AI Layoffs Surge Across Big Tech As New Research Questions If Automation Is Actually Paying Off
A new study suggests that corporate America may be overestimating AI's ability to replace human talent
The artificial intelligence gold rush is rapidly reshaping corporate America, but at what cost?
Over 92,000 tech workers lost jobs in 2026, with April alone seeing over 45,000 layoffs. This comes as tech giants like Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle eliminate roles in favor of investing billions into AI infrastructure and automation tools. However, despite the massive workforce shifts, new research suggests many companies are not actually seeing stronger returns. According to a new survey published by Gartner, nearly 80% of companies that reduced headcount in place of AI did not experience higher ROI gains than companies with modest or no cuts. Instead, the research firm found that companies with the most gains were using AI as a collaboration tool to make workers more productive rather than replacing them, reports Fortune.
The findings are adding fuel to growing concerns that companies may be using AI as a justification for broader restructuring efforts rather than as a proven replacement for human labor. “Cutting jobs may free up budget, but it does not create business value by itself,” Gartner analysts warned in their findings, reports Yahoo Finance.
Meta is reportedly eliminating roughly 8,000 positions — nearly 10% of its workforce — while continuing to invest heavily in AI computing infrastructure. During a recent company town hall, CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company faces difficult financial trade-offs between funding AI expansion and maintaining headcount, reports Reuters.
Microsoft has also announced major workforce reductions and buyouts affecting thousands of employees as the company accelerates its AI ambitions. At the same time, some researchers believe the future of work may evolve into a hybrid model where humans and AI collaborate rather than compete directly. Another recent study found that nearly 79% of observed AI usage involved augmentation — meaning workers used AI to enhance productivity instead of fully replacing jobs.
Still, for many employees navigating another wave of layoffs, the promise of AI-driven prosperity feels uncertain. As Silicon Valley races toward automation, workers across industries are left wondering whether AI is truly creating the future or simply shrinking the workforce along the way.
Voting has never been ceremonial to Black people. The ballot has always had a balance sheet attached to it. It has determined who could protect land, wages, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and the basic right to participate in public life. The Fifteenth Amendment promised that right in 1870. For nearly a century after, Black voters were met with poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries, bureaucratic traps, intimidation, harassment, economic retaliation, and violence. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was Congress’s attempt to turn a constitutional promise into enforceable power.
The point of that history is not that every modern redistricting case is Selma. The point is that the machinery of political voice has always shaped the machinery of economic life. The Voting Rights Act outlawed discriminatory voting practices, authorized federal examiners in covered jurisdictions, and made Section 2 a nationwide protection against voting rules that deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race or color. Its impact was immediate: by the end of 1965, roughly 250,000 new Black voters had been registered, about one-third by federal examiners.
That is why the Voting Rights Act belongs in the business conversation. Civic power is business infrastructure. Resilience is beautiful. But it is not infrastructure.
BLACK ENTERPRISE recently covered the Supreme Court’s Louisiana voting-rights ruling as news. The business question is what comes next. In Louisiana v. Callais, BE reported that Justice Samuel Alito described Louisiana’s challenged map as an “unconstitutional gerrymander,” and that Chief Justice John Roberts described the district as a “snake” stretching more than 200 miles to connect pieces of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge.
Here is the short version of the case, without turning this into a bar-review lecture. Louisiana’s post-2020 congressional map had one majority-Black district. Section 2 litigation led the state to adopt a new map with a second majority-Black district. That new district was then challenged as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment against the new map, holding that Section 2 did not require Louisiana to create the additional majority-minority district, so the state’s use of race in drawing it was not justified.
The majority also tightened the Section 2 framework in ways that matter far beyond Louisiana: plaintiffs’ illustrative maps cannot use race as a districting criterion, must satisfy the state’s legitimate districting objectives, including political goals, and must control for party affiliation when proving racial bloc voting. Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent warned that the decision pushes Section 2 back toward a purpose test and gives states a new way to defend minority vote dilution by calling the harm partisan rather than racial.
