• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Entrepreneurship

Founder & CEO Of Official Black Wall Street Mandy Bowman Wants Everyone To Understand The Power Of The Black Dollar

Sponsored by Shea Moisture.
As Founder & CEO Of Official Black Wall Street, Mandy Bowman Wants Everyone To Understand The Power Of The Black Dollar
By Keyaira Kelly · Updated December 21, 2020

As a recipient of the SheaMoisture Social Justice Coalition Grant, Mandy Bowman wants to make sure #BuyBlack becomes a motto and a lifestyle for everyone.

CEO Mandy Bowman made the mission to “buy black” a lot simpler when she launched Official Black Wall Street in 2016. Four years later, the platform is a hub for Black-owned businesses and the first app of its kind to alert shoppers when they are close to a Black-owned and operated brick and mortar. Her quest to secure financial freedom for Black people began when she became aware of the socio-economic disparities between herself and her white counterparts in college.

“I attended a PWI and was in shock during my senior year of college when I realized the steep wealth gap and difference in our post-graduate opportunities,” Bowman told ESSENCE.

“While many of my Black classmates were stressed about finding a job after college, there were numerous white students who had the luxury of working at their family’s company or taking a year off to travel.”

After studying Entrepreneurship and Global Business Management at Babson College, she was determined to help current and future generations through economic empowerment. Fortunately, her quest to make sure our money remained in our families was supported by history.

“I began studying the history of Black ownership in the country and stumbled across the story of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I read statistics about how difficult it was for Black entrepreneurs to grow a business, predatory loans, red lining and so many other policies that only widened the wealth gap. It lit a fire in me to do something to help my community move forward.”

Thus Official Black Wall Street was born, connecting consumers to black businesses and providing entrepreneurs with much-needed resources. Bowman’s ingenious idea and subsequent efforts earned her the honor of being named a SheaMoisture Social Justice Coalition grant recipient.

Ilyasah Shabazz, professor, author and Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz’s third daughter, serves on the advisory board for the Social Justice Coalition.

“Young people are developing many opportunities for themselves today,” she said of Bowman’s work.

“However, the selfless vision by Official Black Wall Street to create a business where dollars can be recycled within a community is outstanding.”

This type of cyclical fiscal support from the Black community is even more important now as the world reels from the effects of a global pandemic.

“Since the pandemic began an estimated 40% of Black owned businesses around the country have shut down,” Bowman explained.

“That’s almost half a million Black-owned businesses and hundreds of thousands of people in our community left unemployed. Even with the grants and federal aid offered to business owners around the country, so many Black businesses were left to fend for themselves.”

That’s where apps like Official Black Wall Street come into play—to funnel much-needed dollars back into black-owned companies with ease; and the SheaMoisture grant will help the company reach more folks even faster.

“With the SheaMoisture grant, we will take the work we’ve done to new heights by creating a new tech-driven platform that will further incentivize us to Buy Black,” Bowman told ESSENCE. “My overall goal is to make it even easier (and fun) for people around the world to support Black-owned businesses and recirculate the Black dollar back into our communities. This grant will also allow us to connect Black entrepreneurs with resources using advanced technology.”

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now