Boston Celtics player and 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown is taking significant steps to honor his commitment to fostering wealth in underrepresented communities. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Brown announced his vision to bring Black Wall Street to Boston, MA, following his signing of a five-year supermax contract extension worth $304 million in July 2023.
A year later, this vision has materialized into a groundbreaking venture — Boston XChange (BXC). According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, BXC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to generating $5 billion in new wealth for underrepresented communities. The initiative aims to achieve this through strategic investments and partnerships, providing access to seasoned coaching, resources, and workspaces for creators.
"True systemic change requires collaboration, shared vision, and collective impact,” Brown emphasized in the press release. “By working with community partners, thought leaders, and cultural influencers, we can create a powerful network of support and innovation. This collective effort will empower underserved communities, drive sustainable economic growth, and enhance the quality of life for everyone in Boston. The launch of the Boston XChange is a key component of this strategy, providing a dynamic hub for these collaborative efforts. Together, we can close the wealth gap and transform Boston’s economic landscape, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.”
BXC has already secured partnerships with notable institutions, including MIT Entrepreneurship Centers, Roxbury Community College, and Harvard, as well as various community organizations and advocates aligned with its mission.
Luciano Ramos, executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) at Roxbury Community College, expressed excitement about the collaboration. “Roxbury Community College is thrilled to partner with Jaylen Brown’s Boston Creator Program to increase RCC’s support of entrepreneurs in Greater Roxbury,” Ramos said. “The CESJ and Business Innovation Center at RCC were established to equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed for success. This new and exciting partnership positions RCC to reach and assist the best, brightest, and most innovative minds in Boston. We look forward to collaborating on work that makes a real and immediate financial impact on our community.”
### The Boston Creator Incubator & Accelerator
The first major initiative of BXC is the launch of The Boston Creator Incubator & Accelerator, in partnership with Jrue and Lauren Holiday’s JLH Social Impact Fund. This program is designed to support creators across various industries — including design, arts, media, entertainment, fashion, and culinary arts — by providing essential resources to help them conceptualize, produce, and launch their projects. Participants will have access to workspaces and maker spaces, as well as up to $100,000 in grant funding and business services.
Lauren Holiday shared her enthusiasm for the initiative. “Jrue and I are excited for Jaylen and what the Boston XChange will mean for Boston’s creators,” she said in a statement to AFROTECH™. “We’ve seen the impact that’s possible when communities of support are built around underserved entrepreneurs. We are excited to work with Jaylen’s foundation and community organizations to layer our resources and make an even greater impact on Boston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
The Boston Creator Incubator & Accelerator will collaborate with MIT’s Martin Trust Center, Harvard Business School, and Roxbury Community College to offer coaching services over a three-year period. Yscaira Jimenez, BXC entrepreneur in residence and MIT lecturer on systems change innovation, praised the initiative. “It’s exciting to have a systems change catalyst like Jaylen use his platform to convene, incentivize, and drive collective change with existing doers on the ground for underinvested creator communities and for a more prosperous Boston,” Jimenez said in a news release. “Having programs such as MITdesignX and the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship contributing their methodologies to help underinvested creators in their own backyard thrive is a dream come true. As someone who attended MIT as an immigrant from a low-income background without access to a community of peers or funding, I wish I had access to a place and space like this when I was starting my company. I am so glad that Jaylen and partners are bringing this to life.”
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