(Photo provided by Rick Banks)
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Effective today, December 1, 2020, Rick Banks, one of the MKE Black Co-Founders, will take the helm as the volunteer Executive Director of MKE Black Incorporated. Co-Founder Paul Wellington, who’s served as Executive Director since MKE Black’s founding will stay involved as Director of Operations and Technology and continues to serve as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors.
“I thank Paul tremendously for his leadership, efforts to grow MKE Black and to serve the culture.” Rick Banks said. “We have achieved over 5000 app downloads, grown our team from 3 to 7, gained over 10,000 social media followers and supported dozens of Black-owned businesses affected by COVID-19 and community unrest. We couldn’t have asked for a better first year!”
MKE Black was also joined this year by Ayrton Bryan, serving as Director of Strategic Partnership and Initiatives, Kim Erdman serving as Community Events Planner, and Solana Patterson-Ramos, serving as Community Outreach Coordinator. Amir Zakir, owner of Royal Beauty Cuts and Styles will also continue his role on the board.
Moving forward to 2021 MKE Black will be looking to certify their 501(c)3 and B-Corp status, establish independent Boards of Directors, fundraise to add more functionality to the mobile app and continue to collaborate with other organizations to promote Black culture.
MKE Black is currently 100% volunteer run. To learn more about MKE Black go to https://mkeblack.org. Non-tax deductible donations can also be made at the website above.
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