Every August, Black Philanthropy Month and National Black Business Month offer an opportunity to celebrate the impact of Black generosity, entrepreneurship, and economic leadership. But celebration should also lead to action. For foundations, business support organizations (BSOs), corporations, financial institutions, and community partners, August is a good time to ask a bigger question: What are we doing year-round to ensure Black entrepreneurs and Black-led organizations have access to the...

Reflections from the Fed's Small Business Symposium Business owners are driving in a fog and hoping they don't hit a deer. That was the image one panelist used at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's State of Small Business Symposium in June — and it's stuck with us since. It captures exactly what we see every day in our work researching merchant cash advances (MCAs) and deceptive lending: business owners moving fast, under pressure, reaching for whatever capital is closest at hand, often...

“We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches and freedom and the security of justice.” -Dr. King While there has been progress made for African Americans on many fronts in the last 60 years, I often wonder if Dr. King, like my 103-year-old grandmother, would be shocked to witness the current backlash, human rights reversals and the...