Magic Hour: Black Entrepreneurs Meetup

This past summer, we hosted an event, Creating A Space for Black Entrepreneurs, to amplify the successes and challenges in the journeys of Black Entrepreneurs in our ecosystem. We are expanding this experience to Magic Hour: Black Entrepreneurs Meetup which is a networking meetup for Black entrepreneurs in our community. The event will start with Zoom breakout rooms for networking and authentic conversations followed by a moderated panel discussion with 3 Black Entrepreneurs. Complete our pre-event survey. Zoom information will be sent via email. Our panelists: Bahby Banks Ph.D. '12 (she/her/hers), CEO and principal research consultant of Pillar Consulting, Inc., a program evaluation research firm dedicated to helping organizations measure the impact of their initiatives. In her role, Dr. Banks partners with non-profit, academic, corporate, and philanthropic organizations to provide consultation on the development, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of their efforts. Her work has led to a career that has spanned research in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Australia; she has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications in national and international journals. With 15+ years of equity, capacity building and social impact expertise, Dr. Banks’ clientele has included Harvard University, Wake Forest University, NC A&T State University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Under Dr. Banks’ leadership, Pillar Consulting has spearheaded efforts funded by the National Science Foundation, DuPont Foundation, deBeaumont Foundation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. In addition to serving as the CEO of Pillar Consulting, Dr. Banks serves as an adjunct faculty member at UNC Chapel Hill, executive career coach, and facilitator of leadership intensives Learn more at www.bahbybanks.com. In her spare time, Dr. Banks enjoys trying new cuisine, traveling, spending time with family and friends, drumming, dancing and karaoke. Learn more at www.pillarconsultingrtp.com and www.bahbybanks.com. Johnny Hackett (he/him/his), Founder and CEO of #BlackDollarNC, a Black-Owned Business directory for the state of North Carolina. He is also an Alliance Partner with the City of Raleigh’s Office of Economic Development and Innovation, helping to take care of the needs of small business owners in the city of Raleigh and beyond. Johnny attended North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, where he began his career with Xerox as a Six Sigma Black Belt. He also started his own non-profit organization to help educate teenage youth in 2009 and has been active on the “front line” of the community and corporate environments ever since – enjoying a great I.T. career at IBM, BCBSNC and Unity Digital Agency, while also leading multiple entrepreneurship ventures where he supports other nonprofits and small businesses. Tiffany Griffin (she/her/hers), Co-founder of Bright Black Candles, is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a Ph.D. in Psychology, and of Boston College with BAs in Psychology and Communications. Before founding Bright Black, Tiffany worked at the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) in the Center for Resilience as a Strategic Advisor. Prior to her work at USAID, Tiffany worked in the US Senate on health policy for Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico. Dr. Griffin has also worked as an academic in psychology, focusing on health, education, and decision making. Tiffany co-leads management and operations of Bright Black along with her husband Dariel and fiery 2 and a half year old, Elena Mae. This event is in partnership with Danae Edmonds of Aspiring Co. and Trista Sanford of With love, Trista and Bespoke Bakery & Dessert Bar. Please email eship@kenan-flagler.unc.edu with any questions.