Innovation with intention: The power and diversity of Black-owned ventures

By Andrea Stevens
AFRO Staff Writer
astevens@afro.com

From holistic health ventures to tech startups, a new wave of Black business owners are proving that entrepreneurship is far from a monolith. 

Tonya Pledger, founder of Love Your V by T, represents a growing movement in wellness entrepreneurship that elevates Black women’s health. Her business, which began in her home, offers holistic yoni steaming and now operates out of three locations in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, yoni steaming is an ancient holistic practice where a woman sits or squats over a bowl of steaming water with herbs. Though researchers say there is no concrete evidence of benefits, the act of steaming with herbs is believed to promote healing, improve circulation, ease menstrual discomfort and support reproductive health. 

“Yoni steaming is a natural way to support women’s health and healing,” Pledger said. “It helps you relax physically, mentally and spiritually and it can be a powerful tool for womb wellness.”

Her personal experience inspired her to share the benefits of yoni steaming and encourage other women to explore holistic approaches to their health.

“Going through my own journey has helped me to grow to love and embrace women’s health and natural wellness,” Pledger said. “One of the mistakes I made was getting a hysterectomy too soon, not knowing what I know now. If I had been involved in this sooner, I may have saved what God gave us to maintain life.” 

Pledger transitioned from working full-time to running her business independently, a shift she describes as both spiritual and strategic.

“The biggest shift for me was realizing that everything fell on me…It was me and God,” she said. “When I wrote my vision down and made it clear, everything started to fall together.”

On a different end of the entrepreneurial spectrum, Kiante Bush is the founder and CEO of “Venture for Them,” a tech-focused startup accelerator designed to uplift entrepreneurs from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). His mission is to connect young Black founders with funding, mentorship and visibility in a tech world that often overlooks them.

“Our main goal is to support early-stage HBCU entrepreneurs…and connect them to venture capital, C-suite mentors and non-dilutive funding,” Bush said. “I grew up around entrepreneurs, and I wanted to create a space where I could invest in those around me too.”

Bush says learning to lead collaboratively was a game changer. 

“I had to learn how to let go of control…to let others in on the vision,” he said. “That helped expand the business significantly.” 

As Bush and his team grow the venture, they’ve had to make strategic decisions about who they work with.

“All money isn’t good money,” he said. “Some partnerships that didn’t work out ended up being protection from organizations that weren’t truly aligned with our mission.”

Meanwhile for Anastasia Jackson and Jenaba Sow, co-founders of the education tech startup WeNite, entrepreneurship is about transforming broken systems. Their company partners with HBCUs and emerging research institutions to help modernize outdated processes using digital solutions. 

Jackson’s experience as a transfer student at Howard University — where administrative failures left her temporarily homeless — shaped the company’s mission.

“That experience made me realize this was bigger than me,” she said. “Technology could lift the burden from both students and overworked faculty.”

The co-founders said staying grounded in their mission has been their greatest challenge and reward. 

“In the startup space, a lot of people are focused on exiting—not impact,” Sow said. “ For us, it’s always been about building with community and for community.”

Together, these founders are reshaping how entrepreneurship looks and feels in Black communities. They are not only solving problems—they are reimagining systems.

“We’re building a legacy,” Plegder said. “And we’re doing it our way.”