BGV Foundation

BGV Foundation · Est. 2016 · Ten Years in the Ring

Entrepreneurship
is a Boxing Match

A poem by Queen Omi, performed at every BGV pitch competition
39K+
Entrepreneurs Served
64
Countries Reached
550+
Businesses Funded
$10M+
In Partnerships

The Fight, Round by Round

2016
The Bell Rings
A Vision Takes the Floor
Founded with one mission: counteract the systemic gap in capital for under-resourced founders. One city. One program. A blank stretched canvas — and an audacious belief that proximity to power could be built from nothing.
“It’s platform is blank stretched canvas”
2019
Round 3
The First Six-Figure Gift
A major philanthropic investment arrives — validation that the vision was real. A dynamic team is assembled. The proof of concept becomes a proof of staying power.
2020
Pivot & Surge
The Pandemic Becomes a Portal
Quarantine forces digital transformation — BGV scales nationwide. What could have been a knockout becomes a power move. The philanthropic response to George Floyd’s murder surges BGV’s resources. Programs expand. The mission deepens.
“We dip / And block / Then Duck / And land”
2020
– 2024
Growth Era
From One Program to Three
Funder relationships deepen and sustain. National presence and impact grow steadily. The team expands and contracts with the work. The board holds steady. BGV earns its place not as a moment — but as movement infrastructure.
2025
Headwind
The Referee Starts Counting
A new administration buries DEI as policy and language. Philanthropy goes quiet. The momentum that once lifted BGV begins to reverse. Checks shrink — but they come through. The mission holds.
“The referee counts down / You don’t belong here / Stay down, he shouts”
2026
8, 7, 6…
Language Becomes Liability
DEI language is obsolete in the funding landscape. The word Black itself becomes a friction point in rooms where it once opened doors. Funding shrinks further — but is secured. The work continues at a cost.
“I breathe / this game is rigged / But FUCK THAT!”
2027
This chapter is unwritten.
The outcome depends on what we do now.

We are still in the ring

BGV faces a crossroads.
The next round is yours to fund.

Ten years ago, we built something the world said wasn’t necessary. Thirty-nine thousand entrepreneurs later, we know otherwise. Today, the political and philanthropic climate has made our work harder to fund — and more essential than ever. We are at a crossroads. What happens in 2027 is not yet written. But it will be determined by the resources we secure now, the funders who choose to stand in the ring with us, and the belief that this work is too important to let fall.

Read the PoemReview the Impact Report