Story of Coming Together
Black Moms Connection is a community of more than 20,000 that started as a Facebook group in 2015 to be a safe space to positively impact many Black families’ livelihoods.
The community started out as a safe space for Black women to connect, share, and unite in a Facebook group with 12 women in Toronto. By the spring of 2016, they were an organization of 4000. By the fall of 2016, they had incorporated as a non-profit in Canada to take the conversations offline and ensure that everything they do is tangible and has the maximum impact.
Today, Black Moms Connection is an online global village of almost 30,000, with chapters in various North American cities and Asia.
Creating Vision For Empowerment
Black Moms Connection increases the social, emotional, financial, and well-being of the Black family, positively impacting the communities and economies we live in. They sit on government roundtables and advocacy committees and voice Black parenting in media.
Their vision is to be a voice at government and critical stakeholder tables, build a community hub which includes much-needed child-care facilities and leverage themselves as media and brand resources to speak authentically of the Black motherhood experience.
They offer emergency financial grants for moms in need and help mothers not get caught in the payday loan cycle or add additional burdens to their lives. Their BMC Emergency Fund and BMC Rent Bank provide moms across North America with financial support.
As a grassroots, bootstrapped organization, their donations go directly toward Black mothers and their families. The Corporate sponsorship goes towards their programs and events.
They have evolved into a global village, family, sisterhood, and movement that believes that the more we have, the more we can do and the more we can give.
In addition, they offer financial literacy programs and events. For example, FinLitU is an 8-week masterclass program and an extension of the BMC FinLit Summit, a 2-day event created for and by the Black community to increase competence and confidence around money.
They offer wellness workshops and retreats through their new vertical: You, Ok Mama. Often the last to be asked if we’re ok, this stream focuses on the moms’ physical, emotional and mental wellness.
Celebrating Black Voice
Tanya Hayles is an award-winning creative storyteller who uses various mediums to evoke emotions, create change, build movements, and color in white spaces.
She founded Black Moms Connection and led it to become a non-profit online global village of 20,000 black mothers and their families that provides culturally relevant programs and resources to educate and empower them. Her motivation for creating Black Moms Connection was to create a space to ask culturally relevant questions and get culturally relevant answers.
She also founded the anti-Black racism consulting firm Color in White Spaces, which works to diversify motherhood and changed the conversation about diversity and inclusion by making it real and relatable.
Tanya Hayles is a celebrated author and storyteller who employs a variety of platforms to promote discussion, spark debate, and initiate change. Her writing and speeches focus on the three core pillars: entrepreneurship, parenthood, and Black culture (diversity, inclusion, and representation). Irrespective of the medium, Tanya brings her fresh brand of authenticity to all her works and uses the power of storytelling to change the world.
She was featured on CBC, Global TV, CityLine, The Globe and Mail, CityLine, The Toronto Star, and more, and she has spoken at the Collision Conference, Unilever Canada, and Facebook. She has also appeared in Today.com, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Real, and Associated Press and has written for Teen Vogue, Today’s Parent, HuffPost, and other publications.
She was the 2019 BMO Women’s Award recipient for Community and Charitable Giving, the 2020 L’Oreal Woman of Worth honoree, and selected as one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence in 2021.
Tanya is a writer, founder, event planner, and advocate against anti-Black racism. She does speaking engagements at conferences, groups, workshops, and events on building online communities, anti-Black racism, and parenting.
In 2020, they donated over $45,000 to needy families and used a $10,000 emergency grant fund. These donations go directly toward continuing their ability to support families during this pandemic.
Today, Black Moms Connection is more than a Facebook group. It’s an organization with large and lofty goals. For more information, visit their website at https://www.blackmomsconnection.com/.
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