In the next 10 years, Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN) CEO and founder, Lekan Olawoye, believes their donations towards Black businesses and tech professionals will help give a much needed boost to Blacks in tech. “That's really why we are paying it forward, that's why we're donating twenty thousand dollars,” said Olawoye. “Ten thousand Canadian and ten thousand US dollars to ensure that ten years from now, there's more [Black tech professionals].” 

Black TAXI, a program under TAXI Toronto, was created to address the lack of Black representation in the advertising industry by providing a three-month paid internship to Black students where they can pick up the experience needed to work in the industry.

The Kean Real Estate Group is a Black-owned, women-led company in Toronto specializing in property investment.

In an era where people are becoming more conscious about what they put into and on their bodies, Inaygia is a make-up product line offering its clientele healthy ingredient choices.

“If kids can learn their ABCs and basic math, they can also learn financial literacy,” says Stacy Brown, who hosts a one-hour webinar series, "KiddieNomics", every Friday with her 10-year-old daughter Miki.

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, cannabis has been considered an essential service that continues to pull in money at a time when many businesses are just trying to stay afloat. As an industry, it was lucrative before it was even legal; an alternate marketplace for poor and working-class entrepreneurs. Thanks to the heavy-handed reaction of racially biased law enforcement, a disproportionate amount of those underground businesses swept up in police raids and street checks were Black and Indigenous.

Coming across a tattoo parlour that celebrates and prioritizes darker skin complexions is somewhat of a rarity within the tattoo community.

(PHOTO: Joe Sherlock, owner of Celebrity Vegetarian Restaurant) A construction site with seemingly limitless orange cones, detour signs, cranes and large pulsating machinery has now become part of the cityscape along a good chunk of Eglinton Avenue in Toronto. The development of the Crosstown LRT has turned the historic area known as Little Jamaica (which runs from Allen road, west to Keele Street along Eglinton Avenue) into a virtual shuttle run for cars and an obstacle course for pedestrians.

At 16 years old, Marcus McGowan is quickly becoming a serial entrepreneur with the launch of his third company, Glovely. It’s a PPE supply company that allows people to put their own safety kits together with high-quality gloves, face shields, masks, hand sanitizer. You can also create safety gift baskets for loved ones.

Businesses, big and small are closing at unprecedented rates globally, but that doesn’t mean some of us aren’t still thriving. In fact, some of us have mastered the pivot and are making serious bank!