Rep. Nikema Williams shares fears, uncertainty with Black women entrepreneurs
Congresswoman Nikema Williams walked into a local tea shop in the Old Fourth Ward on Thursday night wearing an American flag sweater and matching manicure.
Speaking to a room of about 15 Black women entrepreneurs, Williams said they were going to have a conversation that went back to the founding of America. She was feeling “extra patriotic,” because she was planning the nation’s next 250 years.
“I‘m operating in a space that was not designed by or for people who look like me, but I am determined to make sure that it works for all of us,” Williams said at the “From Founding to Future: Women Mean Business” event.
In the intimate setting of the Just Add Honey Tea Co. on the Atlanta Beltline, Williams urged a small group of Black women business owners facing new uncertainty under the administration of President Donald Trump to lean on one another while advocating for policies that expand economic opportunity.
Williams cited Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan reports that state 40% of businesses were owned by women in 2024, and Black women had the highest growth rate of any demographic of women from 2014-2019.
“Since Jan. 21, 2025, (minorities) have been left out of this conversation,” Williams said.
Williams said relationships among minority-owned businesses have become even more important since the 2024 election.
Much of the discussion centered on the Trump administration’s rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Nancy Flake Johnson, president of the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the National Urban League, said government-funded grants for marginalized communities were stalled amid the push to roll back DEI initiatives.
Johnson said the National Urban League received a four-year, $3 million grant in 2021 under the Biden administration, but the remaining funding was withdrawn after Trump took office.
National Urban League chapters laid off staff after the funding was withdrawn.
Johnson said the funding cuts also affected National Urban League clients, many of whom are “on the edge of homelessness.”
“Folks are under such pressure and such stress. The calls I get are just breaking me down,” Johnson said.
Williams pointed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where former Mayor Maynard Jackson required that at least 25% of contracts be awarded to minority-owned firms, as an example of the kind of opportunities she believes are threatened by the rollback of DEI initiatives.
Attendees also discussed how Trump’s tariffs were affecting their businesses.
“Last year was really hard for us because tea isn’t grown in the United States,” said Brandi Shelton, the owner of Just Add Honey Tea Co.
Shelton’s tea products are sold in restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and spas across the country.
Because of tariffs, Shelton said she nearly had to rethink her core product because of the higher costs of importing tea.
“You have to go through so much red tape that you don’t even get access to the opportunity,” Williams said. “I like to make sure that policy meets people. Policy on paper does none of us any good. Policies have to be in place that actually impact and help people.”
Hexagon Strategy Group CEO Erin White agreed, saying a “lack of funding” is a “vicious cycle” for women. Her company streamlines small and medium-sized businesses to help them boost revenue and grow.
Rather than more mentorship, she said women need the same structural opportunities that will allow them to fail, regroup and start over.
“We’re made to think that we just are not able to scale our businesses because something’s inherently wrong with us,” White said.
The entrepreneurs agreed there seemed to be extra hurdles Black women had to clear as business owners. Even if government resources were available, they said they were hard to obtain.
Janae Roussel, the founder of Lavare Facility, said Black women business owners are the lowest priority when it comes to government funding.
Roussel, whose business is a student-led commercial janitorial company, said she left her job at J.P. Morgan because she wanted to help create opportunities for students like herself.
“They give us $100,000 in student loans,” she said. “But they won’t give us a $10,000 business credit card.”
She said government funding would rather place Black women in debt than allow them to be “innovative” and “do something better for the future.”
“I’m sick of it,” she said.
Williams closed by reminding attendees that many of the policies they discussed ultimately begin at the ballot box.
“You’re trying to keep your staff paid, you’re trying to keep yourself paid so that you can pay your own mortgage — voting rights can’t be secondary,” Williams said.