Author: Lesley Green-Rennis

LRMR Ventures, the family office of LeBron James and Maverick Carter, along with SC Holdings, a U.S.based private equity firm have joined forces to invest in Canyon Bicycles GMbH (Canyon). As the world’s leading direct-to-consumer manufacturer of premium bicycles, based in Koblenz, Germany, LRMR Ventures participation in the Canyon’s €30 ($30.9M) million funding round now values the company at €750 million ($774M). 

Homeownership is an important step to bridging the racial wealth divide. If Black homeownership matched white homeownership, Black wealth would increase by almost $40,000, bridging racial wealth inequality by about 30%. With current mortgage rates the highest they have been since 2008, and the number of homes for sale nationally plummeting, an alternative path to homeownership may be leasing to own your future home.

After weathering a turbulent 2020, the art market bounced back with a massive recovery last year that seems to be continuing into 2022 with online art sales accounting for 20% of total sales.

By Lesley Green-Rennis 2 out of 3 Black Americans don’t feel they see their stories represented on-screen The film and TV industry loses $10B, or 7% every year by undervaluing Black films, filmmakers and executives While progress has been made in the portrayal of Black characters in media, the majority of participants in a recent

By Lesley Green-Rennis In December 2020, social justice funding fell to just 5% of donation share 35% of the $20.2B in U.S. charitable giving for COVID-19 was explicitly designated for communities of color The killing of George Floyd and the ensuing nationwide wave of protests, sparked an unprecedented level of charitable giving. Money came in

By Lesley Green-Rennis Churches are turning to big data to boost attendance as 30% of American adults do not affiliate themselves with a specific religion Conservatively, the annual income of the institutional Black church is over $2B With in-person church attendance roughly 30% to %50 lower than it was pre-COVID, many congregations are turning to

By Lelsey Green-Rennis Citi and the Citi Foundation accelerate $1B strategic investment to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility Nearly $5T could be added to the U.S. GDP over the next five years if racial gaps for Black people are closed Citigroup’s (C -0.72%) Action for Racial Equity is on track

By Lesley Green-Rennis Sotheby’s premiered the 1st-ever exclusively Black jewelry designer exhibition  highlighting 21 jewelers and 63 pieces The global jewelry market is expected to reach $266.5B by 2027 Though artists of color have fought their way into industries and been acknowledged for other creative works, Black jewelry designers have remained largely unnoticed. That is

By Lesley Green-Rennis The global cryptocurrency market is projected to reach $4.94B by 2030 Rappers have been name-dropping cryptocurrencies since at least 2013 Bolstered by the pandemic, cryptocurrency has become the next big thing in the world of finance and the world of hip-hop. Rappers, from Lil Yachty, Megan Thee Stallion, 50 Cent, Soulja Boy,

By Lesley Green-Rennis Stacey Abram’s financial services company, “Now” has raised a $9.5M Series A funding round To date, the company has served over 1,000 small businesses and processed over $700 million in transactions Political superstar Stacey Abrams is cementing her fintech genius with her company “Now” that has raised a $9.5 million Series A

By Lesley Green-Rennis In December 2020, social justice funding fell to just 5% of donation share 35% of the $20.2B in U.S. charitable giving for COVID-19 was explicitly designated for communities of color The killing of George Floyd and the ensuing nationwide wave of protests, sparked an unprecedented level of charitable giving. Money came in

By Lesley Rennis BodyArmor plans to dethrone Gatorade by 2025 and now generates more than $1 billion in retail sales In 2018, Kobe Bryant’s more than 10% stake in BodyArmor was valued at $200M BodyArmor’s CEO, Mike Repole made a promise to the late Kobe Bryant that the brand would be the number one sports

By Lesley Green-Rennis 128 million Americans used Aunt Jemima table syrup in 2020 Relatives of the real life “Aunt Jemima” demanded $3B in unpaid royalties from Pepsico and Quaker Oats “Aunt Jemima,” known world-wide as the face of pancakes and table syrup, dates back nearly 150 years. The name and image, originally associated with a

By Lesley Green-Rennis Unemployment rate for Black women is 4.5% 80% of Black mothers are the primary breadwinners for their families The U.S. unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 50 years, and some experts claim economic and social trends are shifting such that minority women are emerging as the big labor market winners.

By Lesley Green-Rennis The amount of farmland planted with hemp quadrupled in the past year   Black farmers are a mere 1.4% of the country’s 3.2 million farmers Demand for CBD-infused products, from honey, tea, and fast food burgers to gummy bears and shampoo are on the rise, thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill which

By Lesley Rennis Among the largest U.S. tech companies, black workers in technical jobs average 3% Employment of tech occupations is projected to grow 12% Five years ago technology giants Apple (AAPL +0.16%), Facebook (FB +0.12%), Google (GOOG +0.15%), and Microsoft (MSFT +1.97%), released their first diversity reports. They revealed workforces that were overwhelmingly White,

By Lesley Green-Rennis The amount of farmland planted with hemp quadrupled in the past year   Black farmers are a mere 1.4% of the country’s 3.2 million farmers Demand for CBD-infused products, from honey, tea, and fast food burgers to gummy bears and shampoo are on the rise, thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill which

By Lesley Green-Rennis Black McDonald’s franchisees net $68K less a month than their compared to their counterparts In 2008 there were 304 black McDonald’s franchisees, in 2017 there were 222 Owning a McDonald’s (MCD -0.44%) franchise can be lucrative, as the average restaurant generates nearly $2.7 million in annual sales, but black owners aren’t reaping

By Lesley Green-Rennis Black & Latinx talent comprise 4% or less of banks’ executive and senior-level employees Companies with 100 or more employees are required to submit workforce diversity data to the federal government each year For years, the banking industry has voiced support for workforce diversity, but you would never know by looking at

By Lesley Green-Rennis The Black unemployment rate now stands at 6.7%, higher than any other ethnic demographic 16% of Latinx workers and 20% of Black workers have the ability to work from home Black and Hispanic Americans are feeling just how economically problematic the coronavirus pandemic is. Their households are less financially secure, tend to