Black Leaders Detroit

After needing access to capital and unable to receive it, Dwan Dandridge founded Black Leaders Detroit (BLD) in 2019. With the goal of impacting residents and communities in Detroit that are predominantly of African descent, their mission is to provide financial support for diverse social and community-impact projects that are led by Detroit entrepreneurs of African descent. BLD provides zero percent small business loans to Detroit entrepreneurs of African descent and grants to non-profits led by Detroiters of African descent.

The partnership was initially cultivated by D2N Board Member David Contorer. In May 2023 David and Richard participated in the "Ride for Equity," A bike ride from Detroit to Mackinaw to raise money for black entrepreneurs and bring awareness to the importance of equitable funding practices. Click here for a short video about the event. (Yes, that is Beth Brandvain, Team Alex Captain, in the video.) Read more about the ride here.

In addition to being a sponsor of the "Ride for Equity", D2N's annual charity bike ride in August also benefited BLD. In addition to raising funds for BLD, the event gave the opportunity forf members of D2N and BLD to get to know and appreciate each other. November 2023 BLD held a seminar on fund development in the nonprofit sector. David and Odis Bellinger of Building Better Men were both speakers.