By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writermsayles@afro.com This July, roughly 23 local public school educators are set to participate in the Maryland Chamber Foundation’s Teacher Externship Program. The four-week program, running from July 10 to Aug. 4, pairs high school teachers and counselors with leading Maryland businesses for hands-on learning experiences in industries associated with classroom […]
Author Archives: Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer
Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits and initiatives. Her love of music inspired her to be a writer. At a young age she realized it was not the melody that she was so infatuated with, but the lyrics that made up the song and connected with listeners. Sayles grew up in Pasadena, Maryland, and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, where for her senior capstone project she reported on how the coronavirus and inequality intersected in Baltimore. She also worked as a staff writer and copy editor for campus publications, including Stories Beneath the Shell and The Black Explosion. Sayles teamed up with a partner to report on how the pandemic had put many more responsibilities on the oldest child in families. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up her story.
Posted inBUSINESS
Governor Moore pledges $15 million to Lendistry to provide loans to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Gov. Wes Moore recently committed $15 million to Lendistry, a minority-led community development financial institution (CDFI). The company aims to provide capital to the small businesses of Maryland. With the funds, Lendistry will be able to deploy loans of up to $350,000 to small business owners who are […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Randallstown NAACP deems Catonsville Motel 6 and other hotels ‘magnets of crime,’ community leaders demand action
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Randallstown NAACP has issued a statement labeling the Motel 6 in Catonsville, Md., as well as several other hotels, as “magnets for crime.” The statement came in response to a triple shooting that took place at the Motel 6, located at 5801 Baltimore National Pike in Catonsville, […]
Posted inNews, NEWS, Washington D.C. News
BLACKBONE Project: providing D.C. Black women founders with capital access, mental health resources and brick-and-mortar incubator
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com After winning JPMorgan Chase’s Annual Challenge, the Congress Heights Community Training and Development Center (CHCTDC) has received a $3 million philanthropic investment to help the project get started. Earlier this year, CHCTDC created the BLACKBONE Project, an initiative to help D.C. based Black women founders grow and scale […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Miss Lady’s Bakery Cafe brings fresh, flavorful food to Randallstown Plaza Shopping Center
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com In spite of its name, Miss Lady’s Bakery Cafe isn’t just another source of homemade pastries and baked goods. Shirl and Julian Taylor say it’s also a full-service restaurant with a bar, serving scratch-made meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Baltimore natives decided to open the brick-and-mortar […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab to host ‘Power Plays: A Small Business Summit for Innovative Women in Baltimore’
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab (WELL), in collaboration with Color Vision, will hold Power Plays: A Small Business Summit for Innovative Women at the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on June 10. The one-day, mini conference will assemble established and aspiring women business owners to […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Shaw’s Covenant: meet the Baltimore-based tailor serving Baltimore’s elite
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com When Baltimore native Justin Shaw opened Shaw’s Covenant, a custom suit business in 2017, he had limited experience in the men’s suit market. At the time he was unhappy as a human resources professional and network marketer. His best friend, Gilbryonna, who would later become his wife, urged […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Remote Area Medical and DentMed to host free vision and dental clinics in Baltimore
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Remote Area Medical (RAM), a healthcare nonprofit headquartered in Tennessee, is set to host a free, two-day clinic for dental, vision and general medical care in Baltimore on June 10 and 11. The pop-up clinics, which are provided in collaboration with Maryland-based DentMed, will take place at The […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Comcast seeking applications for small business grant competition
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Comcast recently announced that it would bestow 100 Baltimore small businesses with grant packages that include $5,000 in funding, business consultation, educational resources, media schedule, creative production and a technology makeover as part of the Comcast RISE program. To qualify for the program, businesses must have 100 or […]
Posted inBUSINESS
AfroTech Executive conference gathers Black thought leaders, executives and investors of tech industry
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Blavity’s AfroTech Executive multi-city conference returned to Washington, D.C. on May 11 at The Gathering Spot, a Black-owned private membership club. The event brought together corporate executives, investors and tech moguls to learn about trends and innovations in the technology sector. “AfroTech Executive is a more intimate gathering […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
xHood to host Black Parent Pride Summit for Black queer parents
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com In honor of D.C. Black Pride, xHood, a community organization for Black queer families, will host the Black Parent Pride Summit at the Eaton Hotel from May 26 to May 28. The three-day event assembles Black parents from the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate, connect and obtain critical family-building […]
Posted inSponsored Content
Black women are two to three times more likely to have uterine fibroids—here’s how to manage and treat them
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com In the U.S., 26 million women aged 15 to 50 have uterine fibroids, or benign growths of the uterus, and more than half of those women will experience associated symptoms and health risks. For African American women, the lifetime incidence of fibroids is […]