By Julieanne Acosta, February 28 2022—
The Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) was established in 2020 to be a community-led charity organization. Their goal is to dismantle anti-Black racism by having a pool of funds to aid Black-led businesses or nonprofits. In doing so, they are improving the social and economic well-being of Black communities in Canada.
The Gauntlet had the opportunity to talk with Chima Nkiderim, a member of the Board of Directors of the BOF, about the project. BOF hopes to address the structural disadvantages that Black individuals face in today’s society.
“How can we create a fund that would support organizations serving the Black community?” said Nkiderim. “The board of directors were formed with members from coast to coast. The focus right now has been setting up a legal structure, private sector sources and establishing this funding program. Recently, TD Bank donated $10 million over the next five years to support the fund and its objectives.”
In the past, BOF has already done numerous outreach events to spread the word and create a 100-day summary report of what they gathered from the community.
“These outreach events are to really make sure we’re listening to what the community needs. Most of this was done during the pandemic, so mostly through zoom and online,” said Nkidirim. “These town halls have been focused on various needs for the community such as education, health care, social justice reform and just understanding what’s happening across the country. That culminated into what we call a 100-day report of what we heard and the results of all that engagement was very positive.”
Finally, Nkiderim encourages individuals to sign up for the newsletter on the website to receive updates about the fund and support Black-led organizations.
“There’s a lot of ways we’re building the Opportunity Fund out. Another way to support us is to support other organizations o campus looking to serve Black or BIPOC communities,” said Nkiderim.
To learn more about how to become involved with BOF on their website.
