DEI rollbacks threaten Atlanta woman’s work for Black businesses

For Nikki Porcher, the past few months have been mentally exhausting.

Before the election, she did her research, reading Project 2025 front to back. Still, she has been surprised by Trump’s first 100 days.

“A lot of stuff that is happening, I knew was coming down the pipeline. However, I did not know it would happen so quickly, so swiftly and so immediately,” Porcher said.

Porcher founded the Atlanta-based nonprofit Buy From A Black Woman to support Black women-owned businesses through events, funding, educational programs and its online business directory.

Since launching the organization in 2016, she has shepherded it through shifting tides — when companies rushed to support diversity initiatives after the murder of George Floyd, to now as the Trump administration has put diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in its crosshairs.

This summer, she will still host a series of pop-ups at Black-owned stores to emphasize “we have our own shelves. We do not have to rely on these big box corporations.”

“What type of business owner would I be if my work can be erased that easily? I’ve done things before this partnership and I will continue,” she said. “Our work is much bigger than just one partnership.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

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