By Kim Trent, Contributing Writer
The teen group of the Detroit Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. recently participated in two activities designed to celebrate Detroit’s Black entrepreneurs and inspire teens to become Detroit’s Black business owners of the future.
On April 12, members of the teen group participated in a Pitch Competition where they made business pitches to a panel of high-profile business experts who served as judges. The teens were asked to create business ideas that were designed to draw teens to downtown Detroit. The teens’ pitches integrated rigorous research, impressive creativity and polished and engaging presentation.
The first-place winning team, which named themselves “Girl Power,” pitched the
creation of a pier entertainment complex that would bring retail outlets, restaurants, and attractions to Detroit’s riverfront. “Girl Power” consisted of ninth graders Karis Gaston and Riley Jeffries and 11th grader Kya Woods. The team won gift cards and an opportunity to share their idea with Njia Kai, who is the Founder and CEO of NKSK Event + Production and a special event producer responsible for many of downtown’s signature events.
The second-place team, who called themselves “Team Winners,” pitched solar-powered pods that pedestrians could use to warm up when visiting downtown Detroit during frigid weather or cool down during blazing heat. The pods would generate money with digital advertising displays. Team Winners’ members were high school seniors Bryce Byas and Sion Hurst and freshman Xavier Grace.
The third-place winner pitched a wellness business that would offer patrons opportunities to create DIY skin care products with ingredients that address specific wellness needs, such as natural mood elevator peppermint oil and natural stress reliever lavender oil. Jackson Coleman, a high school junior, pitched the project solo.
The event drew high-profile judges in the entrepreneurial space, including Michigan Founders Fund Executive Director Rishi Moudgil, serial entrepreneur Sebastian Jackson and Milestone Growth Capital Institute CEO Dawn Batts, who is a mother member in the North Oakland-Macomb Chapter of Jack and Jill. Jeff Ponders, a Principal at Invest Detroit, and Justin Turk, entrepreneur and CEO of material management company Livegistics, provided coaching support to the pitch groups leading up to the Pitch Competition event.
“We were so pleased to attract top-notch judges and coaches for this inaugural event, which we hope to make annual,” said Kim Trent, Lead Teen Advisor for the teen group of Jack and Jill Detroit. “The moms and teens who planned this event did an outstanding job of integrating Jack and Jill’s leadership and financial programming goals into an activity that that the teens really enjoyed.”
The event was organized by Jack and Jill Detroit moms Vikki Brown, an entrepreneur whose businesses include a Chick-Fil-A restaurant franchise in Livonia; Khalilah Burt-Gaston, executive director of the Song Foundation, and Dr. Aliya Courtney Hines, a dermatologist and Associate Professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
The Detroit Jack and Jill Detroit teen group also participated in a Downtown Detroit Black Business Scavenger Hunt on Sunday, April 6. During the activity, members of the teen group were given clues to identify businesses with connections to Black entrepreneurs in downtown Detroit. The teens launched their hunt from a downtown loft that is owned by developer Christopher Jackson, whose sons Christopher and Matthew are graduates of Jack and Jill Detroit teen group. Jackson’s loft – which he rents out as an Airbnb property – served as an example to teens of the power of passive income.
From there, the teens were challenged to find businesses in the Paradise Valley district, including the headquarters of Real Times Media, publisher of the Michigan Chronicle. Real Times is owned by Hiram Jackson, another former Jack and Jill Detroit father. Other Paradise Valley stops included 1442 Ventures, which is owned by serial entrepreneur Dennis Archer, Jr., whose son is a high school junior in the Detroit Jack and Jill teen group; Spectacles, a retail shop that has been owned by Zana Smith since 1984; Hamilton-Anderson Associates, a multidisciplinary design firm led by Rainy Hamilton Jr. and Fixins Soul Kitchen, a restaurant owned by former NBA star and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.
“While people think downtown Detroit is dominated by billionaires like Dan Gilbert, there are plenty of Black-owned businesses downtown, offering a variety of services and attractions,” said Jack and Jill Detroit teen president Sion Hurst. “It was fun to explore the Black side of downtown.”
Other stops on the tour included Hot Sam’s clothing store, owned by Tony Stovall and Cliff G. Green; Heritage Optical, owned by George Barnes; One Mike, an entertainment venue owned by comedian Mike Epps; The Lip Bar, owned by Melissa Butler; Woodhouse Spa, owned by Cheryl Hudson and Savage x Fenty, a lingerie store chain owned by billionaire entertainer and entrepreneur Rihanna.
The teens also visited Black landmarks including the Paradise Valley Walk of Fame and a plaque that commemorates Thomas Parker’s purchase of downtown property after the fire of 1805. Parker was one of Detroit’s first Black landowners.
The scavenger hunt ended at the memorial statue honoring famed boxer Joe Louis at the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson Avenues. The winning scavenger hunt members were high school seniors Bryce Byas, Rhyes McKenzie and Emerson Tatum; juniors Jackson Coleman and Kennedy King and freshman Mye Copeland. Young men on the scavenger hunt’s winning team received cufflinks from Hot Sam’s as a prize. Young women on the winning team received products from The Lip Bar.
Founded in 1938 with a Detroit chapter that was chartered in 1953, Jack and Jill of America Inc. is a membership organization of mothers with children ages 2-19 that is dedicated to nurturing future African American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.
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