Good news Friday, Project Black, Bobbi Wilson, Dubai Police

Project Black

Ariel Investments, one of the US's largest Black-owned asset management companies, has announced the closure of Project Black, a US$1.45bn fund for minority-owned companies. 

The fund will invest in middle-market companies with revenue between US$100mn and $1bn to transform and scale minority businesses.

“We chose to partner with large institutions that are seeking to drive widespread corporate vendor diversity. Our goal is to help close the racial wealth gap by creating minority-owned businesses of scale through access to both capital and customers,” said Leslie Brun, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Ariel Alternatives.

Young honours

9-year-old Bobbi Wilson has been honoured by Yale University after making a homemade insect repellent for spotted lantern flies, an invasive species which poses a serious risk to trees, plants, and crops

“Yale doesn’t normally do anything like this… this is something unique to Bobbi,” said Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor at School of Public Health. “We wanted to show her bravery and how inspiring she is, and we just want to make sure she continues to feel honoured and loved by the Yale community.”

All-female SWAT team

Police in Dubai have recently revealed the city’s first all-woman SWAT team, in an effort to elevate and empower women in the UAE. The force is said to be proud of its female personnel, who are ambitious and eager to master every challenging field and specialisation.

Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said: “Our female officers break the norm by conquering specialisations and fields that were dominated by men. In fact, women in Dubai Police have always been present across all departments and have played vital civil and military roles.

“They have also held senior ranks and proudly represented the force in many local, regional and international forums and events.”