How The Project Found Me Not too long ago, an Instagram page began following me. The name of that page is @blackgoldimagery. I really liked what I saw on their page and thought it would be a good idea to write about them here on We Buy Black. After having the opportunity to interview the founders of the Black Gold Project, I figured you’d enjoy learning more about them. I hope that I’m right.
What Is It?
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Members of the Black Gold Project performing skits and conversing with one another.[/caption]
The Black Gold Project is a non-profit 501(c)3 founded by Jaret Barron and Caroline Dorsey, in Philadelphia, in 2016. By upholding their motto — UNITE, EDUCATE, EMPOWER, and ACTIVATE — the Black Gold Project is able to fulfill its mission. Their mission is to “provide economically efficient programs that connect and restore Black communities around the world.”
It has been said that 80% of Black-owned businesses fail within the first year. Although the Black Gold Project has faced challenges, they have a bright future ahead of them. As a testament to their persistence, let’s discuss the many challenges that they have faced:
Investing In Free
Jaret and Caroline explained that in the past year, they have experienced the challenges that any company typically faces in the beginning: financing and staffing. In the beginning of any company, it usually takes some time to realize a profit — or for a non-profit — it takes time to pay your staff. For the Black Gold Project, this provides the basis for their staffing woes. Financing is such a huge hurdle for Jaret and Caroline because the Black Gold Project throws various free events. According to Jaret, “It’s hard to get people to invest in ‘free,'” despite the fact that they produce quality work. Caroline stated, “These are [events] that members of our community deserve to attend without spending money. People can have money in their pocket and still be part of [the] change.” [caption id="attachment_3602" align="aligncenter" width="524"]
Founders Jaret and Caroline at a Black Gold event.[/caption]
Some of their events, like the ‘Black Love’ theater production coming February 8th and 9th, cost. But being a non-profit organization, Jaret and Caroline do not receive any of the proceeds (in fact, both Jaret and Caroline usually come out of their own pockets for these events). The proceeds from their events that do cost, go toward paying the staff who are homeless youth from their Youth Entrepreneur Program.
Jaret and Caroline agree, however, that their biggest challenge is learning from their triumphs and failures. As many of you know, life is full of victories and losses. Learning humility from both the winning side and the losing side is difficult but imperative.
Future Plans
Aside from hosting their theater production in February of next year, the Black Gold Project will also be producing a Black Business Tour on March 30th. This tour will be a networking event for Black Gold-standard business owners equipped with a panel and an artist showcase. The Black Gold Project is an asset to our community. Click here to sign up for their website membership and show your support.
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