Brittany Rhodes — founder of the Black Girl MATHgic movement — is proving that Black girls love math too.

According to Black Enterprise, in a partnership with IFundWomen of Color, American Express surprised 100 Black women entrepreneurs with grants of $25,000 along with 100 days of resources as part of the “100 for 100” program.

Rhodes decided she would use her proceeds from the grant to continue the movement she designed to equip Black girls — who face math anxiety — with basic math confidence needed to break the stigma.

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This win is huge for Rhodes although she’s been winning grants and pitch contests from the beginning of her math confident initiatives — even winning her first pitch contest back in 2019 when Black Girl MATHgic was just an idea.

Fast-forward to now and Rhodes has received close to $50,000 in funding in less than two years solely because of grants and pitches. The $25,000 received with this particular grant is just what the Detroit-based entrepreneur says she needed to push her initiative to the next level.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” she told Black Enterprise. “This will help me enhance my website, roll out new marketing initiatives, and publish children’s books. I’m excited to be in this network with 99 other amazing women who I can’t wait to build with. I don’t think there are enough words to articulate how grateful I am for this opportunity and how this is going to change my business for the better.”

Not only will this grant provide Rhodes with monetary support, but she will now have the resources like marketing, mentoring, virtual networking, and business education to help expand her business.

She’s already different than most girls when it comes to math since it’s a subject that has always been her passion especially since her mother emphasized the importance of education upon her as a retired principal.

“I view basic math fluency as the key to closing the racial wealth gap in America,” Rhodes said. “I want people to be able to open up every single door that is available to them so that when things like a pandemic happen, they are not stuck.”`

For more on Black Girl MATHgic, visit the site here.

Brittany Rhodes

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