Maggie L. Walker, The First Black Female Bank Founder, Forbes, 1927
Coming August 2023!
Have you ever seen headlines like black female-led Mielle Haircare receiving a $100 million investment (then later being acquired by P&G) and wondered how they did it? Have you ever dreamed of turning your idea or small business into a multi-million dollar empire that can support your family and build generational wealth?
Well, you’re not alone.
In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, Black women are more likely to start a business than any other demographic group, but only 3% of black female entrepreneurs are running mature businesses (firms that have an established brand presence, a loyal customer base, and a growing # of W-2 employees).
But despite these odds, we know that black women are visionary leaders - with the right tools and support, black female founders can build wealth and rebuild our communities, one amazing business at a time. That's why we're launching Makin' the Bank: a movement to take Black Female Founders on the Journey from Possibility to Profitability.
JOIN THE WAITLIST to learn about: new pathways to funding and corporate contracts; curated workshops to help you progress on the journey from 'entrepreneur' to 'CEO'; and exclusive opportunities to promote your brand to a national audience.
Makin' the Bank is brought to you by entrepreneurial leaders (& fellow ATLiens) Doll Avant and Monica Delores Hooks. Join the waitlist to learn more & be the first to know when we launch the movement - coming late summer 2023!
Doll Avant
Doll Avant is an award-winning inventor, data scientist, graduate of Harvard University, & TEDx speaker. Doll is the Founder & CEO of Aquagenuity, the “Google Search for water quality," and has raised over $2 million in funding and support from Softbank, Google and Amazon among others. Doll was honored as Google's International "Woman of Water” and featured on Google's homepage for building the “world’s largest water database.” Doll has been featured by Forbes, The New York Times, Reuters, TechCrunch, WIRED Magazine etc. Doll has received awards for entrepreneurship and technology innovation from Singularity at NASA Research Park, JP Morgan, Coca-Cola, BMW Mini’s Urban-X, UBS, and Ocean Visions (a collaborative of MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Georgia Aquarium, the Smithsonian, and the United Nations). Doll also serves on the board of the Captain Planet Foundation. Doll was the winner of the 2020 Amazon/Alexa Fund Innovation Award.
Doll graduated with honors from Harvard University, where she studied under Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Henry Louis Gates to receive an A.B. in Afro-American History with a focus in Economics. Doll also studied Data Analytics at Harvard Business School (HBAP), and studied Statistics and Data Science in a micromasters program at MIT.
Monica Delores Hooks
Monica Delores Hooks built her career at Sony Music Entertainment with roles in Product Management, International Marketing and Business Affairs. She has over 20 years of expertise in startup business development, content marketing and brand management targeting projects connecting business, media, technology and culture.
As Executive Director of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, Ms. Hooks is responsible for innovation policy, entrepreneur workforce programs, financial capacity building, as well as entrepreneur retention and development as it pertains to women’s entrepreneurship throughout the City of Atlanta. Under Ms. Hooks leadership, WEI has created more than 1000 jobs for Atlanta and helped garner $7.3million in capital investment for women led startups.
Ms. Hooks is also Founder and CEO of MKTGO.io (formerly m-oracle LLC), a go-to-market agency providing strategy and market research for innovative brands and influencers. MKTGO is a graduate of the City of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI) inaugural class and winner of the 2017 Microsoft Innovation Bots and Cognitive Services Award.
Ms. Hooks is a graduate of Georgia Public Schools and received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in Government where she earned the Dean’s Award. She has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.