BlackNorth Initiative Continues to Empower Black Women Entrepreneurs by Partnering With We Are Womxn (WAW!)

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--We Are Womxn and BlackNorth Initiative have partnered to help end systemic anti-Black racism in the Canadian food and beverage industry by empowering young Black womxn to see themselves as successful entrepreneurs and to offer them the tools to start them on their journey.

While the Canadian food and beverage industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry, very few Black womxn are seen at any level, from producers to start-up entrepreneurs to C-Suite executives. COVID-19 has exponentially exacerbated the barriers womxn in Canada face to starting, scaling, and succeeding in the food and beverage industry. Access to capital, systemic racism, financial disparities, gender stereotypes and sexism affect BIWOC and LGBTQ2S+ womxn-identifying persons at an even higher rate.

The launch of We Are Womxn coincides with International Women’s Day, March 8 2021. We Are Womxn and BlackNorth Initiative invite corporate Canada to support the shared mission and make this year the first-year collective action is taken towards creating a brighter future for Black womxn in Canada. Join us and support Black women entrepreneurs.

To learn more please visit WAW at wearewomxn.ca

Contact WAW Founder Marissa Bronfman at [e-mail] and BlackNorth Initiative at [e-mail]

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We Are Womxn (WAW!)

We Are Womxn (WAW!) is a national not-for-profit and digital-first initiative empowering Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Color and LGBTQ2S+ womxn-identifying food and beverage entrepreneurs in all of the provinces and territories in Canada through one-on-one mentorships, grant opportunities, a business interview series, a national sampling box and other transformative programming.

Our Mission:
1. To raise national awareness for under-represented womxn entrepreneurs in Canada and increase sales of their products and services.
2. To inspire, mentor and empower the next generation of womxn entrepreneurs to build successful digital-first businesses in Canada.
3. To ensure equal representation of Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Color and LGBTQ2S+ womxn-identifying persons in Canadian business. We Are Womxn is also partnered with the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) and the North American Capital Corporations Association (NACCA).

BlackNorth

The BlackNorth Initiative was created by The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism to combat anti-Black systemic racism in Corporate Canada. The initiative challenges senior Canadian business leaders to commit their companies to specific actions and targets designed to end anti-Black systemic racism and create opportunities for all of those in the underrepresented BIPOC community.

We believe that if corporate Canada can boldly take on the challenge to add gender diversity to Canadian boardrooms and executive suites by declaring policies, setting specific targets, and holding itself accountable, it can do the same work to create better representation for Black Canadians.

BlackNorth Initiative works with leaders from over 300 Canadian companies, totalling $1 trillion in value, across industries in public and private sector, major banks, insurance companies, law firms, government, and the largest asset managers and institutional investors to take action and reshape corporate structures that uphold anti-Black systemic racism against Black Canadians.