Creating Ecosystems of Economic Empowerment | Donna Ennis & Henry Childs II | The State of Black Tech
In today’s conversation, Henry Childs II sits down with Donna Ennis, Director of Diversity Engagement and Program Development at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, to explore a critical question: How do we harness technology and capital to fuel entrepreneurship in Black communities?
This discussion goes beyond theory. It highlights a lived reality—many Black youth grow up without seeing visible examples of success in tech and business. That lack of representation shapes what they believe is possible.
Meanwhile, high-net-worth individuals are launching funds in response to long-standing inequities—but in the broader financial ecosystem, those efforts remain underpowered.
Henry and Donna tackle the structural gap—and the opportunity—head-on. They discuss how to build collective economic power by creating intentional, long-term ecosystems that uplift communities often left behind.
Watch to explore:
• Why visibility and representation matter for the next generation of Black entrepreneurs
• Why billion-dollar ideas need billion-dollar ecosystems
• What it will really take to pool resources and build lasting impact
This is a conversation about building not just businesses—but movements.
#StateOfBlackTech #EconomicEmpowerment #BlackEntrepreneurs #DonnaEnnis #HenryChilds #TechEquity #VentureCapital #CollectiveEconomics #InclusiveInnovation
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Henry Childs II:
You said something really profound earlier—it starts early on. We’ve been talking about STEM for years, and now it’s often called STEAM to include the arts. But what’s often left out of that conversation is what young people see growing up.
You can only imagine what’s visible to you. For example, growing up as a Black man, the success I saw was through athletics and entertainment—music, acting. I didn’t see a lot of successful Black business leaders. So that path wasn’t natural for me. It was something I had to learn, figure out, and force my way into.
As you said—we’ve got young talent. But there’s not a visible path. There’s no one in the neighborhood running a billion-dollar tech company that you can point to and say, “I want to do that.”
Since George Floyd’s murder, we’ve seen more focus on Black-led funds. A lot of high-net-worth individuals, especially Black leaders, have stepped up to launch these funds—ranging from $10 million to as high as $250 million. And that’s significant.
But in the capital markets, a $250 million fund sounds big but is actually small. Major financial institutions manage assets in the trillions. So in that context, $250 million doesn’t move the needle enough.
What I want to dive into is this idea of ecosystems, which you mentioned.
We hear that Black Americans have a collective buying power of over a trillion dollars. But that trillion doesn’t mean much if we’re not using it together—strategically—to drive real, systemic change.
So Donna, what do you think it’s going to take for us to start being intentional about pooling our resources to make that kind of impact?
Donna Ennis:
Oh—it’s going to take a lot of intention… and time.
