Torin Brazzle, 47, founder, CEO and president of IGNITE!, created the nonprofit with a single thought: It shouldn’t be so hard for Black people to succeed at business.
IGNITE! connects Black- and woman-owned businesses across Alabama with the resources they need to thrive, such as legal services, financial and business advisors, brick and mortars and capital.
Since its inception in 2019, IGNITE! has worked with more than 1,400 businesses to secure 94 contracts and has put over $3 million in loans and $669,000 in grants into the hands of Black businesses owners in an effort to close wealth gaps.
“I was really frustrated looking at the state of our Black community and all of the obstacles that we were facing and dealing with in perpetuity. It can’t be this hard. It can’t be this hard for Black people to have a seat at the table,” Brazzle said. “IGNITE! is a message to the Black community to say let’s focus on what we can change.”
In 2021, Black-owned businesses made up about 3% of all United States firms, according to a Pew Research Center study.
A 2022 Brookings study found that while wealth in the Black community was increasing, so was the racial wealth gap with a total difference of $240,120 in wealth between the median white household and the median Black household.
A 2020 Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions report found that if wage, education, housing and investment gaps were closed in 2000, $16 trillion could have been added to the U.S. economy.
Brazzle said she created IGNITE! to combat this inequality.
“We’re igniting the world, right here from the city of Birmingham,” Brazzle said.
Brazzle’s journey
Brazzle was born and raised in Cleveland. She said that growing up, she often felt like she had no control over her life.
Her mother struggled with addiction for more than 38 years.
As an adult, Brazzle faced discrimination and said she often put too much energy into fighting against a broken system.
In 1995, Brazzle moved to Birmingham where she met her husband, had two daughters and worked for nonprofits throughout the state.
Brazzle said she saw how people in her community struggled with the same discrimination and obstacles she faced throughout her life.
Brazzle began talking to business owners about their needs and obstacles to succeeding and found that the top complaints were the lack of access to capital and resources.
She sought out agencies that could provide resources for small, Black owned businesses.
Her partners include: Balch and Bingham, Stillman College, PwC, Hope Credit Union, TruFund Financial Services, Woodlawn United, National Business Incubation Center, Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers.
Brazzle also created a step by step manual for starting and operating a small business.
“We’ve now pulled together an ecosystem, where we have over 90 agencies, local, state and nationally, that exist with a sole purpose to help support the Black business community,” Brazzle said.
In October 2019, Brazzle hosted IGNITE’s first event, Doing Business in Alabama Minority Business Training Pilot Project, where participants could learn how to start and sustain a business.
But as she invested in others, Brazzle said she also had to learn how best to focus her energy, especially in the wake of losing four family members, including her mother.
“I recognized that the way that I can help the most is to pause to make sure that I put the oxygen on IGNITE! first so that we can be around for years to come. I realigned my focus to only change what I could control.”
On Juneteenth 2024, Brazzle hosted the Black Family Wealth Roundtable, a resource fair in Tuskegee with more than 600 attendees.
At the roundtable, small business owners could gain access to pro-bono lawyers, notaries, homeownership workshop registration, insurance consultations, health screenings, student loan forgiveness registration and guidance on investments, credit, banks and real estate.
“The most important part of the Black Family Wealth Roundtable is the education, the conversation…The roundtable is about creating a playbook to secure and build [generational] wealth,” Brazzle said.
On July 28, Brazzle will take the Black Wealth Family Roundtable to New York and is following up with another roundtable in Atlanta on Aug. 21.
Small business owners or those interested in starting a business can connect with IGNITE! on their website and can support the nonprofit with a donation.
“My goal was always to create a replicable model that can help Black businesses and Black communities everywhere,” Brazzle said.
A business owner’s perspective
Lensey King, a Birmingham electrician and business owner, said IGNITE!’s resources not only grew his business, but also helped him thrive.
King started his family business, Electrical Maintenance and Troubleshooting, in 2008.
In 2020, a time when many small businesses were struggling through the pandemic, King began watching IGNITE!’s Sunday Sip and Sort training videos on Facebook.
“To learn more, and fine tune our operations and stay competitive, I pursued the opportunity that IGNITE! offered, which was helping minority owned businesses grow,” King said.
“Torin would have guest speakers on there talking about different topics like grant funding, competitive business plans, business financials, all of the things a small business owner needs.”
He said Brazzle’s step by step list for business owners was also a big help for him.
Over the years, King’s business received multiple grants, certifications and subcontractor support through IGNITE!.
King now works with a success advocate, assigned through IGNITE!, who helps him to grow his business.
“That is IGNITE!. That is what we are. We are that central resource,” Brazzle said.
