We at the Running Industry Diversity Coalition (RIDC) are thrilled to announce that we have received over 100 submissions for our inaugural RUN THE BLOCK grant and mentoring program. WOW! This is an amazing response for a first-of-its-kind initiative to increase Black ownership in the running industry. Here's some geographic data 🤓:
RUN THE BLOCK has attracted applicants from all corners of the United States, highlighting its broad national appeal to current and future Black retail business owners. Leading the pack, we have New York (11), California (10), Texas and Illinois (9 each), Georgia (8), and Maryland (7). North Carolina also shows strong interest with (7), followed by New Jersey (6) and Tennessee (5). We're excited to see submissions from Florida, Ohio, and Michigan (4 each), Alabama (3), and Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, and Washington (2 each). We also have applications from Colorado, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Iowa, Utah, and Wisconsin (1 each).
Following this list is my very amateur visual map of cities illustrating the geographic distribution of our applicants. I will #dobetter next time lol.
We are all excited about the enthusiasm for RUN THE BLOCK and can't wait to see the impact this program will make. It will be challenging to narrow it down to one winner this year, but our teams—comprised of retail owners, investors, small business advisors, brand leaders, and others—are ready for the challenge.
Stay tuned for updates!
#RunningIndustry #DiversityAndInclusion #BlackOwnedBusiness #RunTheBlock #RIDC #Running4Diversity
