The annual awards honor 100 fastest growing businesses in underserved communities.
BALTIMORE (Dec. 9, 2024) — The AFRO was named a winner of the Inner City 100 Awards for the second consecutive year. The annual designation by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (“ICIC”) recognizes the 100 fastest growing businesses in underserved communities nationwide. AFRO placed 94th on the 2024 list, following their 81st ranking in 2023.
The annual awards are a celebration of small business progress, and demonstrable community impact in areas that need it most. IC100 winning businesses are renowned for “creating meaningful employment and bringing economic revitalization to their neighborhoods.”
This year, the AFRO expanded the Digital Billboard Network (DBN) to 30 screens across the Baltimore region. Each DBN screen airs original AFRO programming, bringing dynamic content directly to audiences on the go. Beyond the company’s digital expansions, the AFRO continues to digitize their archives and make reporting more accessible through tools like Everlit, enabling visually impaired audiences to consume AFRO stories.
“It is an honor to once again be recognized as an IC100 recipient,” and Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, CEO and publisher of the AFRO. “This award is a testament to our storytelling and community contributions. By digitizing the AFRO archives alongside our partners at AFRO Charities, we make Black history more accessible for our community. We consider the work of Black storytelling to be essential locally and beyond.”
Winners were announced during a virtual ceremony marking ICIC’s 30th anniversary.
Experience more award-winning storytelling from the AFRO at https://afro.com.
About the AFRO
The AFRO is the oldest Black-owned business in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and the third-oldest in the United States. For more than 130 years, the AFRO has offered a platform for images and stories that advance the Black community, fulfilling the vision of John H. Murphy Sr., a formerly enslaved man who founded the publication with his wife, Martha Howard Murphy. Today, through the leadership of Murphy’s great-granddaughter, Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, the AFRO remains the Black Media Authority, providing readers with good news about the Black community not otherwise found.
About ICIC
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) is the widely recognized authority on accelerating small business growth in under-resourced communities. ICIC drives inclusive economic prosperity through focused technical assistance and world-class research. Founded by
renowned Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter in 1994 as a research and strategy organization, today ICIC drives inclusive economic prosperity in under-resourced communities through innovative research and programs to create jobs, income, and
wealth for local residents.
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