The Black Dollar Index is Now Live

The Black Dollar Initiative, a consumer advocacy group dedicated to educating and empowering Black Americans, today announced the launch of the "Black Dollar Index." The Black Dollar Index (BDI) is a first of its kind multi-factor scoring system that rates consumer-facing corporations by a set of public data factors including, but not limited to, investments in Black employment, leadership, communities, and suppliers. The scoring system, which rates business from 0 - 100 across these critical factors, seeks to empower Black consumers with a level of corporate transparency to consider when making purchasing decisions. 

The Black Dollar Initiative and the subsequent Index was born in the wake of the Summer 2020’s social unrest following the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, when Black Americans saw an outpouring of words of support and solidarity from corporations in a manner that had never been seen. As corporations began to pledge their support, it became imperative to create a platform for consumers to hold corporations accountable and seek transparency on these commitments moving forward. 

“The Black Dollar Index is an accountability tool that we can build upon for generations to come,'' said Kelle Rozell, BDI Founder. “Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with these corporations to make real, infrastructural change because as Americans, we want racial justice and as consumers we want options.” 

“The Black Dollar Index is important work that sits at the intersection of racial and economic justice. BDI will provide the necessary information to allow us to be betterchange agents for racial equity." added Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who was provided a preview of the BDI tool. 

BDI was developed by a team of black professionals whose work spans across finance, tech, and consumer marketing industries. The Black Dollar Index uses a proprietary formula to score corporations (0-100), weighing qualitative and quantitative insights to evaluate a corporation's commitment to diversity and investments in causes specific to Black Americans.

This type of transparency allows for Black consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions, and in turn, strategically target the $1.4 trillion in Black consumer spending power towards corporations who demonstrate a commitment to supporting the Black community. The BDI is a dynamic platform with more than 100 Fortune 1,000 corporations scored to date, with dozens being added as DE&I reports are released and more public information becomes available. 

The Black Dollar Index is now live at www.blackdollarindex.com. Consumers are encouraged to discover how their favorite corporations fare and share with their networks.