the new D.C. chapter.
With membership costing only $25 a month, BWI is fulfilling its mission of providing Black Women with a safe space to learn about money and make friends along the way.
“Community is imperative. You get the chance to learn from each other, gain a diverse perspective on investing, see what’s working for other members, gain the confidence to take action, and much more,” she shared.
“Also, seeing someone who looks like you investing successfully gives you the confidence to make a move as well!”
In alignment with BWI’s mission, Dorin shared three tips for those interested in investing but unsure of how to get started.
- Understand your risk tolerance level. You can assess this by asking yourself the following questions:
How would I react if my investments lost a significant amount of value?
How much money can I afford to lose?
When will I need access to my money?
How do I honestly feel about market volatility? - Set your goals. What are you planning to do when you reach your investment goals? Are you investing to buy a house, planning for retirement, or paying for your children to go to college? That should help you determine the types of investments you get into; such as real estate, index funds, or passively or actively investing into stocks, etc.
- Choose the right investment strategy for you. I had a woman join our group who wanted to invest further in her stock portfolio, but she was already at retirement age. So when we discussed the best strategy for her goals and timeline, we realized that it would make the most sense for her to convert her basement into a new living quarters and rent it out. And that’s precisely what she did, she now rents it out to travel nurses and earns a profit.
“Investing is not just about stocks.”
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