Black Business Relief 
Fund Recipients

Monique Greenwood

Akwaaba Inns

• Akwaaba is a collection of four historic B&Bs with 32 guest rooms on the East Coast--Wash., DC; Brooklyn, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and the Poconos in PA.

• Akwaaba has always been challenged by thin margins, given we work to keep our rates accessible for the masses of our target audience. 

• COVID-19 has hit the travel industry particularly hard, bringing business to a full stop. Operating with depleted and limited cash reserves by returning deposits to guests who have had to cancel their reservations and events.

Oluwadamilola Okuboyejo

By Dami Studios

• Women-owned business that creates luxury custom invitations and fine stationery incorporating high quality and timeless designs.

• Creating a program during COVID-19 to provide boxed gifts that comfort, encourages and uplifts.

Timothy Moore

Ella's Beauty Mart

• Black-owned and family-owned beauty supply and doing good things for COVID-19.

• Partners with local organizations to provide resources for individuals in under served communities in metro Atlanta.

Hope Green

Emojis Grilled Cheese

• Emojis Grilled Cheese uses its fleet of food trucks to teach job and life skills to homeless teens and youth aging out of foster care. This amazing food truck takes traditional comfort food combinations and transforms them into unique Grilled Cheese combinations.

• Serving meals during COVID-19.

Pamela &
Jeffrey Blair

Eye See Me Bookstore

• Full service, brick and mortar, bookstore that sells African American children's books, filling the gap in the education and publishing industries where black children are not represented.

• Long time community business that needs a grant to remain open.

Jillian Hishaw

F.A.R.M.S.

• Black owned farming operation working to reduce hunger through their food bank program.

• Provide emergency stipends to farmers of color particularly in the Southeast.

Keewa Nurullah

Kido Chicago

• Family business; kids clothing company and community space.

• Created a black-owned market to support community businesses.

• Store is closed; lost month of sales.

Lundyn Carter

Laine London Boutique

• Brick-and-mortar wedding dress rental company in the U.S. Provides women the ability to rent their dream wedding dress instead of purchasing it.

• Offering virtual consultations to help you make progress on wedding planning during COVID-19.

• An outlet to vent and share your situation and what issues you’re facing as a 2020 bride during COVID-19. - A way to promote positivity and empathy towards every bride’s unique situation.

Derrick & Ramunda Young

Mahogany Books

• DC Bookstore specializing in books written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora.

• Currently closed due to shutdowns.

• For 10 years MahoganyBooks operated as the premier black-owned online bookstore.

• Roughly 75% of our revenue is generated through our physical bookstore in Washington DC. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to cancel/postpone a number of high-profile author events as well as temporarily close our bookstore.

Trevor Parham

Oakstop

• Creating co-working spaces in gentrified ares by and for professionals of color and combines black art.

• Curb displacement of marginalized communities in Oakland.

• Provides affordable space alternatives to creative professionals, social justice leaders, and small business owners of color.

• Is converting spaces into pick-up locations for COVID-19 relief.

Phylicia Benjamin

Perfect Score Studio

• Small gymnastics studio servicing the inner city youth.

• Had to close her studio for COVID-19.

• Wants to offer students scholarships.

Chante Powell

Play Pits

• Mother and son business.

• Funding will help to continue manufacturing and fulfillment.

Tinia Pina

Re-Nuble

• Diverts food waste from landfills to eliminate the pollution of methane emissions.

• Enables farms to transform food waste into plant-based fertilizer.

Apryl Stewart

Skyview Concessions

• Airport retail stores.

• Creates jobs for low-income workers.

Emelyn Stuart

Stuart Cinema

• Self funded movie theater no partners, loans or investors.

• Active during covid- providing popcorn to make consumers feel comfortable at home watching movies they would normally watch in her theatre.

• As seen on

Waleed & Quiana Shamsid-Deen

Supreme Burger

• Supreme Foods Worldwide is a Franchise Holding Company that owns and operates two concepts;  Supreme Fish Delight and Supreme Burger.

• Doing a lot to support seniors through COVID-19.

Melissa Mitchner

The Bark Shoppe

• Owns and operates a premier pet care facility (brick & mortar), specializing in grooming, boarding, daycare and dog walking. 

• Unique space for a woman of color business owner.

• Has lost substantial business due to shutdowns and services not considered essential.

Mignon Francois

The Cupcake Collection

• Hit twice by devastation (COVID and hurricane), yet still is bringing cheer to customers on their birthdays with free desserts.

• The Cupcake Collection is ranked in the top 10 best bakeries in the country. Sweet potato cupcake was voted #1 in the state of Tennessee by Yelp and Business Insider.

• Black Enterprise "Family Business of the Year".

Deborah VanTrece

Twisted Soul Cookhouse

• Award-winning Southern cuisine.

• Partners with NGOs to help kids in her community.

• Partnered with Atlanta Jobs to provide 150 lunches for Grady Hospital workers and actively seeking to continue feeding frontline workers during the pandemic.

Reese Scott

Women's World of Boxing

• Only women’s boxing gym in New York City.

• Main objective is to reopen, pay bills, expand after school program for girls, add more days to the Boxing with Parkinson's Program, and get back to our community.