Essence: Meet The Black Women Who Are Charting A Path In Social Entrepreneurship

When you think of entrepreneurship, often the first thing that comes to its mind is meeting profit margins, prioritizing your bottom line…or in layman’s terms, making a lot of money.

This isn’t the case for every business owner. Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies, or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund, and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues—with the pervasive social issues plaguing society, this particular kind of entrepreneurship is on the rise.

With Black women leading the charge in the entrepreneurial sector, it comes as no surprise that there has been an uptick in social entrepreneurship among the group. Black women are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the U.S., with nearly 2.7 million businesses nationwide as of late 2021– and a rising number of those businesses are centering the betterment of people.

Despite the already daunting challenges of being an entrepreneur, these Black women are making it their business to create the change they want to see.

Yve-Car Momperousse — Kreyol Essence

Momperousse founded her beauty product company, Kreyol Essence, supports Haitian farm workers by sourcing her line’s key ingredients from the crops they grow. She says that “Social businesses have to be real businesses in order to have an impact.” The company’s key product is Palma Christi: Haitian Black Castor Oil. The creation of Kreyol Essence was driven by her mission to stimulate economic activity in Haiti, where she moved with her Haitian parents at a young age from the United States. “It’s not just about the business–it’s about creating a blueprint for poverty alleviation,” Momperousse said during her and her husband/business partner’s Shark Tank appearance, which landed them a large investment. To date, the brand has been recognized by celebrities and continues to pave the way for social entrepreneurs to help others while growing their business along the way.

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