Black women entrepreneurs often face a complex set of challenges when starting a business, including limited access to capital, resources, and networks. To address these issues, Nikki Porcher founded Buy From A Black Woman (BFABW), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Black women entrepreneurs through funding, education, and a comprehensive online directory. In alignment with their I&D commitments and strategy to empower the communities they serve, H&M embarked on an ongoing partnership with BFABW in 2021 that includes various impactful initiatives in support of Black women-owned businesses including the annual BFABW Inspire Tour, BFABW Holiday Market and BFABW Accelerator Program.
The primary objective of the overall partnership between H&M and BFABW is to advance the non-profit’s mission by creating a supportive ecosystem that uplifts Black women-owned businesses, ensuring they receive the recognition and support needed to thrive.
Presented by H&M, the BFABW Inspire Tour is an annual multi-city pop-up shopping event that features products from Black women-owned businesses in H&M stores – rallying communities to shop from Black women vendors and providing important networking opportunities for the business owners. H&M and BFABW first partnered on the Inspire Tour in 2021 and wrapped the fourth iteration in July 2024. The 2024 tour activated around the theme 'Black Women Are Still Here' – emphasizing an ongoing need for support at a time when inclusion and diversity initiatives are increasingly under scrutiny. In 2024, the Inspire tour showcased over 20 vendors in 6 cities, kicking off in New Orleans on July 6th and culminating in Toronto on July 27th – marking the Inspire Tour’s official international debut. Other stops included Chicago, Illinois; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Washington D.C.; and Macon, Georgia.
In addition to the Inspire Tour, H&M supports the annual BFABW Holiday Market, leveraging the busy holiday shopping season to encourage community support for Black women-owned businesses. With events like the Inspire Tour and Holiday Market, they also aim to provide opportunities for community-building and networking – allowing business owners to forge valuable relationships with both peers and consumers.
H&M also powers the BFABW Accelerator Program, a business bootcamp program for business owners ready for MBE certification. This program is special because it offers Black women business owners the chance to be a part of a 10-week virtual educational program tailored to their unique needs and aspirations. During the program, entrepreneurs have the chance to learn and hear from industry experts, including members of the H&M Americas leadership team, to accelerate their growth and success.
With any pop-up event comes many specific challenges, from production and marketing to inventory and logistics. Given that the Inspire Tour and Holiday Market pop up within H&M stores across North America, many teams need to be briefed on the project to deploy each event efficiently and successfully. The vendors featured at each event offer a variety of products, from beauty and skincare to candles and accessories and more. This variety presents challenges, as many of H&M’s racks and fixtures are designed primarily with clothing garments in mind. Additionally, each H&M store has a different layout, which needs to be considered. The production team takes all of this into account to ensure maximum visibility for the vendors, a smooth experience for customers, and an overall seamless integration into each H&M store.
Since first partnering in 2021, H&M and Buy From A Black Woman have continued to expand their partnership to build upon and create programs that address the challenges Black women business owners face. From 2023 to 2024 alone, together H&M Americas and Buy From A Black Woman have:
Since 2021, the partnership has garnered over 2 billion press impressions with coverage in major publications such as WWD, Essence, Bustle, Ebony, Complex, Forbes and more. H&M and Buy From A Black Woman have also leveraged relationships with celebrity and influencer talent to further amplify BFABW and its mission, resulting in social reach of over 2.5 million and appearances by Tracee Ellis Ross, Brandy, Normani, and more.
