The Black Impact Collaborative (BIC), a group of organizations missioned to identify and illuminate the needs of Black people in Greater Grand Rapids in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. BIC was convened and is being powered by the Institute of Ubuntu (IOU), a 501(c)(3) think tank focused on enhancing the lives of people of African descent in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by cultivating community and healing; and promoting intellectual, cultural and thought leadership.
Incorporated in 2017, IOU has been in the background, planning to launch on Juneteeth, 2020. COVID-19 hit the world, disproportionately impacting the Black community nationally, and in Grand Rapids to such an extent that IOU was catapulted to the fore to galvanize Black leadership in Greater Grand Rapids to create a collective response. BIC is a collective of those leaders across organizations led by and serving African Americans in Greater Grand Rapids. BIC has been meeting daily since April 25th in response to COVID-19, working to gather information on what leaders are hearing and seeing; how they are positioned and responding to the crisis; and what are their ongoing, immediate, and long-term needs. This group of leaders is committed to moving in solidarity and collective support of the Black community, and the short- and long-term needs of Black Greater Grand Rapids (BGGR). The vision is to garner the human and financial resources necessary to maintain a thriving, safe, and whole BGGR during COVID and beyond. From that standpoint, BIC shares a set of 7 Impact Areas that we implore leaders across Kent County and the State of Michigan to use as they are making decisions about how to respond to COVID-19 now and the future for BGGR:
7 IMPACT AREAS
Black Impact Collaborative Members
NAME/ORGANIZATION
Angela Nelson
Proactive
Alvin & Tanell Hills, IV
Endless Opportunities
Attah Obande
Spring GR
Cle Jackson
Ja’Von Fields
Greater Grand Rapids Branch NAACP
Dallas Lenear
Institute of Ubuntu
Darel Ross
Forty Acres Enterprises
Reverend Eula Gaddis
Baptist Fellowship
Garrett & Regis Fox
Institute of Ubuntu
Jamiel Robinson
Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses
Jimmy Taylor
Prince Hall Masons
Jessie Jones
Institute of Ubuntu
Joseph D. Jones
Grand Rapids Urban League
Kenisha Dorsey
Greater Grand Rapids National Panhellenic Council
Monica Sparks
Community of Hearts/Kent County Black Elected Officials
Nadia Brigham
Brigham Consulting, LLC
Robert S. Womack
WYGR/Kent County Black Elected Officials
Senita Lenear
Kent County Black Elected Officials
Shatawn Brigham
Institute of Ubuntu
Sonja Forte
Baxter Community Center
Sultan Zayd Muhammad
Muhammad Study Group of Grand Rapids-Nation of Islam
Tasha Blackmon
Concerned Citizen
Teresa Weatherall Neal
Lead 616
Veneese Chandler
Family Outreach Center
Dr. Walter Brame
Concerned Citizen