By Jasmine Browley ·Updated August 19, 2022
In 1916, St. Louis residents voted on a “reform” ordinance that would block anyone from purchasing property in a neighborhood more than 75 percent occupied by another racial group. Although the ordinance was overturned, white St. Louisans asked families to sign a legal document promising to never sell to a Black prospective buyer. This type of action wasn’t made illegal until 1948.
Unsurprisingly, these deeply systemically racist practices are still felt, and has manifested in the Black business ecosystem of today.
WEPOWER, a St. Louis based and mission focused organization aimed at empowering oppressed communities, is stepping up to level the playing field. In a news release, it was announced they launched a 10-week Elevate/Elevar Accelerator Program and Capital investment fund, providing coaching, access to networks, funding, and capacity to St. Louis-based Black and Latinx founders.
“We want to create physical spaces for joy and community building, and work together to build wealth and power with and for more people across the St. Louis region,” said founder and CEO Charli Cooksey. “Systems change work is complicated and requires achieving not only political change but also economic change in a coordinated way. To do that, we are working hard to organize people, organize money, and shift the public narrative about education and economic systems. This summer, we’re taking a big step forward in that work.”
According to a statement shared with Essence, WEPOWER launched a $1.5M fund for Black and Latinx founders, and has already committed “to investing $50,000-$200,000 in individual businesses with a goal to have deployed a total of $500,000 in zero interest loans and capital investment to more than 20 entrepreneurs by the end of this year.”
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