By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com In an effort to celebrate the power of reading, State Farm and Reading is Fundamental (RIF) recently delivered 1,000 literacy kits to So Others Might Eat, a D.C. nonprofit that supports residents experiencing poverty and homelessness, and Title I elementary schools in the […]
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
Spelman student snags seed funding in HBCU New Venture Challenge
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com After more than three months, BearWay Capital’s HBCU New Venture Challenge concluded on Nov. 20 with a grand finale. Three finalists pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges in a 30-minute presentation, and Spelman College senior Inglish Hills was awarded first […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Crypto Q&A with Maureen Murat, principal at Crowdie Advisors
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com Maureen Murat founded Crowdie Advisors in 2016 to help small businesses and startups raise capital. The business educates entrepreneurs about equity crowdfunding, the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment. While Murat was recruiting clients, someone asked […]
Posted in!Front Page
Black-owned Spizzy serves up nutritional whole-fruit smoothies
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com Prince George’s County educator Victorious Hall labels himself as “the guy with the spandex.” He’s an avid cyclist, and some of his favorite places to visit are smoothie shops. However, he noticed that many of the local smoothie locations were putting added sugar […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Baltimore Community Foundation invests $1 million in Black-led nonprofits and organizations that support majority-Black communities
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com #AFRONews@Noon The Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) recently used a $1 million investment from Facebook to distribute grants to 20 nonprofits that directly support the resiliency of majority-Black communities. The West x Northwest Baltimore Impacts Grant program expands on the place-based investments that BCF […]
Posted inBUSINESS
New Woman Physical Therapy and Wellness alleviates pelvic health concerns
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com For Julianne Neal, entrepreneurship runs in her blood. While growing up in Liberia, her grandfather owned the second largest poultry farm in West Africa. Her grandmother not only founded the elementary school Neal attended, but she also operated her own beauty salon. “I […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Meet Akina app builds safe haven for Black mothers to connect
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com In 2018, Leigh Higginbotham Butler found herself facing a financial crisis. After relocating to Dallas, Texas with her husband and two sons, she obtained a position with a political campaign, but after one month, the candidate decided to withdraw from the race. Butler […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Q&A with Ian Brock, 17-year-old founder of Dream Hustle Code
By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com Born and raised in Chicago, Ian Brock is 17 years old. He is a senior in high school, but he doesn’t attend his local public school for education. After co-founding a nonprofit, Dream Hustle Code, in 2013, Brock required more flexibility to advance […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Bowie, Coppin, UMES secure funding to strengthen the STEM pipeline for students of color
By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com According to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), 25% of African-American graduates with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees come from historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs). These institutions play a pivotal role in diversifying the STEM workforce, which primarily consists of […]
Posted inHBCU
Alaska Air Group partners with UMES to underwrite costs for flight training
By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com Alaska Air Group recently teamed up with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to offer financial assistance to undergraduate students who want to become commercial airline pilots. In Maryland, UMES is the only college to offer a 4-year degree program in aviation […]
Posted in!Front Page
Innovation Works battles Baltimore’s racial wealth divide by advancing social entrepreneurship
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com A social entrepreneur is a person interested in starting a business for the benefit of the community, not just for the sake of turning a profit. Social enterprises foster social change that addresses unmet needs, and Baltimore-based Innovation Works seeks to reduce the […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Black woman-owned medical spa to open in Harbor East
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer Report for America Corps Member msayles@afro.com Baltimore native Keiarna Stewart has never worked in anything other than the beauty industry At age 13, she took a job at her godmother’s hair salon, and just four years later she obtained a cosmetology license. Beauty was the only thing Stewart ever […]
