“Until my mother’s generation, no one ever thought to become an entrepreneur. People aspired to become domestic workers or other low-skilled employees because they were never able to receive a decent education. So I think one of the challenges for Afro-Brazilians
today, still, is to shed this slave mentality, and to realize that we have ideas, ideas that we can turn into excellent products or services. We are creators and entrepreneurs who can build up not only the Afro-Brazilian community, but the entire city of Salvador.”
These words were spoken by Iara, an Afro-Brazilian entrepreneur who attended the entrepreneurship workshop Yuniya taught this year in Salvador. They capture the essence and purpose of our project: to facilitate the emergence of Afro-Brazilians as successful
entrepreneurs, leaders, and agents of change in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
We aim to do this by highlighting and celebrating current hardworking entrepreneurs, and by helping to create a supportive and encouraging co-working space through which they can develop the tools to start and grow their business.
THE SITUATION
Today, more than half of Brazil’s entrepreneurs are of African descent. This percentage is even greater in the city of Salvador, Bahia, home to the highest concentration of Afro-Brazilians in the country—and one of the poorest regions in Brazil.
Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs as a whole earn less than half of their white counterparts in terms of revenue. This is largely because the majority of black-owned businesses are micro-enterprises, with limited access to entrepreneurship training and support,
or financial capital. In addition, successful Afro-Brazilian role models in Salvador are hard to find, or remain too out of reach to have much impact.
They do exist, however, and many demonstrate a steely determination and grit in the face of major obstacles. There’s also a very real desire among emerging entrepreneurs like Iara to change the overarching narrative from one of oppression and poverty and
limited options, to one in which Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs thrive in a city that supports and values them.
THE PROJECT
Storytelling: Over a four-month pilot period, Emerge Salvador will select 3-4 Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs in Salvador who are successfully bringing their vision to life. We will feature their stories on a dedicated website (www.emergesalvador.com)
in Portuguese and English.
Accompanying each entrepreneur for a few days at a time, we will capture their daily activities at work on camera, and interview their clients, customers, employees an colleagues. With edited film footage from these sessions, as well as photos and written
narratives, we will highlight the work of these entrepreneurs, and show the ways in which they are pushing past obstacles to turn their vision into reality.
Our goal is that, through our website, these entrepreneurs and their stories serve as examples and role models for emerging entrepreneurs, and attract the attention and support of potential partners in Salvador and throughout Brazil.
Entrepreneurship Support: Emerge Salvador will also partner with Instituto Mídia Étnica, a local NGO, to help set up a co-working space geared toward Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs in creative industries. Our goal is to foster an
environment of collaboration, creativity, and encouragement, and to provide training, mentorship, workshops and other activities to promote learning and development.
As members of this co-working space, these entrepreneurs will develop the skills and tools to grow their business, in a supportive and enabling environment.