For lawyers, that is a doctrinal fight. For Black professionals, founders, executives, and workers, the practical question is sharper: when political representation weakens, what happens to market access?
Political representation is business infrastructure
A district line may look like geometry. For a business owner, it can feel like a loan denial with better handwriting.
Representation influences who writes procurement rules, who funds enforcement agencies, who audits supplier-diversity promises, who asks why minority vendors are not being paid on time, who protects small business lending programs, who funds workforce training, and who answers the phone when a contractor says the bidding process has developed a mysterious fondness for the same three firms.
As a lawyer who works with business owners, executives, public entities, and companies in employment, business, and compliance disputes, I think of rights the way I think of contracts: they are only as strong as the systems that enforce them. Rights rarely disappear all at once. More often, they are buried under friction — a missed deadline, a vague standard, a disappearing paper trail, a complaint that goes “under review” long enough to qualify for a pension.
For Black businesses, that friction is expensive.
Black entrepreneurship is growing, but it is growing inside a constrained system. Census Bureau data for reference year 2023 show that Black or African American-owned employer firms accounted for 3.4% of U.S. employer businesses, about 201,000 firms, and generated $249 billion in receipts. Black-owned nonemployer businesses accounted for 14.4% of nonemployer firms, about 4.4 million businesses, with $128.7 billion in receipts. Pew Research Center’s analysis of federal data found that majority Black-owned employer firms grew from 124,004 in 2017 to 194,585 in 2022, with gross revenue rising 66% over that period. Yet those firms still represented only about 3% of classifiable U.S. employer firms and 1% of gross revenue, while Black Americans were roughly 14% of the population.
That is growth. It is also a warning. A community can be entrepreneurial and still be structurally under-leveraged.
Public contracts are a market, not a metaphor
For many founders, government is not an abstract political actor. It is a customer, a regulator, a landlord, a lender, a certifier, and sometimes the slowest-paying client on the books.
The federal marketplace alone is enormous. In fiscal year 2024, small businesses received more than $183 billion in federal prime contracts, while small disadvantaged businesses received $78.1 billion. Disaggregated SBA data listed Black American small businesses at $9.83 billion, or 1.54% of prime contracting dollars. Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey data also show that among Black-owned employer firms, 15% reported state and local government customers accounting for at least 10% of firm sales in 2024, and 7% reported federal government customers.
So when we talk about voting rights, we are also talking about who influences the rules of a marketplace worth billions. Who gets certified? Who gets outreach? Who hears about the opportunity before the application window closes? Who gets paid within 30 days instead of “soon”? Who audits whether agencies are actually meeting their small business goals?
A delayed payment to a Black-owned firm is not an inconvenience. It can be payroll, rent, insurance, and survival wearing a government badge.
Workplace accountability runs through representation
Voting rights are also a workplace issue.
The representatives we elect help shape labor budgets, anti-discrimination enforcement, whistleblower protections, wage-theft priorities, public-sector hiring, family leave, education pipelines, transportation, childcare, and the way agencies respond when discrimination is not dramatic enough to trend but serious enough to derail a career.
This connection is not new. The Department of Justice’s summary of Section 2 explains that courts evaluating vote-dilution claims may consider whether minority group members bear the effects of discrimination in education, employment, and health, because those conditions can hinder effective political participation. In plain English: the law has long understood that political power and economic conditions talk to each other.
Black professionals know the difference between a right that exists on paper and a right that has someone with authority willing to enforce it. A handbook can promise fairness. A DEI statement can have better adjectives than a luxury candle. But if agencies are underfunded, if oversight is weak, if boards and commissions do not reflect affected communities, accountability becomes a branding exercise.
And branding without enforcement is just calligraphy.
Capital gaps make civic power more urgent
The risk is sharper because Black businesses often face the market with less margin for error.
The Federal Reserve’s 2026 chartbook on firms by race and ethnicity of ownership found that at the end of 2024, 47% of Black-owned employer firms were operating at a loss, compared with 32% of white-owned employer firms. Among loan, line of credit, or merchant cash advance applicants, 36% of Black-owned employer firm applicants were denied, compared with 17% of white-owned applicants; 32% of Black-owned applicants were approved, compared with 57% of white-owned applicants.
