Notable Projects

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I launched Revolve Fund as a national philanthropic initiative that uses grant funding to provide patient, interest-free capital to Black/African-American, Latinx, Native American, and other people of color-led businesses, nonprofit organizations, financial intermediaries, and venture funds. 

Founded in 2020 and launching in 2022, Revolve Fund has received over $1MM in commitments and has deployed and approved hundreds of thousands of dollars to BIPOC-led or centered strategies. 

Funders include PNC Bank, The Rockefeller Foundation, Open Society Institute, and JPMorgan Chase.

I created the Baltimore Small Business Support Fund while at the Annie E. Casey Foundation to improve capital access to busi­ness own­ers of color by strengthening Baltimore's CDFI's ecosystem. Under my leadership, the Fund, supported by local and national funders, pivoted and became a critical partner for the city's COVID-19 pan­dem­ic response. The Fund part­nered with the Bal­ti­more Devel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion and the May­or’s Office of Minor­i­ty and Women-Owned Busi­ness Devel­op­ment to estab­lish the Small Busi­ness Tech­ni­cal Assis­tance Net­work. 

The Network (now the Baltimore BASE Network) has helped more than 3,000 Baltimore businesses access upwards of $50 million in recovery assistance. Additionally, I led complimentary impact investments in two BIPOC-led financial institutions.

I designed the concept and led the development of the Detroit Entrepreneurs of Color Fund while at W.K. Kellogg Foundation working with Sharnita Johnson, John Duong, and Ed Egnatios. The Fund, launched in 2015 with a program-related investment in Detroit Development Fund, was created, designed, and structured by an African-American Detroiter to address systemic discrimination in small business capital access in the city. 

Advisory team included Michael Barr, Paul Brown, David Sharp, Linda Fowler, and William Generett. The fund has served as a  model for small business ecosystem investing with a racial equity lens nationally.

I led DetroitIntern's conversion to Urban Employ, a national network of job and internship listing websites. Urban Employ successfully secured angel and grant investment. 

Ending in 2015. Urban Employ grew to service thousands of registered users and support hundreds of local employers.

I created the social enterprise idea, DetroitIntern, in 2006 to help diverse students secure summer opportunities in Detroit, Michigan, my childhood hometown. While in law school, I founded DetroitIntern with two other native Detroiters, Tarik Green and Garlin Gilchrist II. DetroitIntern showcased awesome Metro Detroit entry-level intern and job opportunities. After strong traction, DetroitIntern became Urban Employ in 2010.