Learning ModuleCan entrepreneurship shape identity and belonging?

When you think of identity and belonging, you might imagine community gatherings, traditions, and shared experiences. Another powerful way for individuals to express their cultural identity and build community is through entrepreneurship. Through business, entrepreneurs can create opportunities, build networks, and challenge systemic issues or barriers. Let’s explore how Black Canadian entrepreneurs are doing this today in Ontario.

Black entrepreneurship in Ontario has long been a powerful way to express identity, strengthen community, and create belonging. For many, entrepreneurship is more than just starting a business or charitable initiative - it's a way to create spaces for cultural visibility, pride, and meaningful connection.

For example, UpNorth Naturals is a Canadian Black-owned beauty company founded by Lisa Keizer. The business creates natural hair products designed to celebrate Black culture and textured hair. Inspired by her struggle to find clean, effective products for curls, Keizer built a brand that promotes pride in natural hair, challenging an industry that often overlooks Black-owned brands. As the first Canadian Black-owned beauty brand to appear on Walmart and Target shelves, and with support from organizations such as the Business Advisory Centre Durham and the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, UpNorth Naturals has grown into a business that not only fills a market need but also reflects Keizer’s passion for uplifting her community and increasing representation in the beauty industry.

Black entrepreneurs and organizers in Ontario face a range of systemic barriers that can make starting and growing a business especially challenging. These challenges are shaped by historical and social factors, including the long history of discrimination and exclusion that limited access to education, property, and wealth for many Black Canadians. Today, entrepreneurs often encounter difficulties securing funding, accessing professional networks, and gaining visibility, in part due to bias in financial institutions and underrepresentation in mainstream business associations. Despite these obstacles, Black entrepreneurs demonstrate resilience and creativity, leveraging community support, mentorship programs, and culturally focused entrepreneurship to build successful businesses.

To address these barriers, several organizations provide targeted support, helping Black entrepreneurs thrive while fostering a sense of belonging.

Check out the following organizations for a few examples of the supports they provide:

Next, let’s look at two more examples of Black owned businesses:

The restaurant has gained national and international recognition, including being used as the backdrop for Drake and Rihanna’s music video “Work,” showcasing Caribbean culture on a global stage. Through decades of dedication, The Real Jerk has not only filled a culinary need but also reflects the Pottingers’ passion for community, cultural pride, and representation in Canada’s food and cultural landscape.

Inspired by her own experiences navigating systemic barriers in tech, Huggins built a company that not only teaches technology skills but also reflects students’ culture and identity positively in their learning environments. Huggins has been recognized with awards such as the Harry Jerome Young Entrepreneur and inclusion in CBC’s Top 150 Black Women Creating Impact. Through its programs and initiatives, Tech Spark fosters innovation, economic freedom, and representation in tech, ensuring that Black and marginalized communities are creators and not just consumers of technology.

While commercial enterprises are generally designed to make money in addition to meeting strategic goals like uplifting community and spreading public awareness, entrepreneurship is not always geared toward generating a profit. Many entrepreneurial initiatives, such as grassroots organizations and not-for-profit collectives, are designed around motives other than direct financial gain. These can also be powerful sites of network-building, visibility, and connection for Black Canadians.

Not-for-profit initiatives are often financed and sustained through methods such as charitable donations, government grants, direct fundraising, hosting events, and other forms of mutual aid. Like the businesses we just explored, these initiatives also foster community by creating opportunities for Black people, building internal networks, and advocating against systemic oppression.

Let’s take a look at two examples at non-profit initiatives founded by Black Canadians to connect and uplift community:

100ABCWomen is a yearly publication that highlights a variety of social, educational, political, and professional accomplishments by 100 Black women in Canada. Launched in 2017, this initiative emerged from discussions among a group of Black Canadian women. Their goal was to create a resource that would inspire Black girls and women by showcasing the many contributions Black women have made and continue to make to Canadian heritage, history, and society. The initiative also aimed to build a database to support future publications that acknowledge Black Canadian women.

Stemming from a long history of advocacy initiatives against anti-Black racism within Canadian queer communities, this initiative is funded by two yearly events: Blockorama, Toronto Pride’s longest running outdoor party and multi-day celebration of African, Black, and Caribbean 2SLGBTQI+ communities in the Greater Toronto Area; and Blockobana, a music and arts festival held on Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival weekend where 2SLGBTQI+ African, Black, and Caribbean people are welcomed to celebrate their culture free from homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Black racism.

These examples show how Black entrepreneurs and mission leaders in Canada, past and present, have navigated systemic barriers and used their initiatives to express culture, empower communities, and foster identity and belonging.

We have explored how both commercial and not-for-profit entrepreneurial initiatives can serve as powerful tools for building networks and fostering connection and belonging within Canada’s Black communities. These initiatives also work to address and resist forms of systemic oppression stemming from the legacy of anti-Black racism in Canada. The impact of initiatives and businesses like these provide important contributions to Canadian citizenship, identity, and heritage.

Match each business or organization (column 1) with its impact or outcome (column 2):

Task: To extend your knowledge, research Black-owned businesses or organizations in your community or city.

Create a “mini business directory” featuring three businesses or organizations supporting Black communities in your city/region.

For each entry, include the following:

Share your work in a format of your choice. You might create a digital slide deck, a mockup webpage, an infographic, a written statement, or a short video.

As you create your final product, consider the following questions: