(upbeat electronic music) First things first, what is Black Leaders Detroit?

What is the goal?

- So the way I typically describe us, Will, is we are a funding vehicle for Black entrepreneurs operating in the city of Detroit.

And we pretty much provide funding in two different ways.

We have grants and we also do a no-interest loan.

- Who are you providing these resources to and what is the overall goal?

Because it's not something that is common, a no-interest loan.

- Right.

It's funny because I was at the Eastern market the other day and I was talking to an entrepreneur who said that he recently applied for a no-interest loan.

And he said that, you know, he saw it last year but didn't believe it was real.

Right?

(Will laughing) Because they almost never exist, or at least not for us.

It's targeted for, again, Black entrepreneurs on the for-profit sector that are running their business in Detroit.

Our largest loan amount right now is 25K and we have distributed $1.5 million through our grants and no-interest loans so far.

And we're really excited because we had a record quarter this year and we're set to break that record in this quarter that we're working on right now based on the applications that we have been receiving.

- Tell us a little bit about the Ride for Equity, what it is, what the message is.

- So the Ride for Equity is, it's a seven day ride, 377 miles across the state.

So we ride from Detroit to Mackinac the week before the Mackinac Policy Conference every year.

And it's an effort to raise awareness for our cause, as well as a fundraiser for the organization and the work that we do.

So if you're not a real cyclist or someone who likes to ride long distances, you can come out and support us by joining the kickoff ride.

We do a short, slow pace police escort ride from U of D College right up Livernois to the grocery store at the corner of Nine Mile Livernois, Ferndale Foods.

We have a little celebratorial wave and goodbye.

And those of us that are riding a longer distance, we carry on from there to Flint.

Everybody else turns around with the same police escort and head back.

It's more of a party than it is a ride.

You know what I mean?

- [Will] Yeah.

- That portion of it.

But you know, it gets really serious.

And one of the things that we do in several cities over the course of those seven days is we add community conversations that we call Speak for Yourself.

And we invite people from some of the cities to come out and have honest conversations with us about what does it mean to be good neighbors to one another, cross boundaries and borders, but also honest conversations about equity and how that shapes out and plays out in our role in creating it.

- If we could craft a message that could really explain to people the benefits of being here, and also explain to leadership what wraparound services are necessary, what people are looking for for the place they wanna build their career and life, what do you think Southeast Michigan, Detroit would be if we were able to harness those things?

- Oh man, I think that we would be like that space that you and I have in our mind, right?

Like a place where, you know, the young Dewan wouldn't have to wait and find a back door or a cracked window to success to fit in through, right?

Like, the front door would be accessible to me.

I think the decision makers that are at the table shaping the ideas need to reflect the neighborhoods.

I think that like, they will be able to speak directly into and say, "Hey, here's how "you would have been able to attract me."

So I think it's, some of the onus and responsibility are on some of the young Detroiters that love Detroit to make sure that they are at the table forging the relationships and applying the pressure because they know what it would take to recruit their peers.

We just need to make sure that they have a seat at the table and they need to be really honest when they're at the table.

And that there's always that rub and that pressure to say, "Hey, if I'm too honest, will I get uninvited "from the table?"

You know what I mean?

- [Will] Oh yeah.

- Right?

I think that, you know, they need to let go of that pressure and realize that the table needs them.

My personal opinion on, that is, if the real authentic Dewan is not welcome, I wanna find out as quick as possible and get uninvited.

Because it's time out for wearing a mask.

Like we shouldn't be cold switching in Detroit.

You know, folks should be cold switching for us.

Right?

That's just, you know, my opinion.