They Said They Wanted To Partner. They Really Wanted To Exploit My Black-Owned Business. A Cautionary Tale about Public Consulting Group (PCG)

As a small, Black woman-owned consulting company, challenges are an inherent part of the journey.

Despite Black women being the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, we remain the least likely to acquire business funding due to systemic barriers that limit access to capital. These challenges have only been exacerbated by recent Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action.

We face discrimination from financial institutions, which often results in difficulties obtaining loans or investments to start or grow our businesses. Additionally, exclusion from traditional business networks dominated by white and male entrepreneurs hinders our growth potential. 

Black women entrepreneurs, in particular, face a double bind of discrimination based on both race and gender, compounded by stereotypes and biases that undermine our credibility as business owners. 

These obstacles make it harder to build a pipeline of consumers, investors, and partners, limiting access to mainstream markets and opportunities to secure contracts and partnerships within an already inequitable business ecosystem.

So, when a large, established organization like Public Consulting Group (PCG), with reported revenue of $1.2 billion in 2023, approaches and offers a “partnership,” it’s tempting to listen.

That’s exactly what happened when Rick Purcell, Associate Manager at PCG, reached out to me for a meeting to “learn more about my business.” I agreed to the meeting, where he also invited one of the few people of color in PCG’s C-Suite leadership, Chy Davidson. Purcell quickly handed off the conversation to Davidson and exited—the first red flag.

Chy Davidson, a Manager at PCG, launched a persistent pressure campaign. He assured me repeatedly that he could help my company grow and even suggested on multiple occasions that PCG might acquire my company, despite my clear stance that it was not for sale. This behavior raised immediate concern.

Davidson then began texting and calling weekly, asking if I would partner with him on submitting Requests for Proposals (RFPs). There were 12 requests in total! With a company as large as PCG, boasting 2,000 employees, it seemed odd that they needed the resources of my small firm. Nevertheless, members of my team, most of whom are 1099 contractors, invested countless hours preparing proposals submitted under my company’s name, with PCG listed as subcontractors. I later discovered Davidson’s true intent was to leverage my minority-owned status.

In one instance, Davidson asked me—the day before an RFP deadline—to submit a proposal solely to create the appearance of a competitive bidder for a project PCG was pursuing. In other words, he expected me to waste my time to help PCG circumvent procurement laws. As a business owner with integrity, I refused. This blatant attempt at fraud should have been yet another red flag.

Davidson’s next proposal was a “Joint Development” agreement for my company to create Social Emotional Learning content for PCG’s Playbook Platform. I was cautious and had our attorney review the agreement. To protect my company’s interests, we made several key edits, ensuring I retained ownership of the intellectual property and that my company logo would appear on the platform when our content was accessed. PCG agreed.

Over several months, my team invested significant time and resources in instructional design and research and attending weekly meetings. Despite Davidson’s constant assurances that we would “make so much money” once the product launched, I received no marketing materials or actionable plans. When I pressed for details about the strategy to bring the product to market, PCG asked for a list of my existing clients, which I declined to share.

Months later, before the project was complete, before marketing materials were finalized, and before any potential client demos occurred, I received an invoice from PCG for $175,000.00, payable immediately. The invoice lacked any description of deliverables or work completed. Coincidentally, the day before, all content was removed from our shared drive, and third-party authentication was added, preventing our access. This was theft.

When I confronted Davidson, he dismissed the invoice as a mistake. However, the next day, he claimed his “bosses” insisted on immediate payment. To this day, Davidson has not explained why I was invoiced at all.

Faced with no other option, I pursued legal action to dismiss their claim and protect my intellectual property, which they still refuse to certify has not been used. PCG has also failed to compensate my team for the extensive instructional design work provided.

More than a year and a half later, this legal battle drags on. PCG admitted the agreement was poorly written and executed, and that the invoice was sent in error. Recently, they attempted to blame a former employee—also a Black woman—for “taking” the intellectual property to her new job. This scapegoating only highlights their willingness to exploit and discard their own employees.

This is a David vs. Goliath story, and I am exhausted. Being a small Black woman business owner is challenging enough without having to fend off predatory practices from organizations like PCG. I believe Purcell and Davidson orchestrated this from the beginning. By sharing my story, I hope to warn others who might consider doing business with PCG.

This is more than a business dispute; it’s an equity issue. PCG claims to work in the equity space, but had no qualms about exploiting a small Black-owned business. Purcell’s decision to involve Davidson, a Black employee, and assemble an all-Black development team may appear race-neutral, but I see it as a calculated act of racism and fraudulent business practice. 

At this point, my only recourse is to ensure no other small business owner has their time, talent, and resources stolen by Public Consulting Group, Rick Purcell, or Chy Davidson. I learned this lesson the hard way and hope my story spares others from similar harm. I urge school districts working with or considering PCG to conduct thorough due diligence.