This National Black Business Month, SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, is spotlighting resources to support America’s Black entrepreneurs and offering volunteer opportunities for experienced Black business owners.
SCORE’s original survey data from “The Megaphone of Main Street: The Impact of Covid-19, Impact on Black-owned Small Businesses” showed that Black-owned businesses face unique barriers to success. In particular, they were significantly more likely to seek – but less likely to receive – outside funding from both public and private sources.
In response to these unique challenges, SCORE offers a centralized educational hub called SCORE for Black Entrepreneurs that provides Black small business owners with access to personalized support and the resources they need to succeed, including: Educational content specially designed to support Black entrepreneurs; live webinars and original online workshops; and free, remote, expert business mentoring.
“I would suggest they go to SCORE,” said business owner and makeup artist Ursula Augustine of Ursula’s About Phace Rittenhouse Studio. “You’ll be working with the perfect mentor based on your needs, your industry, and your location and they’ll be available to connect with you as needed to provide you with special advice and extra support to help grow your business into a successful and profitable business.”
SCORE is also actively recruiting talented and experienced entrepreneurs and executives to become mentors, workshop presenters or subject matter experts. Volunteers come from a diverse variety of personal and professional backgrounds – but, they share a passion for lifelong learning, giving back to others and enriching their local communities.
Last year, SCORE volunteers collectively donated 3,980,987 hours of service. The organization is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“Today SCORE has a very diverse group of individuals who are mentoring and volunteering within the organization,” mentor DeLisa Clift said. “We are able to come together and meet our clients where they are.”
Visit SCORE at www.score.org. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
