News Summary
In Detroit, Racheal Allen, Ebony Cochran, and Jessie Hayes have launched community-owned business schools aimed at empowering Black women entrepreneurs. These initiatives provide crucial business education and resources to grassroots founders who have been overlooked by traditional programs. With rising numbers of Black women entrepreneurs in the city, these efforts seek to address the lack of formal training and financial support, fostering long-term economic empowerment within the community.
Detroit is witnessing a significant development in the entrepreneurial landscape as local leaders Racheal Allen, Ebony Cochran, and Jessie Hayes launch community-owned business schools aimed at empowering Black women entrepreneurs. These initiatives are specifically designed for grassroots founders who have often been overlooked by traditional universities and accelerator programs.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country, with Detroit hosting one of the highest concentrations of Black women-owned businesses. However, many of these businesses lack formal business training and access to sustainable capital. In Michigan, most Black-owned small enterprises operate as sole proprietorships and are often under-resourced. Alarmingly, less than 1% of venture capital in the United States is awarded to Black women entrepreneurs.
In response to these challenges, Black women in Detroit are actively building their own educational and financial infrastructures. Ebony Cochran has been a key figure in this movement, having launched the Detroit Wealth Club in June. Situated at a 7,300-square-foot facility on Morang Drive, the Detroit Wealth Club focuses on closing the racial wealth gap by equipping community members with essential tools for entrepreneurship, financial planning, credit literacy, and real estate ownership. Cochran has invested $155,000 of her own money into this venture, in addition to securing a $50,000 Motor City Match grant and $10,000 from Build Institute to support its establishment. The Detroit Wealth Club is branded as a movement aimed at transitioning community members from mere survival to a mindset of wealth-building.
Racheal Allen, another prominent entrepreneur, runs Operations School (OSchool), an initiative that has supported nearly 2,000 aspiring business owners since its inception in 2019 through a free program called “Get Your Business Legit.” Initially funded by Allen herself with over $200,000, OSchool later received a substantial $2.8 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Small Business Support Hubs program, making Allen the only Black woman recipient among a total of 27 grant winners. OSchool offers vital resources for legal registration, operational guidance, and business planning for entrepreneurs who traditionally lack systemic support. Under a recent leadership transition, Dr. Stacie Hunter will take over as the new head of OSchool, bringing her expertise in banking and racial equity advocacy. This transition heralds an expansion of OSchool’s partnerships, including collaborations with the Apple Developer Academy and the Michigan Black Business Alliance.
Also contributing to this community-driven effort is Jessie Hayes, who founded The Hayes Institute of Esthetics & Entrepreneurship. This establishment focuses on training multicultural skincare professionals and beauty entrepreneurs, featuring a specialized 750-hour esthetics curriculum complemented by entrepreneurial training. The Hayes Institute directly addresses underrepresentation within the beauty industry and aims to provide culturally relevant educational frameworks for upcoming beauty entrepreneurs, thereby fostering business leadership that is both profitable and empowering.
Through these initiatives, Cochran, Allen, and Hayes are creating ecosystems that redefine business success based on cultural clarity and community empowerment. Their work represents a deliberate rejection of traditional elite educational models, prioritizing economic justice and wealth-building within the Black community in Detroit. Their collaborative efforts also confront the systemic neglect often faced by Black entrepreneurs and are geared towards establishing lasting support structures that encourage economic advancement in the region for years to come.
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Additional Resources
- Michigan Chronicle: Black Women Entrepreneurs in Detroit
- Detroit News: Minority Entrepreneurs School
- The Conversation: Black Businesses in Detroit
- Detroit Chamber: Resources for Black-Owned Businesses
- Black Enterprise: Women Leading Projects in Detroit
- Wikipedia: Entrepreneurship
- Google Search: Black Women Entrepreneurs Detroit
- Google Scholar: Black Businesses Detroit
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Entrepreneur
- Google News: Detroit Entrepreneurship
