The JAX Chamber Foundation introduced Dec. 16 the Lewis and White Business League, a forum and program intended to improve economic opportunity for African Americans in Jacksonville.
The league will include connections to business and educational advancement, quarterly meetings with guest speakers, and networking and mentoring opportunities, said a news release from the chamber.
The initiative is named in honor of A.L. Lewis and Eartha White, African American business leaders in Jacksonville and charter members of the National Negro Business League. The league was founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington to advance the economic conditions of African Americans.
“We listened to African American business and community leaders to hear how they thought the Chamber could make a difference addressing racial inequities that sadly still exist in our community and the idea of a network like this came up several times,” JAX Chamber President and CEO Daniel Davis said in the release.