Beyond establishing the BEKH’s mission to lead the development of community-led research projects in collaboration with academics, community organizations, and post-secondary institutions, the Carleton University delegation sketched the short, medium and long term goals of the Hub, which include developing partnership capacity, producing large scale quantitative and qualitative research projects, and fostering tangible research outputs with the goal of building project sustainability.

On November 17 and 18, 2022, the Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub hosted its hybrid research symposium under the theme, “Researching Black Entrepreneurship in Canada,” at the Sprott Business School, located in the Nicol Building at Carleton University. See full story here:

Last week, we hosted our first open house at the brand new Nicol Building, home of the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University. About 40 members of the community, including researchers, entrepreneurs and Carleton faculty and students were in attendance. They were welcomed by BEKH Executive Director Andrea Pierce while Dr. Gerald Grant presented about the work we will be undertaking and how the community can get involved.

As a key part of the Government of Canada’s Black Entrepreneurship Program, the BEKH is developing large-scale qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as a network mapping of Black entrepreneurial ecosystem at the local, regional and national levels. These are meant to have practical applications for advocacy, policy development, and more, all in support of Black entrepreneurs.

Black entrepreneurship has always been a vital part of Canada’s economy, but large-scale, detailed research and pan-Canadian information on it has been limited. This knowledge and sharing of lived experiences has a vital role in informing the public policies that are needed to address the systemic barriers Black entrepreneurs face when building their businesses.