Year of the Black Entrepreneur Awards Luncheon & Symposium
The hub of triangle entrepreneurship—Triangle Entrepreneurial Leadership, a regional leadership network of entrepreneurs committed to excellence, will be hosting the YBE Awards Luncheon & Symposium, along with an Exclusive Small Business Resource Fair, on Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Life Enrichment Center. This event is the culmination of a year of educating, equipping & highlighting Black Entrepreneurs.
The Awards Luncheon
The awards portion of the event will highlight two Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients, recognizing the achievements of community leaders who have made a significant impact supporting Black Entrepreneurship during their lives. This years recipients are Katie Gailes, Senior Director, Membership and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) at the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and Lenwood V. Long, Sr., President/CEO of the African American Alliance of CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions) CEOs.


Also being honored on the day are Black entrepreneurs in the categories of “Start-up of the Year, Community Impactor of the Year, Game Changer of the Year, Tech-preneur of the Year, Teen-preneur of the Year, and Entrepreneurial Resilience,” these entrepreneurs are national treasures, whose innovations improve our standard of living: the way we live, work, and play.
The Symposium
A New Narrative: Change the Story, Change the Outcome
YBE has shown the state, and will ultimately show the world, just how powerful & meaningful Black entrepreneurs are to the economy and society as a whole. On April 30 they will come together to:
- Recognize our achievements
- Amplify Black Excellence
- and award our Success
Attendees will leave the YBE Awards Luncheon and Symposium not only filled with knowledge but access to local Black Entrepreneur champions through the YBE Exclusive Small Business Resource Fair taking place throughout the Symposium. The purpose is to connect Black Entrepreneurs with local small business resources that can help them start, sustain and grow their small business.