After two successful years since the program launched in 2020, ESPN, in collaboration with Andscape, the NBA, and ABC, today announced year three of the #ChampionBlackBusinesses (CBB) initiative. CBB continues to elevate Black-owned businesses, their stories, and cement the importance their imprint has on their communities across ESPN platforms during the NBA Finals and beyond. ESPN is working with women and Black-owned marketing agency JOY Collective for the initiative.

“We are thrilled to continue expanding the Champion Black Businesses program in Year 3,” said Emeka Ofodile, Vice President of Sports Marketing, ESPN. “What started as an idea and our commitment to helping the Black community and supporting Black-owned businesses, we continue to impact more businesses in more markets to help make a true difference through this program.”

Again involved is ABC’s ‘Shark Tank.’ Each business owner of our four selected businesses have been given the opportunity to meet with Sharks Daymond John or Mark Cuban for a mentorship session to learn more about how to propel their businesses to the next level.

The businesses:

• Bay Area, Pietisserie: Pietisserie is a woman and BIPOC-owned artisanal pie brand owned by Jaynelle St. Jean. Pietisserie’s take on pie is playful, modern, and elegant.
• Brooklyn, Dressed in Joy: Dressed in Joy, is an athleisure and clothing brand founded by Mikaela Pabon. Dressed in Joy aims to inspire women to try new colors and patterns while embracing self-confidence and joy.
• Chicago, Kido: Kido is a kid’s boutique in Chicago’s South Loop created and owned by Keewa Nurullah and Doug Freitag. The store has a select assortment of books, toys, puzzles, and clothes from diverse and sustainable suppliers.
• Dallas, Her Growing Hands: Her Growing Hands is a natural hair care salon outside of Dallas, TX, founded by Whitney Eaddy. She is known as “The Growth Guru” because of her more than 15 years of Natural Hair Care experience.

As part of the initiative, Andscape will support the businesses in a variety of high touch ways, from investing directly in their growth to using its always-on platform to bring their stories to a national audience.

“Year three of Championing Black Businesses gives us the opportunity to look forward and backward as we expand our storytelling on this project,” said Raina Kelley, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Andscape. “We have some incredible businesses to highlight this year, some amazing success stories from businesses we’ve supported in the past, and we’re excited for another year of this unfolding initiative.”

Rolling out during the NBA Finals will be :30 films highlighting each business’s story, which will debut across ESPN’s digital and social media channels, in addition to Andscape. 

ESPN is asking fans throughout the NBA Finals to use #ChampionBlackBusinesses across social channels with a call to action to shout out their favorite Black-owned businesses to raise their profiles to national levels.

This past year ESPN and the CBB campaign were recognized as the Best Diversity Initiative by Cynopsis Media. For more information, please visit andscape.com/championblackbusinesses.