Pharrell Williams Black Ambition Program Has Announced Its 2023 Winners. Pharrell Williams, one-half of The Neptunes and the new men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, recently helped judge the third annual Black Ambition “Demo Day” competition in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood.
Black Ambition is a nonprofit initiative that aims to close the opportunity and wealth gap through entrepreneurship by investing capital and resources in high-growth startups founded by Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
Pharrell Williams Black Ambition Program Has Announced Its 2023 Winners. The competition featured a rapt audience of hundreds of young Black and brown budding business execs who visually reflected Black Ambition’s overall mission.
Launched by Pharrell in 2020, Black Ambition is a nonprofit initiative working to close the opportunity and wealth gap through entrepreneurship. The competition whittled competitors down to 36 finalists, who all received between $20K and $250K to develop their young companies.
Eight frontrunners advanced to the Demo Day 2023 competition, where they pitched their businesses live at Spring Studios for a chance at the grand prize: one million dollars.
Judges assembled to choose the winners included Jay Lundy (senior VP of Combs Global), Erik Moore (managing director of Base Ventures), and Marilyn Webber Muffs.
Emmy-winning public speaker Mario Armstrong hosted Demo Day, with an onstage discussion between former prize winners Kadidja Dosso of organic beauty supplier Dosso Beauty (2021 HBCU Grand Prize Winner) and Karissma Yve of print-on-demand jewelry designer Gildform (2022 General Prize Winner).
Pharrell’s 45-minute fireside-style chat took place as judges deliberated before the final winners were announced. Maïré Bavarday-Rosa, the Guadeloupean CEO of Ecomspaces, was awarded $250,000, while Leslie Winston III of North Carolina A&T University, co-founder of the social e-reader company Monocle, won the $200,000 HBCU Grand Prize.
Antoinette Banks, CEO and founder of the parent-facing app Expert IEP, presented the Demo Day 2023 Grand Prize winner: Antoinette Banks, CEO and founder of the parent-facing app Expert IEP, which optimizes existing Individualized Education Plans with predictive AI for children diagnosed with disabilities.
Banks expressed gratitude to Black Ambition for believing in her and holding space for her, breaking down barriers, and inspiring more Black and brown founders and ideas.
At the end of the evening, Pharrell made his way to a microphone for some parting words, hoping that Black Ambition inspires other organizations with similar or similar goals to see more Black and brown founders, ideas, and the world affected by these concepts.
