• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • 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
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Money & Career

Issa Rae Talks "Fake" DEI Corporate Support And Her Long-Standing Partnership With American Express To Amplify Black Businesses 

Rae has partnered with American Express for "Backing Change," a program aimed at providing underrepresented founders with pathways for success.
Issa Rae Talks “Fake” DEI Corporate Support And Her Long-Standing Partnership With American Express To Amplify Black Businesses 
By Jasmine Browley · Updated June 8, 2023

Issa Rae has always been about supporting Black advancement and calling truth to power. That extends through everything she does, from her acting roles, business endeavors, and particularly partnerships.

One company she’s been working with for years is American Express, a brand that has long demonstrated their commitment to championing small businesses, especially those led by underrepresented entrepreneurs. Since 2021, she’s held a ambassadorship with the company to spread the word about ByBlack, an initiative aimed at providing Black-owned businesses the substantiative support they so often don’t receive.

Article continues after video.

She sat down with ESSENCE to discuss the launch of Backing Change, an AmEx program that provides minority-owned businesses access to funding, resources and tools.

“We’ve been working together in this partnership for several years now, and it’s always felt organic and they’ve always been aligned with my personal mission,” Rae tells ESSENCE. “So, it never feels like work or brand sponsorship or any of those things because they’re actually affecting real people’s lives in a substantive way.”

This includes a contract pipeline for suppliers (small and mid-sized enterprises) and buyers (government agencies and large corporations) to connect for one-on-one meetings to discuss business opportunities.

Although ByBlack was launched in 2021, Rae’s relationship reaches back further than that and according to the star, they’ve walked their talk of DEI way before it was en vogue following the social justice uprising of 2020. In recent years, the zest for inclusion work has significantly waned among companies, but not at AmEx, Rae points out.

“Because we’ve been working together since before companies, some of them fakely so, decided to support DEI initiatives,”Rae said. “And this is something that ultimately a lot of small businesses, Black small businesses, ended up needing post-pandemic. And to have the platform to do that, they were kind of just ahead of the curve and on time.”

The DEI programs and initiatives launched in 2020 through 2022 have started to be phased out, with many companies completely wiping out their inclusion departments. AmEx, conversely, has doubled down and Rae plans to walk with them every step of the way.

“In the future, I do hope to continue to do this work,” Rae said. “I think on the business side is great, but I would love to focus on just the community side and just see what else can be done for helping actual individuals and whether that is business or nonprofit related. I don’t know if those two can work together, but I just want to hit the ground on a more community level, and continue this because the work isn’t done.”

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