“It takes action to move things.”
The executive director of the non-profit organization Gainesville Black Professionals (GBP) Virginia Grant started to develop a magazine to support business owners after a local racial inequity study showed the black community do not fare well as other races in Alachua County. The study was conducted by the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) in the beginning of 2017 and was released in January this year. The data collected stated the differences of employment opportunities for Blacks and Hispanics were contributing to the income disparities in the county. After seeing the results, Grant and her peers knew they had to do something about it. “Synergy: A Collaborative Guide to Economic and Discovery” was born to serve as a professional directory for Gainesville local business owners and to help them to interact with their customers and create professional partnerships in the community. “Synergy is not just for the black community. We want to support diversity,” Grant said. In 2015, BEBR reported that 35.7 percent of African-Americans and 31.2 percent of Hispanics were living under the poverty line in Alachua County, and black children were 3.3 times more likely to be in poverty than a non-Hispanic White children. John Bacon, 32, is a member of the board of directors of PACE Center for Girls in Alachua County and says that Synergy can help his organization to receive more support from people living in the area. He says he is excited to see the impact of the magazine in the community and how much local businesses and entrepreneurs can benefit from it. Further collected data from BEBR improved the idea that discrimination was still a problem in the county, and Synergy is being developed to highlight local minorities and their business to decrease the stereotypes among professionals. Bacon is also a GBP ambassador and says that he expects Synergy to be able to bring “different people; different professionals together in one publication.” The first edition of the print magazine will be launched on Dec. 8, during the GBP annual gala. The event recognizes the men and the women of vision and purpose in the black community and other distinguished professionals of the year. “Professionals wants to connect with other professionals, and they need a place to do that,” Grant said. Although Synergy is projected to be released once a year, an online platform is being created to maintain updated publications and news in the professional world in Gainesville. The new website is expected to launch in the end of spring next year. giovannakubota.weebly.com/virginia-grant.html --- The story went well at first. I could meet my source during Labor Day for a cup of coffee and she was able to redirect me to a second source. However, she invited me for a meeting she was having with some local business on Thursday afternoon and I realized late enough to lose the meeting that she had given me the wrong time and location. I was very concerned, especially because I was unable to contact her and I still needed a picture for the story. Around 5 p.m. she returned my voicemail and agreed to meet with me at DoubleTree hotel, where she had the meeting in the first place. Even though the story did not go as I’ve planned, I was able to learn a very important lesson: to always double check with your source dates, times and locations for important meetings. I definitely will pay more attention next time.
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AuthorGiovanna Kubota is a 22-year-old Brazilian pursuing a master's degree in Communication at the University of Central Florida. |