The mission of the Austin African American Business Networking Association is to create African American business success through networking, and to nurture and support emerging and existing businesses.
The vision of the AAABNA is to empower Chicago’s west side community by giving them a sense of pride in the African American businesses. We know that business owners are the watchmen in the community. Better businesses leads to increased circulation of our dollars in the black community. The role of the AAABNA is to help at-risk youth, develop entrepreneurial skills which will in turn create self employment and the opportunity to employ others.

The AAABNA is a NFP 501(c) (3) organization.  The organization was founded in the summer of 2003 by local business owners who were proud of their heritage, and felt that there was a need for local African American business professionals  to pool their resources in order to create a foundation for individual businesses and Chicago’s west side community. The AAABNA also serves to help business owners gather and disseminate information.  For example, The City of Chicago Department of Planning Tax Financing program helps spur new business in areas by setting aside tax dollars and creating a pool to reinvest with business developers.  The AAABNA acts as a watchdog group to make sure businesses get a fair share of the financial resources available.  The group holds monthly meetings, giving business professions, politicians, educators, religious leaders and community members the opportunity to address issues collectively such as community development, crime, high school drop out rates, teen pregnancy, and unemployment.  The AAABNA hosts the annual business summit given by 78th District State Representative Deborah Graham.  This event brings federal, state and local business resources to Chicago’s Austin community.  The AAABNA also hosts the largest annual Kwanzaa gala in Chicago’s Austin community.  This event celebrates cultural pride and celebrates the accomplishments of African- Americans throughout history.  The AAABNA also created the first African American community resource guide for consumers looking to do business on Chicago’s west side. 

The goal of the AAABNA is to promote business ownership as a way to empower African American youth and the community at large. Our strategy led us to develop a nine (9) week entrepreneurship course to give participants the tools to develop a solid business plan whose target is mainly the black consumer. The fact still remains that ninety-four percent of African Americans do not spend their dollars with each other.  The AAABNA aims to change that fact by creating self esteem and entrepreneurship opportunities.  The program includes discussions and brainstorming sessions with local business owners who are members of the AAABNA. Members give short presentations in their areas of expertise and discuss the challenges and successful elements of each.  The workshops are open to at risk youth ages 14 to 21.

The AAABNA has created partnerships with the Westside Ministers Coalition. The WMC has created the Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy (ABEA), an area high school with the focus of building young business professional. AAABNA has agreed to a business shadowing program allowing student to learn how businesses operate through the eyes of AAABNA members.  Our monthly meetings and quarterly business mixers provide an opportunity to bring together local leaders and officials to address issues on behalf of local business owners.  

The AAABNA is very proud of our “Teach a Kid to Fish Project”.  The goal of the “Teach a Kid to Fish Project” is to teach our children life sustaining entrepreneurship skills including problem solving, conflict resolution, and marketing. This program also focuses on business structure, money-management, relationship-building, and business legal structure—all skills needed to be productive in their daily lives, whether they decide to go to college or start their own businesses.  The strategy is to help our youth learn about business through experience. Students develop concepts for their own businesses, such as landscaping, snow removal, or even technical skills such as web design.  They are guided through every step of business development. Participants receive technical assistance for up to a year after completion of the business course.  

The AAABNA currently holds monthly meetings led by community business owners. Young people are also invited to these meetings. They are not only spectators, but active participants. These meetings serve as an opportunity for them to talk about issues that affect their daily lives. These young men and women get to interact with elected officials, policy makers, and other community leaders.  We contend that by the very presence of these men and women we can show the youth that you can be what you can see. We also have developed a mentoring arm to answer questions and allow our youth to shadow business professionals.