Frequently Asked Questions

The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a racial equity and economic justice non-profit organization working towards a more equitable economic future. In recognition that Black people in the U.S. make up nearly 15% of the population, the Pledge is calling on major retailers and corporations to commit a minimum of 15% of their annual purchasing power to Black-owned businesses, in addition to other internal and external efforts to support equal opportunity for Black entrepreneurs.

Launched in 2020 by Aurora James, the initiative was born from seeing multiple acts of injustice and police brutality in the United States with a lack of accountability for the systemic issues at play.

Over 13% of people living in the United States identify as Black and another estimated 2% identify as mixed race, totaling 15%. At The Fifteen Percent Pledge, we feel that 15% is the least that these major retailers can do to help close the financial gap in this country.

Check out our new Consumer Commitment!

Our amazing task force is actively putting together a comprehensive list of Black-owned business in various industries. You can check out our growing community here!

We are honored to welcome your business into our growing community of Black-owned businesses. Please follow the instructions below to register your business:

1. Head to 15percentpledge.org

2. At the top right, select "Join Our Business Equity Community"

3. At the bottom of the pop-up window, select "Register"

4. Complete the requested fields and verify your email address.

5. From here you can begin completing your business page with images and relevant links and descriptions! Then, once you're ready you can click publish to make it visible in the directory.

Yes! The Fifteen Percent Pledge welcomes Indigenously Owned businesses to join our Businesses Equity Community as our Canadian pledge-takers take the pledge through a BIPOC lens.

While this pledge was initially conceived by members of the retail and fashion industries with an eye towards mobilizing large multi-brand retailers to grow their share of shelf-space dedicated to Black-owned businesses, we fully believe that the spirit of this pledge and the steps we propose can be adopted across industries and in the lives of every individual, even at the consumer level. We encourage you to take this pledge in your own life, and share with us how you can implement a plan into your own life or within your company.

For more information please send us a note at info@15pp.org.