THE MINORITY BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF WISCONSIN

Our Purpose

“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A [person] should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Founded in 2023, the Minority Business Association of Wisconsin meets a pressing—and yet unmet—need in the non-profit space. Many organizations exist to promote the interests of businesses across the country, at the state level, or at the municipal level. Others exist to forward the interests of specific industries or trades. These groups do important work. But, in Wisconsin, no group had advocated specifically for the interests of minority-owned or -operated businesses, which face unique challenges. The Minority Business Association of Wisconsin was founded to fill this critical gap. Racial and ethnic minorities face challenges in all walks of life, due in no small part to our country’s and our state’s sordid history of discrimination and unfair treatment. They face barriers in the academy, on the job site, and in the criminal system, to name just a few areas where inequity is alive and well. But, just as significant, they face barriers in the world of trade and commerce as well. Whether those barriers are the product of systemic racism or something else, it cannot be doubted that their impact is felt especially by minority-owned or -operated businesses. It is time—as the United States Small Business Administration puts it—to “level the playing field for business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs who historically have lacked access to wealth or business opportunities.” Wisconsin’s economy is central to the country’s—and so also to the world’s. Our minority-owned businesses are a critical part of the commercial community. The Association exists to support them, including by helping them navigate the increasingly fraught regulatory, legal, political, and cultural landscapes that they confront every day. The Association is their voice and their advocate. And, to any group that supports the Association’s interests, the Association is a friend and partner.

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