Ulta said it will double the number of Black-owned brands it carries this year, but has not joined the 15 Percent Pledge. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The online index includes more than 1,200 Black-owned businesses, the organisation said Wednesday. It is designed to connect them with retailers that have signed the organisation’s pledge to increase the diversity of its vendors. Google signed on to back it for two years and will offer “digital trainings and workshop events” to the founders and provide marketing support.
Aurora James launched the 15 Percent Pledge in the summer of 2020 to urge retailers through Instagram to increase the amount of inventory they order from Black-owned brands, which in many cases represented only a few percentage points of total vendor lists. Retailers like Nordstrom and Sephora have since partnered with the organisation.
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One Year Later, the 15 Percent Pledge Raises Its Ambitions
As Nordstrom announces a 10-year partnership with the organisation launched on Instagram after George Floyd’s death to call on retailers to spend more money on Black-owned brands, founder Aurora James and board member Emma Grede tell BoF about keeping up the momentum and supporting entrepreneurs.