By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Shelly-Ann Eweka has worked at the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) of America for over 15 years. Founded in 1919, TIAA was established to help improve quality of life for teachers. Today, it’s a Fortune 100 financial services company and serves more […]
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
CreditRich strikes deal with Qolo as new payment processor to enhance app
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com CreditRich, a new Black woman-owned fintech platform that helps users increase their credit scores, recently announced a deal with Qolo, which helps businesses manage payments more efficiently with the aim of growth and reduced expense. The partnership will double down on CreditRich’s model […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Reimagine Main Street awards $2 million to more than 200 Black women entrepreneurs across the country
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Reimagine Main Street recently awarded cash grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to over 200 Black women-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs through its Backing Black Business: Small Business Grant Program. Meta provided the $2 million funding for the cash grants as a part […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Bishop Omar School of Entrepreneurship functions to end generational poverty
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Since 1997, Dallas-based Urban Specialists has worked to combat the violence and cycle of poverty that plague urban communities. The nonprofit was founded by the late Bishop Omar Jahwar, who lived by the mantra: “Only inspired people can inspire people to be a […]
Posted inHealth
Maryland Health Care for All Coalition pushes for legislation to help small businesses offer health coverage to employees
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business WriterReport for America Corps Membermsayles@afro.com Since 1999, the Maryland Health Care for All Coalition has been on a mission to secure quality, affordable healthcare for all Marylanders. Comprising hundreds of faith, labor, business and community organizations from across the state, the organization is the largest and most diverse coalition of […]
Posted inHealth
Dr. Catherine Kibirige develops HIV tests to advance vaccine and cure research
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member msayles@afrocom Dr. Catherine Kibirige was a teenager when she decided her career would center on HIV research. Her parents were natives of Uganda, but she was born in Kenya after they were exiled during the Ugandan Civil War. Eventually, her father got a job […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Women who are ‘winning’ and speaking at the AFRO’s Black Business Matters Expo
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com This year the Afro-American Newspapers (AFRO) is highlighting ‘Women Who Win’ at its Black Business Matters Expo, which takes place on March 24. During the celebration, numerous exemplary Black business women will have the chance to talk about their professional journey, offer advice, […]
Posted inBUSINESS
From fashion designer to software developer: Milan Ball’s serendipitous professional journey
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member. msayles@afro.com Milan Ball, 24, doesn’t consider herself your typical software developer. First, she’s a woman. Second, she’s African-American. She also does not have a degree in computer science- that’s strike three. Instead, Ball received her degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New […]
Posted inHealth
Black women have the highest breast cancer mortality rate – here’s how to monitor your breast health
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, outside of skin cancers. One in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetimes. Of all racial and ethnic groups, Black women tend to be disproportionately […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Q&A with NCAA Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Jen Fry
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Jen Fry is the CEO of JenFryTalks, a social justice education company that uses conversation to educate and empower those within athletics through an anti-racist lens on subjects of race, inclusion, intersectionality, diversity and equity. Fry transitioned into the diversity, equity and inclusion […]
Posted inNational News
Black Engineer of the Year Awards Recap: Ted Colbert receives top honor and Laura Murphy makes history
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com The Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) community boasts over 10,000 individuals. Its premier three-day event is the largest Black STEM conference in the country, during which grade and college students; government, corporate and military professionals; […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Black male investment group The Club of Baltimore boasts a legacy of 91 years
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com The Club of Baltimore, a Black male investment club, has been in existence for 91 years. It was born in 1931 in the midst of segregation and the Great Depression. At that time, African Americans were not welcome in the predominantly White investment […]