BC Business
The Black Entrepreneurs and Businesses of Canada Society is lending its expertise to LOI.
The Vancouver-based League of Innovators (LOI) was founded in 2017 by Hootsuite’s Ryan Holmes to accelerate young entrepreneurs. It’s hard to argue with the results: LOI has supported close to 500 Canadian youths aged 15-25 in their business endeavours.
Now the charity is putting the spotlight on Black youth across the country by joining forces with another Vancouver-headquartered organization, the Black Entrepreneurs and Businesses of Canada Society (BEBC).
The two partners announced today that they’re launching the Black Youth Entrepreneurs Growth Program, a 12-week virtual offering for young Black prospective business owners that will run twice over the next 12 months.
The program is specifically tailored to give Black youth entrepreneurs access to the entire suite of benefits from LOI’s National Labs Accelerator, such as exclusive content, resources, workshops, a peer community, access to networks and business coaching. It also includes one-on-one mentorships with BEBC members.
“Because our focus is sector-agnostic, we reach and impact youth across gender, ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and geographic divides,” said LOI executive director Joanna Buczkowska-McCumber in a release.
“Working with the BEBC will enable us to support Black youth founders in a deeply meaningful way to ensure long-term outcomes that meet the needs of Black founders.”