Meet the Women Behind the Black Wealth Matters Roundtable

Aqui served as the host of the Black Wealth Matters roundtable. She is the founder of the Financially Savvy Girl PODCAST. Aqui is a lawyer by trade and a social justice activist who is working to bridge the racial wealth gap through the power of intention and goal setting.

Born in Africa, Aqui is an avid world traveler and has enjoyed visiting 5 different continents so far. She believes in generational wealth, creating income in the markets, and investing in her infant child and future children. Aqui and her husband live a debt free life and believe in financial freedom.

“When a community is economically empowered, they no longer go to the table where decisions are made and ask for change. They demand change. They use bargaining power to drive the change they want to see,” says Aqui.

“When you have power and authority, that’s when things change. Your voice doesn’t just echo. It is heard. We can go where we are celebrated and not just tolerated.”

Cinneah is the founder of http://flynanced.com/. She is a 25-year-old traveler who has visited 27 countries around the world. WOW!

Since none of the travel bloggers Cinneah followed on social media spoke about money, she made it her mission to show others how they can travel and still be financially sound. Her goal is to use her platform to normalize being out of debt and building wealth.

“I see myself and my peers being among the first of black Americans to have access and opportunity to build wealth. I’m only five generations removed from slavery. It is our duty to be in this hyper digital age and shift our mindset from thinking we haven’t been taught these things to empowering ourselves and other black women coming after me. If not me, then who?”

Britt is a Financial Coach, Wife, and Girl Mom. She has always been passionate about personal finance and started financial coaching after paying off $39,654 of debt in only 8 months. In 2018, Britt became student loan debt-free! WOW!

Britt started documenting her journey to debt freedom after finding herself in a cycle of not having money left over. Since then, Britt and her husband have saved up a healthy emergency fund, financed a $42,000 car and paid it off in 9 months, and are on a journey to pay off their mortgage by 2024.

“I’m rooting for everyone black because I want to see my people win on all levels possible. Everything in my life is about how I can support black businesses. It’s about being confident that if you are making a good salary or any salary at all, you can pay off debt and build wealth. It’s about shifting from that “spend, spend” attitude and being able to support people that look like us.”

Liza always hated the idea of owing anyone anything. After a month long trip to Thailand in November 2018, she knew she wanted to have cultural experiences every day, and taking control of her money would be the solution to her desires.

Liza started her debt free journey and personal finance diary to stay accountable to her goals and show others what’s possible. In April 2020, Liza officially became debt-free, paying off $25,017 in student loans, car loans, and credit card debt in 16 months! She now plans to move out the country in October.

“Financial ignorance creates a sense of dependency. When I am independent, I have so much pride. I can do things for myself and my family. We are taking away the dependency on different systems,” says Liza.

“Financial independence gives you options. You can be anything or do anything you want. We are showing you can do it and here are the steps from 1-3.”

After going through a quarter life crisis and realizing she really didn’t like her job, Kenya set her eyes on traveling around the world.

But there was one problem: Kenya was living above her means and accumulated over $15K in consumer debt and student loans she didn’t really need. She started documenting her financial progress on social media and soon realized this was a way that she could empower people.

Kenya’s work focuses on the connection between social justice, economics, and finance. She was inspired by other financial bloggers to create a financial freedom vision board that showcases the possibilities ahead.

“You don’t need to make 6-figures to become debt free. I show what it looks like to implement the information that we all have access to. I’m a black woman, this is what I go through, and this is how I use personal finance. We many not be high earners but we are high achievers.”

Jateria is the Founder of Debt Free Travel Journey where she helps millennials get out of debt and raise their credit scores. After quitting her job in 2017 and moving abroad to South Africa, she dived into her debt free journey to take advantage of more travel experiences so she wouldn’t have to be a broke traveller.

Jateria’s website showcases a timeline of her journey from receiving study abroad scholarships in 2014, paying off her car and traveling to Dubai debt-free in 2018, and working as a financial coach now to help more people become debt-free and live their best life through travel.

“Money impacts so many things we do. The food we eat, the school we attend, and the healthcare we get is all impacted by money. We think a certain [income] number equates to a certain education when it comes to finances but it doesn’t.”