The National Business League’s National Black Business Conference is celebrating 125 years of propelling Black businesses and entrepreneurs toward prosperity, and is furthering its legacy by emphasizing the importance of working across the African diaspora.
Founded by Booker T. Washington, the National Business League has always valued financial stability and progress across the diaspora. Washington’s hopes for an economically integrated and liberated African diaspora have become more feasible with each business conference, and the quasquicentennial meeting in August 2025 will further the founder’s goals.
As part of the league’s 125th conference, the National Alliance for Black Businesses will host the Third Annual Pan-African Business Summit, in order to empower and transform entrepreneurs by promoting growth, collaboration, and innovation.
Recently, the alliance, co-founded in part by the league, recently appointed three co-chairs for next year’s summit who further the mission of working across the African diaspora: Dr. Djibril Diallo, Dr. Georgette Fraser-Moore and Curtis Smith Jr.
“Their combined global entrepreneurial insights and leadership will be invaluable to this initiative,” said the Honorable Johnny Ford, Tuskegee’s first African American mayor and founder of the World Conference of Mayors, a collaborator with the league and the National Alliance for Black Businesses.
Behind the Organizations: Collective Goals for the Conference and Summit
As founder of the National Business League, Washington believed the most effective way to guarantee civil rights for Black communities was a secure economic foundation centered on entrepreneurship — where individuals would start from the bottom and collectively work toward success.
The summit and conference leaders emphasize what Washington understood years ago: Black entrepreneurs and businesses are critical to helping growth in their communities overall.
More than a century after the league’s founding, Black business ownership increased by 29% between 2017 and 2021, according to Pew Research Center. Nonetheless, there’s still work to do, as Pew reported that in 2021, only 3% of businesses in the U.S. were Black-owned.
Since its inception, the National Business League has worked toward reducing that gap through forming and promoting partnerships, like in the creation of the National Alliance for Black Businesses. The alliance is co-founded by the National Business League and National Black Chamber of Commerce, and with quick support soon after from the World Conference of Mayors, in order to champion a “unified Black business agenda.”
Created to encourage worldwide economic advancement by forming bonds between mayors, the World Conference of Mayors is following the lead of Black political leaders before them in their work with the National Alliance of Black Businesses and the upcoming summit.
Ford met with mayors from five landmark Black towns and created the Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance. This alliance of Black mayors preserves and promotes their respective communities and works toward stimulating progress and solidarity throughout the African diaspora.
For Ford, participating in the annual conference and summit continues his organization’s and the alliance’s work of building Black communities throughout the nation and worldwide. He emphasized the summit’s co-chairs further the organizations’ collective mission of working with the African diaspora to build Black communities across the globe.
Co-Chairs’ Work with Africa and Across the Diaspora
Fraser-Moore, an expert in organizational leadership and CEO of Transformation Lead LLC, understands that solely referring to the 2025 conference as a celebration is a tremendous understatement, emphasizing the potential worldwide economic impact.
“It’s a powerful platform to unite the global Black business community, driving innovation, fostering economic empowerment and creating transformative change,” she said.
Diallo’s appointment correspondingly upholds this philosophy. He is the president and CEO of the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), which encourages unity between African nations and their descendants by furthering the U.N.’s sustainable development processes against climate change and poverty.
“This appointment not only reflects a commitment to empowering Black businesses, but also aligns with ARDN’s mission to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals across Africa and the diaspora,” said Diallo. “Through initiatives like the Red Card campaign against discrimination and violence toward women and girls, we aim to uplift communities and foster equality for all.”
Smith Jr. looks forward to the many opportunities this partnership will conceive. As founder and CEO of the African Tourism Union, a coalition of African nations that work toward broadening travelers’ horizons and opening the world’s eyes to the continent’s beauty, Smith Jr.’s dedication to the conference’s mission is clear.
“I am excited to connect the African diaspora back to the continent and vice versa,” he said.
Ford said the three co-chairs will contribute to making the upcoming conference and summit a valuable, didactic and noteworthy event.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Diallo, Dr. Fraser-Moore, and Mr. Smith as co-chairs and look forward to working together to make this 125th National Black Business Conference and Pan-African Black Business Summit a landmark event,” Ford said.
The three co-chairs will use their collective expertise to steer the National Pan-African Black Business Summit Committee toward its goals through biweekly planning sessions.
The first planning session, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was held on Nov. 15 during the third annual Pan-African Black Business Retreat in Washington, D.C.
“Together, we’re shaping a future that not only honors our legacy but builds a thriving, sustainable ecosystem for generations to come,” said Fraser-Moore.