6th Annual Black Business Ball

Celebrate Black business, leadership, community, and legacy at the 6th Annual Black Business Ball: Secret Garden in Minneapolis. Celebrate Black Business in 2026 Celebrate excellence at the 6th Annual Black Business Ball: Secret Garden. A night honoring Black business, community, and legacy. Welcome to the 6th Annual Black Business Ball: Secret Garden Edition! Visit Blackbusinessball.com for more info Get ready for a night of celebration, networking, and fun. Join us on November 7th, 2026 at 6:00 PM for an unforgettable evening. Location: Quincy Hall • 1325 Quincy St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 Beyond the concrete and chaos of the city, there is a place where Black business blooms. On November 7, 2026, we invite you to step through the gates of our Secret Garden for the 6th Annual Black Business Ball — an evening where vines, florals, and soft light frame a celebration of Black excellence, legacy, and limitless possibility. This year’s Ball, “Honoring the Legends,” is a love letter to the founders, visionaries, and trailblazers who have built, sustained, and reimagined Black business in Minnesota and beyond. We’ll gather beneath a canopy of greenery and light to: • Honor LEGENDS whose work has created pathways for generations • Celebrate today’s builders and innovators across industries • Elevate Future Founders and Kidpreneurs who are just beginning their journey Guests will experience: • A fully transformed ballroom evoking an evening garden — rich with florals, greenery, and storytelling installations • A seated dinner and curated program highlighting Black business legends, award recipients, and Future Founder features • Live performances, music, and creative vignettes that bring our Secret Garden to life • Interactive installations including the Legends Wall, Floral Tribute Garden, Future Founder Showcase, and Secret Garden Portrait Experience Whether you are a long-time supporter of BBE, a business owner, a community partner, or a first-time guest, the Black Business Ball is your invitation to step into a space where Black brilliance is centered, celebrated, and beautifully staged. Come dressed in your best Black-Tie or culturally expressive formal attire. Please note: guests who purchase tickets together will be seated together. A Taste of the Evening Enjoy a seated dinner featuring a curated menu inspired by the Secret Garden theme. Your ticket includes a Winter Green Salad starter, your choice of one of three entrées, and a dessert to close out the evening: • Roasted Statler chicken breast w/ rice • Seasoned Mahi mahi w/ rice • Cauliflower steak w/ rice and seasonal roasted vegetables Dessert selections include Lotus Biscuit Caramel Mousse and Chocolate Tiramisu. Expect elegance. Expect magic. Expect a night that feels like walking into a story we are all still writing together. Join Us in the Secret Garden: Honoring Legends, Sustaining the Future Corporate commitments changed. Ours did not. In the years following 2020, many institutions made bold promises about equity. They launched initiatives, hired leaders, and spoke publicly about supporting Black businesses. As political pressure and economic uncertainty grew, those commitments were often the first to fade. Programs ended. Budgets disappeared. Many simply moved on. Black Business Enterprises (BBE) has lived the impact of that shift. The phone doesn’t ring the way it once did, but the needs in our community have only grown. At the same time, membership dues across our BBE community have declined as families and business owners face rising costs and economic strain. We cannot wait for corporations to rediscover their commitments. And we cannot rely on short-term funding to sustain work that must exist every day. That is why we gather. The 2026 Black Business Ball: Secret Garden — Honoring Legends is more than a celebration. It is a return to what has always sustained us: community investment, shared responsibility, and honoring those who built pathways before us while ensuring the next generation has somewhere to grow. If you’ve ever come to BBE to start or stabilize your business, repair credit, find resources, host a meeting, or simply sit in a space where you didn’t have to explain who you are—you are already part of this garden. This Ball is our invitation to tend it together. Your support through the Black Business Ball helps us: • Keep BBE’s doors open with lights on, Wi-Fi working, and a professional space where Black entrepreneurs can gather, build, and belong • Provide business formation, credit support, and technical assistance for founders starting, pivoting, or rebuilding after job loss • Sustain homeownership and financial readiness programming so families can move from surviving to owning • Offer accessible meeting and coworking space for entrepreneurs who no longer have access to an office or supportive workplace • Build the internal capacity BBE needs to remain stable, responsive, and rooted in community—not shifting trends or corporate cycles In the Secret Garden, we pause to honor the legends—those whose labor, leadership, and vision made space for us to be here. And we recommit to what comes next. We are not asking you to replace anyone else’s broken promises. We are inviting you to be part of a real, local, long-term answer. Join us as we honor legacy, invest in community, and ensure Black Business Enterprises continues to stand for decades to come. The not-so-fine print Black business is our focus, but we do not discriminate. Black is the blueprint for our work and our lens. We welcome and support BBE members of all backgrounds, including people of every race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy status, marital or family status, immigration status, and veteran status. Our Programs and Initiatives Financial Literacy Workshops: We partner with local businesses to offer workshops that equip members with the skills and knowledge to manage finances effectively and strategically. Housing Support: Recognizing that stable housing is foundational to business success, we provide guidance and resources to help entrepreneurs secure housing solutions that support their business goals. Youth Programs: We are passionate about empowering the next generation. Our youth programs focus on instilling entrepreneurial spirit and financial savvy in young people, preparing them for a brighter future. Credit Programs: Understanding the importance of credit in business, we offer programs that help members build and maintain strong credit profiles, essential for accessing capital and growing their enterprises. Our primary mission is to promote community development by offering both financial and educational services. We offer tangible programs and initiatives that address these problems, track success, and start meaningful conversations to make impactful changes.