A redistricting decision does not personally deny a loan. But if Black firms are already operating with thinner margins and facing tougher credit outcomes, every policy choice carries more weight: a grant, a licensing rule, a tax credit, a procurement target, a public payment timeline, a workforce program, a CDFI partnership, a broadband buildout, a transit line, a school board budget.
The vote is not the business plan. It is the road the business plan has to travel.
The playbook: what Black professionals and founders should do now
The response to weakened voting protections cannot be panic. Panic is not a strategy; it is a very expensive group chat.
1. Audit your public-money map.Identify every public system that touches your business or career: contracts, licenses, grants, tax incentives, zoning, public boards, school districts, transportation authorities, health departments, courts, and workforce programs. If your business sells to government, wants to sell to government, or depends on a regulated industry, know who writes the rules and who oversees the rule-writers.
2. Document like the future may ask for exhibits. If you are denied a contract, request the scoring criteria. If payment is delayed, keep the timeline. If a workplace complaint is mishandled, preserve the emails, policies, names, dates, and witnesses. If a supplier-diversity promise does not match actual spend, capture the gap. Receipts are not petty; receipts are governance.
3. Run a representation-risk audit. Executives should ask whether promotion, discipline, procurement, and complaint processes are measurable. Who is getting opportunities? Who is not? Are supplier commitments tied to dollars? Do policies survive legal and political shifts, or are they dependent on the mood of the moment?
4. Build civic continuity before crisis. Join chambers, professional associations, neighborhood councils, industry groups, and public-comment processes before the emergency. A community that only organizes after the damage is done is always negotiating from the invoice end of the transaction.
5. Treat civic power as infrastructure. Business owners would never ignore roads, utilities, cybersecurity, insurance, banking relationships, or supply chains. Political representation belongs in the same category because it affects the terrain on which Black businesses compete.
This is not about special treatment. Black businesses do not need pity. We need enforceable rules, transparent procurement, fair credit, accountable workplaces, and political systems that allow communities to choose representatives who understand the invoice, the payroll, the lease, the lawsuit, and the dream.
The Voting Rights Act is not merely a civil-rights statute. It is a market-access statute. It helps determine whether Black political voice can translate into Black economic leverage.
A vote may be cast in a booth, but its value shows up everywhere a Black person tries to work, build, hire, borrow, contract, lead, and own.
That makes voting rights not a side issue for BLACK ENTERPRISE readers. It makes them business infrastructure.
Briana D. Williams is a Harvard Law graduate, California attorney, and founding attorney of Greystone Law and Advisory Group, P.C., where she represents business owners, executives, and public entities in employment, business, and compliance matters. Her work focuses on litigation, governance, workplace accountability, sustainable business strategy, and risk mitigation.
photo credit: Mogami Kariya, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
NBA Mourns Death Of Memphis Grizzlies Brandon Clarke At Age 29
Clarke's agency, Priority Sports, confirmed the news in a statement, describing him as "the gentlest soul."
The NBA community is mourning the death of Brandon Clarke, the longtime forward for the Memphis Grizzlies. He died May 12 at age 29, according to various reports and statements from his agency and team. The cause of death has not been made public.
Clarke’s agency, Priority Sports, confirmed the news in a statement, describing him as “the gentlest soul.” They praised the impact he had on his teammates, friends, and family throughout his basketball journey.
“We are all beyond devastated by the passing of Brandon Clarke. He was so loved by all of us here, and everyone whose life he touched. He was the gentlest soul who was the first to be there for all of his friends and family.”
The Grizzlies and the NBA also expressed their condolences to Clarke’s loved ones and acknowledged both his contributions on the court and his involvement in the Memphis community.
Clarke was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and moved to the United States as a child. He attended Desert Vista High School in Phoenix. He started his college basketball career at San Jose State before transferring to Gonzaga University, where he emerged as one of the top forwards in the nation during the 2018-19 season.
