By Hazel Trice Edney
(Trice Edney Wire) – As America continues to commemorate Black-owned business month in August, Black Professionals Month, coming up in October, is a global movement that showcases Black excellence while advancing leadership, collaboration, visibility, and wealth creation as Black people of the diaspora support and do business with one another.
“We will deal with the blowback of anti-DEI by looking at how we come together,” says Jerome `Hutchinson Jr., founder and chief servant officer of ICABA World Network, the creator of Black Professionals Month. “Self-determination was always an undercurrent of my parents’ leadership. And that definitely has been passed on to me. You don’t go looking for somebody to do for you when you can do for yourself.”
He continues, “Black Professionals Month highlights the achievements and contributions of Black professionals while activating meaningful opportunities for connection, collaboration, and growth. Since its launch in 2021, BPM’s overarching goal is to build a global movement that engages professionals, entrepreneurs, executives, organizations, and community leaders committed to elevating Black excellence and expanding pathways to success.”
According to researchers, there are as many as 5 million Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs across the U. S. and as many as 21 million Black professionals. Those numbers swell into billions when combined with Black people around the world, including the continent of Africa.
Chairing this year’s BPM is Dr. Dennis Kimbro, the author of five books, one of which was a New York Times best-seller, and professor at the Clark Atlanta University School of Business Administration. A consummate researcher, Kimbro said a key to the current and future state of Black professionals is that “In less than 25 years, one out of every four people on the planet is going to be African,” he said. “The day I was born, December 29th, 1950, America was 95 percent white. Now, today, in August 2026, It’s barely 57 percent white.
“We’ve got to prepare for it,” he asks. “How do we get people’s mindsets to change to prepare for it?…The greatest gift that you’ve ever been given in your life by your creator is the ability to change your mind. It is the ability to change your mind to pivot. So, what is the strategy, you know, for Black America to get more advanced?”
He answers, “Personal enhancement, personal empowerment, in every area of your life. That’s the goal.”
Hutchinson describes ICABA as “the leading online global ecosystem that connects and empowers accomplished Black professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders,” says Hutchinson. “Here, you’re not just joining a network; you’re entering a community deeply committed to elevating your journey, amplifying your success, and celebrating our collective achievements. We believe in the boundless potential within our diaspora.”
A Louisville, Ky. native, Hutchinson has pursued this goal for 17 years, since he founded ICABA in 2009. This is the reason for Black Professionals Month – to not only continue to pull together Black entrepreneurs and professionals – virtually, hybrid and in person – but to celebrate them, reward them and encourage them.
“We have three pillars,” Hutchinson says. “The first one is recognizing black excellence; second, advancing wealth creation; and third elevating leadership. And so that’s what we do.”
A string of ICABA events during Black Professionals Month will include two cornerstones of the program – the BPM Honors, Saturday, October 17, 2026, a prestigious recognition that honors accomplished Black professionals worldwide; and the BOBB 100 Awards and Summit, Saturday, October 31, 2026, which honors accomplished Black entrepreneurs worldwide. The distinction celebrates individuals who have demonstrated exceptional achievement within their respective fields while contributing to their communities and industries.
There will be a BPM Global Organizations Leaders Summit, which will kick off online on Oct. 9, 2026, 11 am – 1 pm. The theme will be “Collaborate to Elevate and Protect Our Legacy.”
The full calendar of BPM events can be found on blackprofessionalsmonth.com.
“We’re gathering leaders from leading Black professional and entrepreneurial organizations worldwide to discuss executing on this year’s BPM theme: “Collaborate to Elevate and Protect Our Legacy,” Hutchinson says.
ICABA’s strategic focus and power are embodied in its name, an acronym that stands for “Identify, Connect, and Activate Black Accomplished.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations has projected that by the year 2050, one out of every four people on Earth will live on the African continent.
Kimbro says that the shifting populations of Black and people of color could impact Black wealth astronomically. But that depends on a change in mindsets.
Penda Howell, a 30-year Black Press executive, who joined ICABA two years ago, describes ICABA as a “game changer because the network extends, not just nationally, but internationally” and because ICABA deals with the personal growth and business acumen of the entrepreneur and professional.
He adds, among the most impressive aspect is “the willingness for folks to partner, to network, to share resources. There’s no gatekeeping.”
Howell, former vice president of the historic New York Amsterdam News Newspaper for 20 years, now owns a news website, New Jersey Urban News, which became a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association in 2024.
“I’ll give you a brief example,” Howell says. “I was having a conversation in one of our meetings, and I was expressing frustration with getting content directly from reporters in Africa. I wanted to set up an RSS feed to get content directly from credible reporters in Africa.”
Howell said because of an ICABA member that was in the meeting, he was able to connect with a media professional from Nigeria and another professional who was connected to a media network in the same region.
“Within an hour, both had reached out to me separately after the meeting, offering assistance. Assistance that I had been trying to get on my own for about a year.”
Hutchinson, with a mother as a social worker and a father as an entrepreneur, describes himself as a “social impact entrepreneur.” He says his family had the greatest impact on his ICABA vision and the direction of his life.
His bio tells the story of his success. He launched Kentucky’s first Black-owned television station, WYCS-TV, in 1998. In September, he launched ICABA’s “Thrivin’” podcast on ICABA TV with Hutchinson as the host.
Hutchinson has developed Black Professionals Month as a platform for collective advancement rather than individual recognition alone. His philosophy centers on the belief that professional success becomes more meaningful when it is leveraged to create opportunities for others.
“The value gained from networking is determined by the value of what you share versus what you seek,” Hutchinson said. “Through leadership development, relationship-building, professional visibility, and economic empowerment, Black Professionals Month has become the ICABA World Network’s most impactful initiative. Its continued growth demonstrates that meaningful progress is often driven not only by individual accomplishment but by communities that intentionally invest in one another’s success.”
