Facebook pledges $200M to Black-owned businesses
The donation is also going towards nonprofits.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Facebook will spend $100M a year with Black-owned suppliers.
Facebook has announced it's donating $200 million to Black-owned businesses, Black creators and nonprofits that support the Black community. It's part of a total $1.1 billion investment in "Black and diverse suppliers and communities," Facebook said Thursday. Facebook already pledged $10 million to various groups that fight against racial injustice, as well as its COVID-19 donations.
Facebook is also promising to spend $100 million every year with Black-owned suppliers, COO Sheryl Sandberg said.
To honor Juneteenth on Friday, Facebook will divide $5 million between the Equal Justice Initiative, Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the Innocence Project.
"We've been speaking with Black business owners to understand how we can best support them, and in the short term, we've heard that financial support can go a long way, especially during a pandemic and economic downturn," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post.
Zuckerberg added Facebook is aiming to double its Black and Latinx employees by the end of 2023. Over the next five years, the social media company has pledged to have 30% more Black people in leadership roles.
It comes as Black Lives Matter protests are continuing across the US and globally as people demonstrate against the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and against systemic racism.
To help fight systemic racism, Facebook is setting up a program called Elevate that's aimed at providing free training in digital skills, "from setting up an online presence to creating marketing materials and more." The social media company is also giving away 100,000 scholarships to Black students who are developing digital skills through the Facebook Blueprint program.
Black Lives Matter. Visit blacklivesmatter.carrd.co to learn how to donate, sign petitions and protest safely.
