By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com As more people access the metaverse and explore three dimensional worlds, Bianca Jackson is training Baltimore businesses and organizations to take advantage of the immersive technology and introducing them to the power of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Her business, BrickRose Exchange, allows […]
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 inWashington D.C. News
D.C. Small Business Development Center to host ‘Meet the Bankers’ event
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The D.C. Small Business Development Center (DCSBDC) will host a Meet the Bankers event on May 10 at the Howard University School of Business. The event will start at 10:00 a.m. in the school’s auditorium. More than 15 bankers will attend the event to talk to entrepreneurs about […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Global Digital Development Forum panel looks to open source technology as a means of increasing global financial inclusion
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Interledger Foundation, a nonprofit focused on creating an open payments network to engender greater global financial inclusion, hosted a panel discussion at the Global Digital Development Forum in D.C. on April 24. The discussion took place at the District Architecture Center and covered how open source technology […]
Posted inBUSINESS
AFRO’s third annual Black Business Matters Expo garners more than 1,700 attendees
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The AFRO held its third annual Black Business Matters Expo on April 27 at the media company’s headquarters in Downtown Baltimore. In-person attendees were joined at the event by more than 1,700 virtual participants, who all received information from a dynamic array of wealth coaches, c-suite executives and […]
Posted inBUSINESS
As COVID-19 public health emergency expires, Black funeral directors reflect on the pandemic’s toll
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com After three years of living through a global pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to end the U.S. Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 on May 11. This declaration comes a month after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to terminate […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Donate Life Maryland highlights transplant recipient’s story for National Donate Life Month
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com April is known as National Donate Life Month, a time to promote the importance of people registering as organ, eye and tissue donors and to dispel misconceptions surrounding organ donation. Across the United States, there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a life-saving transplant, according to the […]
Posted inBUSINESS
The Harbor Bank of Maryland remains committed to serving Greater Baltimore’s Black communities
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The Harbor Bank of Maryland (Harbor Bank), headquartered in Baltimore, opened its doors back in 1982 with $2.1 million in assets. After more than 40 years, the institution stands today as a pillar in the Greater Baltimore Black community with nearly $321 million in assets. The institution was […]
Posted inBUSINESS
JPMorgan Chase hosts small business roundtable with Black women business and nonprofit leaders in D.C.
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com JPMorgan Chase recently hosted a small business roundtable with business and nonprofit leaders in D.C.’s Black community at the Anacostia Arts Center. Ben Walter, CEO of business banking, led the panel discussion, which featured Pinkey Reddick, owner of Pinke’s E.A.T.S; Shanel Adams, general manager of Dog Tag Bakery; […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Waterloo entrepreneur works to open Iowa’s first Black-owned bank
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Reshonda Young is a Waterloo, Iowa native and entrepreneur on a mission to open the state’s first Black-owned bank. The Bank of Jabez, which is set to open this year, will be a community development financial institution (CDFI) and will work to prepare and empower people to create […]
Posted inBUSINESS
JPMorgan Chase invests $2 million in redevelopment of Anacostia Arts Center
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com JPMorgan Chase recently committed $2 million to the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) in efforts to support the redevelopment of the Anacostia Arts Center, which serves as a hub for small businesses, artists and cultural organizations in Ward 8. The announcement came on the heels of the […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Shoe City files for bankruptcy, closes 39 stores in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Shoe City is closing the doors of its 39 stores across the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. area after more than 70 years in business. The family-owned urban footwear retailer, also known as YCMC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. The business reports that they currently have $16 […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
A closer look: inside the plan to expand eligibility for early child care subsidies in the District
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Mayor Muriel Bowser announced new investments in her proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Fair Shot Budget to support high-quality, early child care and early childhood education in D.C. on March 27. The District’s Child Care Subsidy Program could expand eligibility to more D.C. families, raising the income cap […]
