Building Black generational wealth has been at the top of many conversations, especially this month. Although there’s lots of work to still be done, it’s important to celebrate the progress made. Fortunately, Richelieu Dennis did just that.
On February 17 ,2023, the Founder & Executive Chair of The Sundial Group convened more than 75 Black and Brown trailblazing founders all in one room to ring the opening Nasdaq bell for the first time in its history.
Richelieu’s New Voices Foundation and Essence Ventures, spearheaded the momentous occasion, and was joined by Nasdaq CDO Sehr Thadhani, Monique Rodriguez (Founder of Mielle Organics, recently acquired by Procter & Gamble), Pinky Cole (Founder of Slutty Vegan), Beatrice Dixon (Founder of Honey Pot), Ceci Kurzman (the newest appointed Board of Director for UTA, Warner Music Group, and first Black woman appointed to Lanvin’s Board) and among others.
“We started this journey with New Voices five years ago, and in that time frame, the family that we’ve built, the ecosystem that we’ve put together that is now empowering and driving real value and real wealth in the Black community is just astounding,” Dennis said during the ceremony.
He continued: “I am grateful for the trust that you have put in us to help you on this journey, and I’m just looking forward to all the things that are going to come now that we actually know what we’re doing. I think the number one challenge that we’ve been fighting against has been the lack of resources or dollars to be invested in. And it started with investing in Black women and now just investing in people of color and Black people in general,” Dennis said in reference to the .01% of VC investment dollars directed to Black founders. As ESSENCE previously reported, Tech Crunch pointed out that Black founders in the United States raised 1% of the $215.9 billion in venture capital allocated last year. That is not to be confused with the 1.3% raised in 2021, the 0.8% they pulled in 2020, the 1% they got in 2019 or the 1.1% raised in both 2018 and 2017, the outlet reported.
Dennis added: “{Even} five years later, a few years after George Floyd, we’re still seeing these abysmal numbers of investments.We’re still seeing the regression in the commitments that were made. But we in this room and those that believe in this mission are not going to regress. We’re going to continue to forge forward. And the number one question or ask that I have of all of you is that as you have your successes, don’t forget to invest it back in the communities from which you came. So thank you all. Let’s do this.”
More information about the celebration can be found here.