The Black Owners & Women’s Collective (BOW), comprised of the top 1% of Black women business owners bringing in over $500 million in revenue annually, has descended upon the Big Apple and received a warm welcome from four-time New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.
In celebration of its annual Capital Conversations Conference, Schumer remarked on the success of the collective while addressing the need for more diverse businesses and suppliers in New York City. According to Kalkine Media, only 3% of small businesses in the densely populated metropolis are owned by African Americans, with even fewer being founded by Black women. Numbers like these are why the members of the BOW Collective decided to partner together. Its mission is to help change the demographic of those “at the table.” As a whole, members of the collective employ thousands of U.S. workers.
Nicole Cober, CEO of the BOW Collective, expressed gratitude for Schumer’s kind words while promising to work alongside him to deliver a more diverse entrepreneurial future to the city.
“Your dedication to public service and commitment to bringing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to the State of New York is truly inspiring, and I am eager to explore the potential opportunities that working together may bring,” she said. “I am confident our mutual collaboration will yield fruitful results for NYC.” More than 100 members of the BOW Collective arrived at the landmark NASDAQ building, adorned in their signature green, to be recognized for their work to help Black women-owned businesses achieve sustained growth. “Standing in Times Square felt surreal like Black Owned Women businesses were kicking the door in at Nasdaq in numbers too large to keep under financing and ignoring,” said BOW member Ann Williams, owner of R&A Movers Inc.
This year’s Capital Conversations Conference brought together financial organizations, bankers, and strategic wealth builders at the Sofitel Hotel to further the BOW Collective’s mission of creating a pipeline of 1M+ business owners.
