Launch of BIPOC business organization

A new nonprofit in Sioux Falls helps immigrants and people of color in the business world.

HUB is the leadership, networking and professional development organization of BIPOC (short for Black, Indigenous and People of Color) started by Julian Beaudion and Kuol Malou.

The official launch was celebrated with a party and meeting held at Swamp Daddy’s in the Jones421 building on July 28th.

“We are very happy to bring this to the community,” says Malou. The two have been developing The HUB for the past three years.

Similar to the Chamber of Commerce, but less so, The HUB features a Networking 101 course, and a partnership with 1818 Elite Financial offers classes on generational wealth and budgeting.

Skills are both classroom and hands-on, according to Mallow, and the course also includes nuances of the interview process and how to better advocate for the job you want.

“I think what people of color need most in the business community is space and opportunity to grow,” Bauduin said. “Our hope is to really create the space and opportunity to keep this going for the next generation.”

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How our co-founders from diverse backgrounds came to create The HUB

Beaudion has lived in Sioux Falls for over ten years. He’s a state law enforcement officer, South Dakota He’s the current executive director of African Americans, Juneteenth He’s president of Sioux Falls, and now he’s co-founder of The HUB.

He and his wife also own Swamp Daddy’s Cajun Kitchen in downtown Sioux Falls.

A few years ago, Bourdion and his wife were fighting for Juneteenth state legislation and enlisted the support of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce.

“At the time, they refused to support our efforts and said they wanted to do what was best for the majority of their members.

Since then, the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce has supported the June 1st Act and continues to implement other programs that promote business skills and diversity, including the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Activator Series.

But the first event inspired Beaudion to create a place that could meet the specific needs of the BIPOC community.

Beaudion contacted other Black Chambers of Commerce in Minneapolis and Kansas City to find out how such a thing would work.

“We started talking about creating a Black Chamber of Commerce in Sioux Falls, but we don’t have the resources, or really the number of black business professionals, to do the same thing at that level,” Bourdion said. Told.

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After taking a step back and considering what would fit in the Sioux Falls community, he heard Mallow was working on something similar for the immigrant community. Two men put their heads together to create The HUB.

As a child, I came to the United States as a refugee with my family in 1998 from the area now known as South Sudan.

“We’ve had to navigate the unknown through cultural and language barriers and what they call the American dream,” Maru said.

Growing up, he struggled to find community.

“I thought I’d found it a few times, but the more I discovered it, the more I tried to connect, the more barriers I found,” Marrow said. “The biggest challenge was finding a place where I could fit in. I didn’t feel like an outsider, but I felt like a ‘other’.”

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Maru moved to Sioux Falls in 2015 and set out to find its community. She is now Co-Founder of ACE Academy, Brand Ambassador for Coldwell Banker and Co-Founder of The HUB.

Maru is also involved in other business organizations in Sioux Falls, he said, and while they have ample resources, they make it difficult for some people in communities of color to succeed. There are certain barriers.

“Many of the refugees and immigrants who move here may have the skills and qualifications of their previous country, but struggle to understand the nuances of the culture of finding work, which often leads to lower wages. I’m staying at work,” says Marrow. He said.

HUB is here to help you with that.

Community members share a desire for space, networking

“It’s instructive to see something like this come to life in Sioux Falls,” said Sioux Falls local Julia Tasuil. “We needed it. This gives people the opportunity to meet their needs to help them succeed.”

Tasuil found out about HUB through ACE Academy and took his 6-year-old. She said she was more excited to see the founders involved in the community and trust in what they were doing.

She is working on starting her own non-profit and previously started a small business with her mother. Tasuil was also involved with the Young Professional Network, Startup Sioux Falls, and her Small Business Associate.

“There are certainly a lot of good existing resources, but there was also a fight for representation,” says Tasuil. “It can be really isolating in other organizations.”

Tasuil’s friend Tray Mendez is also on The HUB. Mendes, whose pronouns are they/them, are first-generation Latinos whose parents immigrated from Chile.

“As business owners, we couldn’t find community anywhere else with people who could share their experiences and talk about our struggles,” Mendez said. increase.”

Mendez owns Elementray, an inclusive yoga studio that offers restorative movement classes for members of the BIPOC and LGBT+ communities. According to Mendez, other professional spaces in Sioux Falls are being harmed by well-intentioned people.

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“As people of color, we don’t want to be taken advantage of by advertising and buzzwords,” Mendez said. “By creating spaces for immigrants and people of color, HUB will provide a place where we can naturally drop shields and build communities that can grow.”

Tasui added: I think it’s important to be able to deal with the barriers that people have encountered. That way we can learn from each other and help each other gain better access to success. “

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For Wesley Benoit, most of his best opportunities have come from networking, and he hopes HUB will do the same for others.

Benoit described how the people he met in the Navy ended up starting a cryptocurrency mining business.

“You never know who you’re going to meet and how your knowledge of them will help,” he said. “I think people need a space to hear about new opportunities, share experiences, and network. …And that’s what I could see coming to The HUB.”

Benoit believes that HUB, unlike the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, can focus more on the culture when it comes to teaching financial literacy and networking skills, helping people bridge the “generation gap.”

“I can’t wait to see where it goes,” Benoit said. “There’s a lot of great potential out there…and at the launch party we could see that their intentions were pure. That’s a good thing.”

Admission and future plans

HUB is currently working to secure membership. Individual members pay an annual fee of $50. Non-profit memberships are $100/year and corporate memberships are $150/year.

The next event, in partnership with Nrdvana, will provide opportunities for families to have fun together, but details are yet to be finalized, the founder said. The goal is to change locations and partner with as many companies as possible.

Beaudion hopes that The HUB will eventually grow into a professional chamber of commerce, but that won’t last long.

“I don’t think even if it develops that far, it will replace what’s here,” he said. “As the community grows, there is a lot of room to grow. Our hope is to really create the space and opportunity that allows us to keep this going for the next generation.”

People can find The HUB’s next event on Facebook.