Clarke was selected as the No. 21 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but his rights were traded to Memphis. He quickly became an important player for the Grizzlies and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 2020.
In recent years, Clarke faced several injuries, including a torn Achilles tendon in 2023 and knee issues that limited his playing time during the 2025-26 season. USA Today reported Clarke played in only two games this year due to ongoing injury problems.
Tributes from across the basketball world continue to come in from former teammates and NBA figures remembering Clarke not just as a talented player but also as a respected member of the Memphis community.
Black Actors Need Creator-Owned Pipelines, Not Just Visibility
If Black actors want long-term security and cultural power, the move isn’t just “get more visible.”
By Markice Moore
Visibility can change your life.
A strong run on television can bring better rooms, better reps, bigger auditions, and — on a good day — a little peace of mind.
But there’s a trap inside that progress: visibility is not the same thing as ownership.
For too many Black actors, the career arc looks like this: you grind, you break through, you get “seen,” and then you’re right back to waiting on the next greenlight that you don’t control. The checks may be larger, the meetings may be nicer, but the leverage is still fragile.
I’ve lived the difference.
I’m an actor, writer, and producer, and I’m signed to Daniel Hoff Agency. My credits include The Walking Dead, Snowfall, Tyler Perry’s The Paynes, Law & Order, and Chicago P.D. I’m also the founder of Both Sides of the Camera Studios and the writer/producer of the award-winning horror film, Spaghetti.
I’m not sharing that to flex. I’m sharing it because I’ve learned something the hard way: credits are a door, not a foundation. The foundation is a pipeline you own — a creator-run system that turns talent into repeatable outcomes.
When the industry slows down, what still produces value under your name?
If the answer is “nothing until I book again,” you’re living on visibility.
If the answer is “my catalog, my community, my IP, my products, my productions, my systems,” you’re building ownership.
Ownership is the difference between a season and a career.
This matters for Black talent in particular because we already understand that access can be inconsistent. The power isn’t just in getting picked — it’s in building a platform where you don’t need permission to create.
The five parts of a creator-owned pipeline
A pipeline doesn’t have to start big. It has to start intentionally. Below is a practical framework any working actor can begin building, regardless of where they are on the call sheet.
1) IP you control (stories, formats, and worlds)
The fastest way to move from “talent for hire” to “talent with leverage” is to have intellectual property you own or co-own.
That can be: a feature screenplay you can package; a series concept with a bible and pilot; a podcast with a defined format; a book or audiobook; a documentary concept rooted in community truth.
The key is to stop treating writing and development like a hobby you’ll “get to later.” If you’re waiting on permission to create your best work, you’re already behind. Start building a catalog.
2) Audience you can reach directly (not rented attention)
Social media can be useful, but a creator-owned pipeline needs at least one channel you control: an email list, a membership community, a Patreon-style hub, or a text list.
An algorithm can disappear your reach overnight. A direct channel can’t.
When you build a real audience, you’re not begging for a meeting. You’re walking in with proof that people care.
3) Production capacity (small, repeatable, real)
A pipeline requires a production lane — not just “one big dream project,” but a consistent output rhythm.
Think in tiers: short-form proof (scenes, shorts, concept reels); micro-budget productions that can actually get finished; co-productions that expand your footprint.
The point is not to compete with studio resources. The point is to build your own track record of delivering.
A finished project creates more leverage than a perfect pitch deck.
4) Education and ecosystem (teaching, training, and community value)
One of the most overlooked leverage plays for actors is education — not as an ego move, but as a business move.
If you can teach acting technique, audition strategy, set professionalism, writing/producing fundamentals, you can build a revenue stream that strengthens your community and supports your creative output.
When you teach, you also build an ecosystem: students become collaborators, collaborators become crews, crews become companies.
That’s how pipelines form.
5) Business infrastructure (the unglamorous part that wins)
Infrastructure is clean branding and a professional home base (site, press kit, assets); an organized slate (what you’re making next and why); a consistent outreach system (press, festivals, partners); contracts, accounting, and a real process for deals.
It’s not sexy, but it’s what makes your work scalable.
If you treat your career as “art only,” you’ll keep being treated like labor.
The mindset shift: stop asking, start building
The industry will always have gatekeepers. That’s not cynicism — that’s math.
Networking matters, yes. But ownership is built through output and systems. When you produce consistently, you create reasons for decision-makers to attach themselves to you, not the other way around.
Black actors already have one of the strongest advantages in entertainment — cultural leadership. The issue is that cultural leadership doesn’t automatically translate into business ownership unless we build for it.
A creator-owned pipeline makes that translation possible.
A practical 30-day starter plan
Pick one IP lane: feature, series, podcast, book, or doc.
Create one “proof asset”: a 2–3 page outline, a scene, a short pitch video, or a one-page bible.
Build one direct channel: email list + one weekly update.
Ship one finished piece: a short scene, a micro-short, a recorded reading — anything completed.
Do 10 outreach touches: five press targets, five partner targets — with a clean one-page press kit.
What this unlocks
When you build a creator-owned pipeline, you unlock negotiation leverage (alternatives), creative leverage (you set the agenda), and legacy leverage (your work keeps producing even when you’re not on set).
That’s how you stop living on a highlight reel and start living on an engine.
The next era of Black acting success won’t be defined only by who gets seen. It will be defined by who builds.
Markice Moore is an actor, writer, and producer, signed to Daniel Hoff Agency. He is the founder of Both Sides of the Camera Studios and the writer/producer of the award-winning horror film, Spaghetti.
The Smith Brothers And Their Dad Redefine Safety Across Home Security With New Patent
Smart Guard is a Chicago-based, family-owned product company focused on developing innovative safety
Originally published on BlackNews.
Meet Jayden, Jaylen, Marshawn, and Makel Smith, four African American brothers from Chicago, who have invented and patented the newest innovation in home security. They, with the support of their father, Martasz, are the founders of Smart Guard, which produces the Winlock Window and Patio Safety & Security Bar. This unique device allows families to easily lock and secure their windows and patio doors to prevent burglary and keep children from falling out of windows.
The Smith brothers, with the help of their dad, are redefining safety across home security, personal health, and automotive protection with a growing portfolio of practical, easy-to-use solutions. Founded by a Black family with a mission to make everyday safety more accessible and reliable, the company’s innovations are rooted in real-life experience and a commitment to protecting what matters most.
That mission became deeply personal after the founders’ family home was burglarized twice. In the first incident, an intruder gained entry by pushing through a window-mounted air-conditioning unit, exposing a common yet often overlooked vulnerability. In response, the family developed a specialized air conditioner security brace designed to prevent forced entry through AC units.
A second burglary revealed another critical gap: access through the outer top sash of a window, an entry point rarely addressed by traditional security products. This experience led to the creation of the Winlock Window and Patio Safety & Security Bar, a first-of-its-kind solution engineered to secure the outer top sash and prevent unauthorized access.
The brothers comment, “This company was built out of necessity. After our home was burglarized twice, each time exposing a different, overlooked vulnerability, we knew there had to be a better way to protect families. We didn’t set out to start a product company; we set out to solve a real problem. Every Smart Guard product is designed from that experience, with a focus on closing the gaps most people don’t even realize exist.”
Today, Winlock represents a new standard in window protection while also helping safeguard children from accidental falls. Over the past decade, Smart Guard has helped protect more than 300,000 homes nationwide by identifying overlooked risks and delivering practical, real-world solutions.
In 2024, Smart Guard reached a major milestone through a nationwide retail partnership with Lowe’s, one of the largest home improvement retailers in the United States.
Demonstrating strong confidence in the brand, Lowe’s purchased the company’s full inventory for distribution across its stores, significantly expanding Smart Guard’s national footprint. The company has also built a strong e-commerce presence, with multiple products earning Amazon’s Choice designation and ranking among top-performing items in their categories – reflecting consistent demand, high customer ratings, and strong consumer trust.
As Smart Guard continues to grow, its mission remains clear: to become the world’s leader in innovative, revolutionary products that protect homes and families from dangers, hazards, and life-threatening situations.
