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The event connected metro Atlanta career professionals with entrepreneurial resources and technology funding opportunities provided by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
ATLANTA, Ga. — On May 14, the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE) – a strategic partnership between the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, Morehouse College, and Spelman College – hosted the Atlanta stop of America’s Seed Fund Road Tour 2024, alongside the University of Georgia’s Innovation Gateway and the Small Business Development Center at Morehouse.
America’s Seed Fund 2024 Road Tour is a national outreach effort by the Biden-Harris U.S. Small Business Administration that conveys the technology funding opportunities provided through America’s Seed Fund, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. This year, each in-person Road Tour stop is hosted by SBA’s Federal And State Technology (FAST) Partners, who serve as navigators for America’s Seed Fund in their regions. U.S. Small Business Administration Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed and SBIR/STTR Director Erick Paige-Littleford provided remarks at the event.
“The CBE is proud to support America’s Seed Fund in expanding pathways to entrepreneurship to members of underrepresented groups,” said Dr. Grant Warner, Executive Director of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship.“The CBE is committed to supporting initiatives that progress the nation’s innovation, promote entrepreneurship and small businesses, and strengthen America’s economy. Events like America’s Seed Fund Road Tour directly invest in Black entrepreneurs by offering exposure, education, and crucial access to opportunities that will prepare them for long-term success. We would like to thank the Biden-Harris U.S. Small Business Administration for investing in the next generation of innovators.”
“The SBA is happy to have partnered with the Center for Black Entrepreneurship on this event,” shared Erick Page-Littleford. “As America’s Seed Fund, it is important that all members of our society are provided pathways to participate. Through the outreach efforts of the SBA and CBE, we were able to achieve an incredible impact with this event. I have not seen a room like this in the history of Road Tours both in terms of diversity and size. It was one of the most impactful stops ever held.”
The event convened metro-Atlanta innovators, entrepreneurs, and career professionals for reverse pitches from program managers of the SBIR/STTR programs across various federal agencies, informative panels on applying to and securing funding from SBIR/STTR programs, and the opportunity for attendees to meet one-on-one with program managers. America’s Seed Fund serves as a springboard for providing over $4 billion in non-dilutive funding in the form of contracts and grants to early-stage startups and innovative small businesses each year, helping science and technology-focused entrepreneurs advance groundbreaking ideas from research and development to commercialization.
For more information about the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, click here.
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About the Black Economic Alliance Foundation
The Black Economic Alliance Foundation is the nation’s leading organization harnessing the collective expertise and influence of Black business leaders and aligned advocates to build economic prosperity and generational wealth for the Black community. We partner with leaders across the public, private, and social sectors to champion policy reimagination, develop investment and philanthropic programs, commission research, and elevate national understanding of the inextricable link between the health of the Black economy and the entire American economy. The BEA Foundation is the 501(c)(3) non-profit affiliate of the Black Economic Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of Black business leaders and allies committed to advancing work, wages, and wealth in the Black community. | https://foundation.blackeconomicalliance.org
About Morehouse College
Morehouse College is the only historically Black college dedicated to educating men. Founded in 1867, Morehouse is a private, liberal arts institution and the nation’s top producer of Black men who go on to receive doctorates. The College is the top producer of Rhodes Scholars among HBCUs and was named to the list of U.S. institutions that produced the most Fulbright Scholars in 2019-2020. As the epicenter for thought leadership on civil rights, Morehouse is committed to helping the nation address the inequities caused by institutional racism, which has created social and economic disparities for people of African descent. Prominent Morehouse alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General; Shelton “Spike” Lee, Academy Award-winning American filmmaker; Maynard H. Jackson, the first African American mayor of Atlanta; Jeh Johnson, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Bakari Sellers, attorney and CNN political analyst; Randall Woodfin, elected as the youngest mayor of Birmingham in 120 years; and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Black U.S. Senator. For more information, visit https://morehouse.edu
About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country’s leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, Starbucks Group President and COO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu
