For many Native entrepreneurs, there’s often a cliff in their future — and that’s if they’re successful.
That bit of sly insight comes from veteran finance and investment banking executive Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (Cherokee descendant). She’s talking about the wealth of support that’s available for Black and Brown small-business owners, and how it rarely results in actual wealth.
“Outside of gaming, when you think about Native founders and entrepreneurs, there is this sort of cliff that they fall off,” Red-Horse Mohl told Tribal Business News. “There’s lots of support for (them as) small businesses, but they never make it to the sort of endgame of making it to public investment or acquisition.”
And that “endgame” is where a lot of wealth gets created in this country, Red-Horse Mohl said.
She is hoping to change that equation in her role as president of New York City-based Known Holdings. Founded in 2021 by four executives of color, the firm hopes to tackle the racial wealth gap by providing business and financial management support for owners and executives, with an emphasis on BIPOC.