‘New Birth Village’: Pastor Jamal Bryant Announces 390-Unit Housing Initiative
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is turning land into an affordable housing for Black families
Black homeownership rates continue to lag significantly behind those of white households, according to recent federal housing data. This comes as housing affordability continues to dominate national conversations around economic inequality and the racial wealth gap.
What is New Birth Village?
To address disparity, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is making a major investment in the Black community through a sweeping affordable housing initiative designed to help Black families build generational wealth. Under the leadership of Pastor Jamal Bryant, the Atlanta-based megachurch announced plans for New Birth Village, a transformational development expected to bring more than 390 homes to the region through a faith-centered public-private partnership model.
The church is contributing approximately 35 acres of debt-free land from its campus while also investing in predevelopment and infrastructure alongside development partners.
Strategic Wealth-Building Through Homeownership
According to the church, the initiative specifically targets middle-class families who often earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing programs but are increasingly priced out of homeownership in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The development is expected to serve first-time homebuyers, teachers, nurses, public safety workers, seniors, young professionals, and grandparents raising grandchildren. Church leaders say the goal is to create pathways to ownership in a housing market that continues to shut many Black families out.
“At its core, this is about turning renters into owners—creating a realistic and attainable entry point into homeownership,” reads a press release shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE.
The multi-year project will also include mixed-use and community-centered spaces, along with future multifamily and senior housing developments. Wealth-building was intentionally woven into the project’s foundation. By offering homes below market value in a rapidly growing metro area, the development aims to help families build equity, create transferable assets, and circulate economic value within Black communities.
“We’re not just building homes — we’re building pathways to ownership,” Bryant said in the news release. “If the church can’t be part of creating opportunity, then we’re missing the moment.”
Beyond Housing: New Birth as an Economic Engine
The housing project is part of a broader push by New Birth to position itself as both a spiritual institution and an economic engine for Black communities. In recent years, the church has expanded several large-scale community initiatives, including the Bullseye Black Market, which featured approximately 400 Black-owned vendors across multiple shopping weekends, and scholarship programs that have distributed nearly $4 million to more than 500 students over five years. Its King’s Table Food Program has also served more than 1.4 million individuals since launching during the pandemic, distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to families in need. Meanwhile, the church continues to deepen its focus on Black entrepreneurship through partnerships with initiatives such as Operation HOPE and the One Million Black Businesses campaign, which seeks to launch 1 million Black-owned businesses by 2030.
Teyana Taylor And Sherri Shepherd Discuss The Intersection Of Mental Health And Personal Finances
In the video, both ladies shared feelings of being trapped by burnout, survival, and anxiety related to money and job uncertainty.
As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a recent BLACK ENTERPRISE discussion with actresses and entrepreneurs Teyana Taylor and Sherri Shepherd highlighted how financial stress can quietly turn into a mental health crisis.
In the video, both entertainers shared feelings around burnout, survival, and anxiety related to money and job uncertainty.
“I want to change my relationship with money,” Taylor expressed during the conversation, recognizing the emotional toll from work-related stress.
This discussion reflects a growing concern across the country. The American Psychological Association reports that money is one of the top causes of stress in the United States, especially among younger adults and lower-income households. Their data shows that financial anxiety has steadily risen since 2019, with many Americans citing inflation, debt, and economic uncertainty as major emotional burdens.
Sherri Shepard spoke about how, especially Black women, are always left to “figure it out” when it comes to finances.
“We’re always struggling to make ends meet, to do for our family, to have a job, to show up. Because we can’t look like what we go through.”
Teyana Taylor followed up, saying how the intersection of finances and mental health is a “real thing.”
“It is so real. Like with the government and everything going on, it’s even expensive to be poor. It’s like the moment you think you have one thing paid off, something else comes up. Therapy costs money. I think balance is a very underrated word. We have to find balance in every aspect before anything.”
As discussions about therapy and financial literacy gain traction online, the video highlights a reality that many Americans quietly face: managing finances and maintaining mental health are often part of the same struggle.
