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All dressed up with no sales to show for it

May 27, 2024
A day in the life of a struggling, but hopeful, entrepreneur.
Taylor Nesiah Jenkins, owner of a secondhand boutique called Haus of Vestige, with some of her inventory at a bridal fair in Phoenix, Arizona.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace

Legal challenges could have chilling effect on workplace diversity efforts

Oct 3, 2023
It's possible that employers will roll back racial diversity initiatives even if they’re perfectly legal.
Above, portraits of Black women entrepreneurs at an event co-hosted by the Fearless Fund. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked a contest hosted by the Fearless Fund that awards grants to businesses that are majority-owned by Black women.
Shannon Finney/Getty Images

There's more evidence that subsidized jobs boost racial equity, report finds

Aug 17, 2023
"There are just a lot of positive ripple effects for communities," says Kali Grant of Georgetown, who co-wrote the updated report.
At the 1963 March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. called for a massive federal jobs program for all Americans.
AFP via Getty Images

Black unemployment is at a record low, but tight financial conditions could change that

May 30, 2023
Black men made gains in warehousing and transportation, which tend to offer low wages. A recession could hit workers of color hard, economist Michelle Holder says
The transportation and warehousing sector, where Black men are well-represented, has expanded swiftly since the 2020 downturn. Economist Michelle Holder warns that the next recession could hit workers of color hard.
Mark Makela/Getty Images

Abortion bans may have inequitable economic consequences, especially for Black women

May 31, 2022
Black women have disproportionally used abortion services across much of the South, where access to the procedure may essentially vanish if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Tia Freeman cheers at a protest following the U.S. Supreme Court’s release of a draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade. Freeman told the crowd in Nashville that she had two abortions that she says kept her economically on track.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

Flight school combats lack of diversity in the cockpit

Jan 24, 2022
As analysts predict a pilot shortage in the coming years, a nonprofit flight school in Mississippi is focused on training a more diverse aviation workforce.
Student Carlin Bratcher, left, and her instructor Zakiya Percy after a flying lesson.
Katie Riordan

Why the economic recovery looks different for women of color

Jan 13, 2022
“There are going to be lingering scarring effects,” economist Michelle Holder said.
"When we look at some of the disaggregated dynamics of the labor market, in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, we recognize that not everybody is doing so well," says Dr. Alex Camardelle of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Overcoming fear as a first-time homebuyer

May 25, 2021
“It’s been very empowering for me, even though it has been very difficult,” says Ko Bragg, a journalist based in New Orleans.
Ko Bragg, one of the 2.38 million Americans who purchased a home for the first time in 2020, inside her New Orleans house.
Courtesy Ko Bragg

Goldman Sachs to invest billions in Black women

Mar 12, 2021
The firm says it wants to change the lives of "One Million Black Women," but that'll take more than a monetary investment.
Black women have disproportionately suffered during the pandemic, one reason Goldman Sachs decided to provide support.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Are Black women being “centered” in this economy yet?

Nov 23, 2020
Janelle Jones is "super hopeful" about Black women's influence in the next U.S. government, but worried about the disinvestment that may come with austerity.
In her victory speech, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris called Black women the “backbone of democracy.” But will the new administration’s economic policy treat them that way?
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images