Photo by Eric Taunton Starnes Media
J.W. Carpenter, president of Prosper Birmingham, speaks to Homewood Chamber of Commerce members about the mission of the non-profit at a monthly Chamber luncheon at The Club on May 18, 2022. Photo by Eric Taunton
J.W. Carpenter wants Birmingham to become more inclusive and expand its opportunities toward residents of color in the city.
Carpenter, the president of Birmingham Prosper — a conglomerate of business, civic and city leaders working toward a more equitable and inclusive economy in Birmingham — spoke with Homewood Chamber of Commerce members about the nonprofit's mission to expand opportunities for Black men and women in the city.
“Here is the reality, people who share my identity (white male) are thriving in a way that folks who don’t share my identity are not,” Carpenter said. “That is the reality; it is a lived experience. It is our lived history; it is what the data tells us.”
Prosper focuses on three areas, Carpenter said: job creation, job preparation and job access.
It tackles these areas through its four initiatives: Birmingham Promise, Business Advisory Services, Black Business Acceleration and Health Tech Acceleration.
Birmingham Promise is a program created to give Birmingham City School students the ability to pay for college through scholarships and other programs, Carpenter said.
Prosper’s Business Advisory Services Initiative that provides Black entrepreneurs with coaching, funding and networking to help build their businesses, she said.
Prosper, as part of its three-part health tech initiative, is working with Acclinate, a start-up health research company based in Birmingham that works to diversify clinical trials to build a platform to connect people in Jefferson County to the resources necessary to meet their health care needs, Carpenter said.
“This is only possible because we’re partnering with Red Hawk Advisory, owned by Matt Hottle and Mickey Millsap, to raise a $10 million fund, which will be a traditional venture fund that will invest in these companies,” Carpenter said. “When some of them become very successful, we’re going to demonstrate the power of collaborative, collective effort on the investment side and on the support side for businesses, letting everyone here and around the country know that this is a place where if you have a business idea in health tech, you will get the kind of support you need financially and otherwise to help grow your business.”
Carpenter said it’s Prosper’s hope that this diverse group of business founders will help to solve the problems that Jefferson County citizens reported as part of their work with Acclinate. “There is no reason that a company can’t make a lot of money, be successful and also do a whole lot of good for the people, not just to meet the needs of people here in Jefferson County but all over the country and the world,” Carpenter said.
“We have philanthropic dollars,” Carpenter said. “Most of our board members, and we’re seeking outside fundraising as well and we’ve received fundraising outside of our board, are investing into a pot of money that we are then as a board deciding to invest in specific initiatives.”