“Gaining knowledge from the amazing innovators in the MIT Solve network is huge,” she says. “The support system — the fact that I can call and engage these coordinators whenever I need to and they will have tangible help and support for me — that is invaluable.”
She joins a cohort of innovators — selected from the 40 in the 2022 class of applicants — dedicated to community-based work in underserved Black and Brown communities in the US across an array of industries and issues, including healthcare and caregiving, refugee assistance, clean energy, and education.
They’ll attend this week’s annual US Equity Summit in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event comes at a time when funding for initiatives geared towards elevating entrepreneurs of color has been halting.
“Time and time again, data has shown that Black and Brown communities are under-resourced and underestimated,” says Genesis Garcia, the officer for Solve’s US Equity Community. “Despite efforts of DEI and racial equity within social impact and VC, Black and Brown entrepreneurs only received 2% of the billions in venture capital invested in the US, and is slowly declining.”
Solve aims to advance racial equity and address some of the key issues these communities face by providing early-stage social impact entrepreneurs with a peer community and resources to scale their solutions.
US Equity Summit attendees will hear from thought leaders in the fields of technology, arts and culture, as well as cultivate new ideas in breakout discussion sessions, and take a field trip to explore Tulsa’s historic Black Wall Street.
Including Social Cipher, the other inaugural members of Solve’s Black and Brown Innovators are:
Carina, a matching service that connects individuals with qualified home care providers for seniors and persons with disabilities, as well as small-group daycare for children. The free web-based platform aims to increase access, ease of use and economic opportunity for women, people of color and historically marginalized communities.