KIPP Honors 10 Teachers With $10K Awards For Student Achievement
This award recognizes teachers who show strong academic results, leadership, and dedication to student success
Ten educators from the KIPP Public Charter Schools network are being honored for their outstanding classroom performance and student success during the 2026 Teacher Appreciation Week. The KIPP Foundation recently announced the winners of the 2026 Harriett Ball Excellence in Teaching Award. Each educator will receive a $10,000 prize for their impact on students and school communities.
This award recognizes teachers who show strong academic results, leadership, and dedication to student success within KIPP’s network of over 8,000 educators serving students across the country. According to KIPP CEO Shavar Jeffries, the chosen teachers meet “the highest standards of instructional excellence” and have achieved results that significantly benefit students’ futures.
“There is no greater force in a child’s education than an excellent teacher who believes in them completely,” Jeffries stated in a press release provided to BLACK ENTERPRISE. “This year’s Harriett Ball winners are producing the kind of results that change the course of students’ lives, and those outcomes are no accident — they are a direct reflection of the skill, dedication, and heart these educators bring to their classrooms.”
Among this year’s winners is Hannah Deremo from KIPP Chicago. Her kindergarten literacy instruction has greatly lowered the number of students reading below grade level. In Baltimore, Darricka Jackson helped third-grade English language arts students score more than 11 percentage points above the city average on Maryland’s state ELA exams.
Other recipients include Priscilla Taoufik and Ijnanya Minor, both kindergarten teachers whose classrooms have maintained 100% grade-level literacy outcomes for consecutive years, even with many students starting below benchmark standards. Seventh-grade math teacher Kathleen Vallejo also gained recognition after 93% of her students passed New York’s state math exam, which more than doubled the citywide pass rate.
The award pays tribute to Harriett Ball, the experienced Texas educator whose teaching methods inspired the founding of KIPP in 1994. Ball was known for using movement, chants, and engaging learning strategies in her classrooms. KIPP now operates 279 schools across 21 states and Washington, D.C., serving nearly 125,000 students from prekindergarten through high school.
Altrichia Cook Wilcox, MSW, founder of
Mentoring Agency for Maternal Adolescents (M.A.M.A) Inc., with honorees at the Mother’s Day B.R.E.A.K Away experience
Florida Org Honors Former Teen Moms With Transformative Mother’s Day Retreat
The nonprofit’s fourth annual B.R.E.A.K Away experience provided mental wellness support, luxury self-care services, and a fine-dining celebration for young mothers in Central Florida
Altrichia Cook Wilcox was just one month shy of graduating high school when her life flipped upside down. At just 17 years old, she found out she was pregnant; however, she refused to become a statistic. Although less than 2% of teen moms graduate college by age 30 and only 50% obtain a high school diploma or GED by 22, Cook Wilcox was determined to beat the odds.
After graduating high school, the Lakeland, Florida, native went on to earn an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a master’s from Florida A&M University, all while working two jobs and raising her son. Her son’s father, meanwhile, pursued a football scholarship in California before transferring to the University of Arizona. Today, the high school sweethearts are happily married and raising their second child, a daughter, together. Wilcox is also an entrepreneur and mentor dedicated to helping teen mothers thrive through her nonprofit, Mentoring Agency for Maternal Adolescents, Inc. (MAMA Inc.). Launched in 2014, the organization supports teen and young mothers throughout Lakeland, Polk County, and the greater Tampa Bay area through mentorship, education, life-skills training, and community resources.
Source: Altrichia Cook Wilcox, MSW, founder of
Mentoring Agency for Maternal Adolescents (M.A.M.A) Inc., at the Mother’s Day B.R.E.A.K Away experience
Just ahead of Mother’s Day, MAMA held its fourth annual Mother’s Day B.R.E.A.K Away experience, bringing together teen mothers, young mothers, and former teen moms for a transformative day of healing and celebration. Held on May 3 in Lakeland, the full-day event pays tribute to moms who have overcome adversity and offers them a guilt-free day of pampering. Among the participants were former teen and college mothers, as well as corporate leaders, business owners, and military veterans.
