How Be Nimble Foundation is helping Black and Brown founders grow sustainable businesses, build generational wealth

It all started with Kelli N. Jones and Jeff Williams. Two cousins talking.  

As the technology industry grew in their hometown of Indianapolis, they both saw the gaps.  

Companies worked to diversify, but not enough focus was placed on people of color, Jones said. Black people made up a small percentage of the workforce.  

A decline in manual jobs and an increase in technological ones that required a college degree meant fewer families with the opportunity for employment, Williams said. And the growth in higher-paying tech jobs exacerbated the gap for marginalized communities.  

So in 2017, Jones and Williams founded Be Nimble Foundation, focused on building generational wealth in the Black community – looking at technology as the way to get there. The nonprofit provides workforce development opportunities and entrepreneurship support for Black and Brown founders.  

In 2020, Be Nimble applied for funding from United Way of Central Indiana’s Social Innovation Fund. To Jones, it seemed like a good fit: “I think you have to take a social innovative lens in order to solve these problems, because these are problems we’ve been trying to solve for too long.” 

It became the organization’s first institutional grant.  

“The Social Innovation Fund grant was a turning point in our organization. That was the first grant that we received, and it was significant enough for us to get a program off the ground that we knew required a substantial amount of capital,” Williams said. “When we got that co-sign, that stamp of approval, it unlocked doors for other capital and funding for our organization to grow.” 

“United Way changed the trajectory of Be Nimble Foundation.” 

In the six years since its founding, Be Nimble has grown exponentially.  

From events and bootcamp programs to pitch competitions, Be Nimble now has accelerator programs, social impact funds and venture capital funds. To date, the organization has awarded over $2.5 million in grants and non-dilutive capital, Jones said.  

Over that time, the world around Be Nimble changed, too. Using apps to order groceries, delivery and take-out became commonplace during the coronavirus pandemic and allowed businesses to stay afloat – and showed people the value of that technology, she said.  

“People actually see how much tech can change lives,” Jones said. “It changes entrepreneurs’ lives, it changes the economic security of people, it changes the economic mobility of people. It's jobs that pay correct wages. … All of those things together add to the quality of life.” 

Be Nimble has received Social Innovation Fund grants three times, for work in 2021, 2022 and 2023, totaling $287,000.  

Jonathan Jones, impact senior director for United Way, said it’s important to invest in and support organizations that are focusing their impact on often under-resourced populations. And it’s important to invest in leaders and organizations that reflect their communities culturally and demographically – to ensure people can be served effectively and equitably, he said.  

When Kelli Jones looked at entrepreneurs in technology, particularly people of color, she saw that many were building consumer-focused companies. But not many venture capitalists were investing in that space, so Be Nimble stepped in to do just that. Through its programs, the nonprofit provides grants, resources and support through four types of capital: monetary, infrastructure, human and technical capital. 

The nonprofit’s retail and e-commerce accelerator, #AddToCart, focuses on Black beauty, health and wellness brands. Be Nimble invests in the participants’ businesses, helps with product development and provides a warehouse where the women formulate, store and ship out products.  

“With this being the backyard of where Madam C.J. Walker built her business, there’s an opportunity for us to invest in Black women in a totally different way,” Jones said.  

Similarly, Be Nimble’s food, beverage and restaurant-concept accelerator, Melon Kitchen, helps Black and Brown restauranteurs build their concepts into full-scale, sustainable businesses without the expensive overhead costs – lease for a restaurant space, industrial kitchen equipment – that often serve as barriers. Through the one-year fellowship, Be Nimble provides grants, investment, training and full use of its industrial kitchen at 16 Tech.  

When Be Nimble opened applications for its second cohort of chefs – who started in November – more than 150 poured in, some from outside the Midwest, said Taylor Bauldwin, Melon Kitchen’s program director.  

“That's exciting that the word is out there,” he said. “It also just speaks to the need for something like this. The need for access to a kitchen. The need for grants. The need for resources and opportunity to these types of businesses.” 

For Jones and Williams, it’s all about economic mobility: making sure people have access to the resources and capital everyone should have access to, that they can sustain themselves long term, that they have ownership over their life’s path.  

“It's the ability to be able to make your own decisions around where you live, where you work, what you do,” Jones said. “Economic mobility is the ability to make decisions about who you want to vote for, who you want representing you. We can’t have any of those things if we have no battles in the fight, no dollars in the fight.” 

Said Williams: “Economic mobility is having the power to create and design your life and the outcomes for you and your family.” 

In working with United Way, Jones and Williams said they found value in monthly meetings with other Social Innovation Fund grant recipients, where leaders share what they’re doing and find ways to collaborate. Be Nimble partnered with another grantee, Growing Places Indy, to create a food, arts and cultural festival, Indy Night Market.  

Jones said funding from United Way provided a “legitimization” factor that opened doors to get additional funders. But it also showed the rest of ecosystem that Be Nimble’s ideas work, she said, leading other organizations to create more innovative programs.   

“That's the impact that I believe the United Way grant had for us,” she said.