NBA Legends Fund Invests 23 OK for Black Entrepreneurs

Led by NBA legends Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, Social Change Fund United (SCFU) is investing $230,000 in two recent initiatives to assist elevate the Black community.

The latest efforts of those three – also philanthropists and entrepreneurs – are a part of a strategic goal to strengthen the economic position of historically marginalized American communities, in addition to empower Black youth and entrepreneurs.

Founded in 2020 to handle pervasive racial injustices across the country, SCFU focuses on supporting organizations serving communities of color. The fund says its work has impacted greater than 130,000 people through activities corresponding to the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, scholarship distribution and partnerships with nonprofit organizations.

SCFU says it has provided nearly $1 million in grants, including greater than $60,000 to small business owners in cities including New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Now, as a part of its renewed vision, SCFU stands by its plans to play an important role in closing the racial wealth gap by fighting for entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation for Black and brown communities.

Here’s how SCFU shared its plan to speculate $230,000 in SCFU We Got Next and SCFU Legacy:

• SCFU We Got Next is an initiative that goals to offer young individuals with access to construct entrepreneurial skills so that they can develop into future business leaders. SCFU will invest a complete of $125,000 in its partners The gray matter experience, AllStar Codeand Rapunzel.
• The SCFU Legacy Initiative, in partnership with Stackwell Capital, will provide six grants to Los Angeles-based, minority-owned small businesses. The program will launch this summer with the inaugural 2024 cohort. SCFU will commit $105,000 to this initiative.

SCFU Executive Director Aida Morrow said of the fund: “We are excited to launch a new dimension of SCFU and explain our purpose of empowering underrepresented communities. Through this redirection, we hope to illuminate the path to a more inclusive future to unlock potential, attract new partners and genuinely uplift the communities in which we serve.”

SCFU co-founder Chris Paul, currently with the Golden State Warriors, added: “Our engagement with communities of color is critical to the impact and results of our mission.” Its co-founders, Wade and Anthony, respectively, retired from the NBA in 2019 and 2023.

Callie Curry, member of the SCFU advisory board and director of the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), shared her reflections on the brand new direction of the fund.

“We are proud of the progress we have made over the last three years and are confident that the next phase of our work will scale our efforts, gain new partners with similar vision and capital, and impact more lives.”