“The Mother’s Day B.R.E.A.K Away is an experience that is a lifeline of hope, dignity, and restoration for mothers who have fought to rewrite their stories,” Wilcox told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “Standing in a room filled with young moms and former teen mothers thriving in their purpose reminded me why this work matters so deeply,” she continued. “Its impact on our community is undeniable: when we pour into mothers, we strengthen families, and when we strengthen families, we change futures.”
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, the event focused on emotional restoration and self-care. Attendees participated in healing yoga and guided breathwork sessions, stress-management workshops, mini massages, restorative facials, and professional glam services. The experience concluded with an upscale dinner at Ocean Prime Tampa thanks to MAMA Inc.’s ongoing partnership with Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.
8 Black-Owned Companies That Produce Sustainable Products
These brands are reducing their environmental footprint.
The rising consumer demand for ethical production has led more Black-owned companies to integrate sustainability into their business models through eco-conscious materials, ethical labor, and community-centered missions. These brands, spanning fashion, beauty, and lifestyle goods, are transforming responsible commerce while reducing their environmental footprint.
BLK + GRN
Dr. Kristian Henderson established BLK + GRN as an all-natural online marketplace that connects consumers with non-toxic products made solely by Black artisans. The platform offers plant-based skincare and wellness products, along with home goods, that are cruelty-free and free of harmful chemicals. The health disparities caused by toxic products led to the founding of BLK + GRN, which maintains its sustainability focus through clean formulations and ethical sourcing.
Hamilton Perkins Collection
Hamilton Perkins started Hamilton Perkins Collection in 2014, in Norfolk, Virginia, to create bags and accessories from recycled materials. The brand uses plastic bottles, pineapple leaf fiber, and repurposed banners to make its products. The company’s “Earth Bags” collection aims to reduce waste and provide affordable, durable products. Through its transparent supply chain, Hamilton Perkins Collection leads circular fashion innovation by reducing carbon emissions and water consumption.
The Honey Pot Company
Bea Dixon established The Honey Pot to transform the feminine hygiene market through herbal-based plant products. The pioneering brand focuses on sustainable sourcing practices and toxin-free formulations. Through its eco-conscious methods and holistic wellness approach, The Honey Pot Company expanded to a national scale without compromising its dedication to clean, environmentally responsible production.
Brother Vellies
Brother Vellies is a luxury accessories brand, established by Aurora James, that creates shoes and handbags using traditional African methods and sustainable materials. The brand, based in New York, focuses on artisanal craftsmanship, ethical labor practices, and low-impact production methods to preserve cultural heritage through small-batch manufacturing.
Yam
A New York-based jewelry company, Yam, creates its distinctive pieces using recycled metals and materials. Yam produces items on demand, eliminating excess production and waste, and uses recyclable packaging. The company follows the slow fashion trend because consumers now consider environmental effects when buying accessories.
Elexiay
Elexiay is a brand that produces handmade crochet garments in Nigeria, crafted by local artisans under the leadership of Elyon Adede. Elexiay follows a slow-fashion approach, using manual production methods that reduce environmental harm and protect traditional cultural craft techniques. The brand demonstrates its commitment to sustainability through ethical labor standards, limited use of machinery, and the use of recyclable materials, which show its dedication to environmental and social responsibility.
Hope for Flowers
Tracy Reese’s U.S.-based fashion brand, Hope for Flowers, implements sustainability across all production phases. The brand employs organic cotton and Tencel fabrics, which are biodegradable, while steering clear of synthetic materials. The brand maintains fair wages for its employees and produces limited quantities of its products. Hope for Flowers exists to help customers buy consciously so their choices create environmental transformation.
KNC Beauty
Kristen Noel Crawley founded KNC Beauty and produces natural collagen lip masks and other clean beauty products. The brand bases its formulations on cruelty-free principles while maintaining environmental consciousness. KNC Beauty has become a leading brand in the eco-friendly beauty industry through its successful combination of sustainable practices with accessible products.
