The Center for Black Entrepreneurship

The Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE) intends to offer a comprehensive set of features designed to empower Black entrepreneurs. The CBE achieves this through a tripartite approach that encompasses education, mentorship, and access to capital and opportunity.

The CBE's academic training is to be facilitated through its partnership with Spelman and Morehouse Colleges. This collaboration allows the CBE to tap into the rich academic resources and robust intellectual community of these renowned Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The center also has a connection with Clark Atlanta University, which helps catalyze the development of its graduate-level programming. 

Spellman currently runs several co-curricular programs including the student run entrepreneur’s club, a dedicated space for entrepreneurship training (the Entrepreneurship Hub Science Center 240), a student fellowship program (Blackstone LaunchPad) and a comprehensive educational initiative (Spelpreneur) which includes workshops, an entrepreneur chat series, one-on-one mentorship and an annual Startup pitch competition. The CBE curriculum aims to teach students how to:

• Create a business.
• Launch a start-up.
• Evolve and translate and business concept.
• Acquire and existing business and/or reposition a business.
• Scale promising innovations into commercially viable products or services.
• Connect with potential investors including venture capital and other sources of funding.
• Learn core skills in marketing, pitching, customer discovery, business planning, branding, business financials and other foundational elements.

A significant part of the CBEs strategy is to increase funding opportunities through mentorship. The center seeks to address the barriers that Black entrepreneurs often face in securing capital and expertise. In particular they intend to do this by building strategic partnerships and leveraging public-private collaborations. The CBE will work with seasoned professionals like Margaret Anadu, Senior Partner at The Vistria Group, who offers expert guidance to black entrepreneurs on equitable access to capital.