Florida Memorial University is unveiling the Institute of Black Wealth (IBW), a platform that’s focused on “accelerating wealth creation and reducing economic disparities for Black families and businesses.”

This initiative was made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Miami Gardens HBCU and a non-profit called TechNoloji—which was notably founded by Ted Lucas, who also founded the iconic Slip-N-Slide Records. Lucas partnered up with real estate developer and marketing CEO Fabiola Fleuranvil to launch the IBW and they intend for this platform to help “close the gap and create Black wealth.”

“I’ve been blessed by my success in the music business and have launched the careers of some of the biggest artists in the entertainment industry and I am now focused on helping to grow the pipeline of Black-owned tech-focused companies through my non-profit TechNolij,” Lucas shared.

“This MOU with Florida Memorial University and the programming behind the Institute of Black Wealth will create and structure a pipeline of opportunities that will help to close the gap and create Black wealth,” he continued.

“We don’t need another study or report to tell us that Black people do not get the same access to funding and opportunities that could help close the wealth gap and reverse 400+ years of an unequal system that continues to rob the next generation of Black families of potential wealth,” Fleuranvil added. “Our objective with the Institute is to go beyond advocacy and, instead, deliberately and creatively engineer how Black wealth is created.”

On top of helping connect people to business opportunities, the IBW also aims to help educate the masses on subjects like financial planning, life insurance, investing and homeownership. Additionally, there will be educational programming centered on more niche topics, including cryptocurrency and NFTs.

“There are models of the past that prove that this type of social engineering works and has created new Black millionaires and a stronger Black middle class in cities like Atlanta, Detroit and Washington, D.C.,” Fleuranvil and Lucas shared.

“Our approach is to engineer similar structures and accomplish the same through the Institute of Black Wealth and with the support of corporate partners, banking institutions and funders who understand the role they play in supporting efforts that deliberately address structural inequities,” they said.

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