The names of the recipients of NBA star Jaylen Brown’s inaugural Boston XChange (BXC) incubator program have been revealed.
Brown and his Boston Celtics teammate Jrue Holiday met with the 10 Boston-area entrepreneurs on Oct.16 participating in the inaugural accelerator program launched through the Celtics star’s nonprofit initiative, introduced in August. The program aims to generate $5 billion in generational wealth within Boston’s communities of color, The Boston Globe reports.
BXC was inspired by Brown’s remarks last year, following his then-record $304 million NBA contract extension, where he expressed a desire to use part of his earnings to create a “Black Wall Street” in Boston. The incubator program, in collaboration with the JLH Fund, will provide visionary creators from underrepresented communities with the business resources needed to successfully prototype, produce, and launch their projects. As part of the incubator, recipients will receive $100,000 in grant funding, access to work and creator spaces, and business services valued at over $150,000. In addition, creators will benefit from three years of coaching to help accelerate their ventures in industries such as design, arts, media, entertainment, fashion, and culinary arts.
The NBA champion announced the incubator program in August in response to the drastic wealth disparity between Black and White families in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Living in Boston and playing in Boston, one thing that you notice are the differences. I came across an article that basically said that the median net worth of a Black household in Greater Boston is $8, while for white households, it’s six figures,” he said.
“My curiosity made me look further and I found out that Boston is in the top five for wealth disparity.”
Now 10 creators have been selected to take part in Brown’s mission to combat Boston’s racial wealth gap. Among those include:
Pioneers Apparel/PYNRS Performance Streetwear: A Black-male-founded running apparel company focused on creating high-performance gear, specifically designed to offer enhanced fit and support for a broader range of runners.
Everybody Gotta Eat: A Black food influencer and curator who works with local chefs to bring diners some of the best flavors of Boston.
Future Masters Chess Academy: A chess class service for kids founded by Black Chess Master Lawyer Times, the first Black player to become Massachusetts State Chess Champion.
“This is really a dream to be a part of this,” Times said. “Jaylen Brown is a master thinker. … When it comes to generating wealth and closing the gap, we both believe it starts with the mind.”
The Little Cocoa Bean Company: A health-conscious food company for babies that creates culturally diverse, ready-made, fresh, and nutritious meals for babies and toddlers, served in a stylish, baby-friendly café environment for parents. It was founded by Tracy Skelly who was inspired by her struggle to find culturally diverse and nutritious foods for her daughter after giving birth in 2018.
Melanin Haircare: Founded by sisters Whitney and Taffeta White whose natural and nontoxic haircare line is sold online at Target and Sephora.
“Boston doesn’t really have a lot of these opportunities,” Whitney White said. “I’m really thankful there was a focus on Boston creators and Boston, Black-owned businesses as well because we don’t get too much love over here.”
Anawan Studios: Anawan Studios is a full-service film production company dedicated to creating opportunities for Black and brown creatives to enter and thrive in Boston’s film industry.
Uvida Shop: Boston’s first and only zero-waste store, selling a selection of home goods and essentials without plastic packaging or plastic waste.
Rivet App: Co-founded by an MIT graduate and a rapper, Rivet leverages an artificial intelligence platform to help musicians grow their fanbases.
Crown Legends: A boutique in Boston’s South End specializing in high-quality hats and exclusive, limited-edition baseball caps. While their focus is on baseball caps, one of the founders expressed excitement about getting support from an NBA star.
“I’m a die-hard Celtics fan,” co-founder Al Objio said. “We have an NBA champion to back us. It’s huge.”
Dorchester Art Project: A community arts organization that for the past decade, has transitioned into a worker-owned cooperative with a mission to provide affordable studios, performance spaces, and educational resources for artists, creators, and organizers. DAP is focused on creating profitable opportunities for artists of color to build wealth, moving beyond reliance on donations.
“When this opportunity came about, trying to build wealth in Boston, we were like, ‘We’re doing the same thing. Let’s get together,’” said DAP co-founder Lina Cañon.
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