Walker's Legacy and Comcast NBCUniversal Launch New Partnership To Change the Narrative for Black Women-Owned Businesses

On the heels of National Small Business Week, today Walker’s Legacy is announcing its partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal, who will invest $250,000 in grant funding to our 10,000 Capital Ready campaign, an ambitious initiative to ensure that 10,000 Black women entrepreneurs are “capital ready” by 2025.

As part of this partnership, Walker’s Legacy and Comcast will host regional town halls and a national convening of various thought leaders serving Black women entrepreneurs.

The first of the events kicks off on May 18, with Walker’s Legacy Foundation, Blavity.org, and McKinsey & Co., hosting 30 business leaders in Washington, D.C. In addition, Comcast will collaborate with Walker’s Legacy to amplify powerful stories that highlight emerging Black women entrepreneurs to help drive more awareness of their needs and collaboration within their ecosystem to better foster generational wealth-building.

“We sincerely appreciate Comcast’s investment in our aggressive initiative to ensure women entrepreneurs have a supportive and coordinated ecosystem to increase their capital, confidence and connections. Comcast’s contribution is an example of its ongoing commitment to empowering marginalized entrepreneurs through positive narratives and solutions driven by those impacted on the frontlines,” said Ayris T. Scales, Walker’s Legacy’s Managing Director and CEO.

The goal of the 10,000 Capital Ready campaign is to increase access, knowledge, capabilities, certifications, and supplementary resources that directly grows the number of Black women-owned businesses who can secure capital, contracts, and customers for their businesses. Walker’s Legacy recognizes that it cannot do this work alone or in a silo, and proposes to convene, design, and execute a national strategy with an array of partners at every level, representing all sectors to achieve the commitment to 10,000 entrepreneurs and beyond.

“We know that the racial wealth gap is stifling growth and innovation in our country and that small businesses owned by women of color are disproportionally impacted,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation.

Walker’s Legacy produced a national post COVID-19 impact study and released results in June of 2021. Key findings from the study have informed the foundation’s evolved approach to supporting early-stage Black women entrepreneurs around technology, self-care, funding, and storytelling.

Comcast NBCUniversal’s partnership with Walker’s Legacy is part of Project UP, the company’s comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities.

For more information, please visit www.WalkersLegacy.com.