Our story
empowering the black community
+
developing inspired leaders
Coalition of Black Excellence was started by Black professionals from over 40 organizations with the goal of building community among Black professionals. The entirely volunteer-led team launched CBE Week, a gathering designed to highlight excellence in the Black community, bring together talented Black professionals across different sectors, and strategically discuss advancing the Black community.
After a successful inaugural event, CBE formalized as a 501(c)3 and expanded its programming to include a Summit for Black professionals across sectors. In August 2019, CBE merged with The Recharge Group, an organization of Black professionals connecting to share unique experiences and strengthen African American Bay Area social bonds.
CBE activates its vision with its events at the Battery, featuring panel discussions across CBE’s professional development tracks, and through CBE Week. With partnership events, CBE Summit, Code Black Gala, and more, CBE programming serves as a platform for uniting, celebrating, and uplifting the Black community as a whole.
we envision a
unified & thriving
Black community
CBE is dedicated to unifying and elevating the Black community.
Our collective approach to racial equity and justice focuses on the (1) nonprofits dedicated to the Black community, (2) majority owned Black businesses, and (3) Black professionals across sectors.
CBE goals:
Build
- To build coalitions that leverage assets effectively and efficiently to achieve collective impact across the Black community.
- To build an ecosystem that supports majority black owned businesses by providing access to human and financial capital.
- To build networks that provide opportunities for career mobility and help establish diverse talent pipelines across industries.
Promote
- To promote and celebrate nonprofits for the purpose of attracting human and financial capital and amplifying their impact.
- To promote and celebrate majority owned Black businesses, founders and entrepreneurs for the purpose of increasing access to capital and customer base.
- To promote and celebrate Black professionals across sectors by supporting their career growth, personal brand, and networking opportunities.
Inspire
- To inspire Black professionals to invest time, talent and treasure in deserving nonprofits.
- To inspire the circulation of Black dollars into Black businesses.
- To inspire professional and personal growth by highlighting Black professional excellence in the community.
"I recently moved to the Bay Area for a new job and hadn't had much interaction with black professionals until the CBE Summit. It was refreshing and reinvigorating to meet and learn from so many like-minded professionals."