BBI PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

A PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION

EST. 2015

BBI Professional Services is a Public Benefit Corporation built on the belief that Black entrepreneurship is not a niche — it is an economic force. For ten years we have worked at every level of that ecosystem — training, community, capital, infrastructure, and now advisory. Our doors are open to founders of every background. Our roots are firmly and unapologetically grounded in the agency and excellence of Black communities across the diaspora.

Our mission: to build the infrastructure, advisory capacity, and cross-border bridges that founder-CEOs need to grow, scale, and sustain generational wealth.

WHERE WE STARTED

BBI was founded in 2015 as a Public Benefit Corporation with a singular focus — to support Black entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale. We set out to be a hub of Black excellence and leadership, bringing together thought leaders, resources, partners, and experts from across the country to serve founders who had historically been underserved, overlooked, and underestimated.

Over the years we delivered impactful, tactical training and development for businesses at every stage. We built community. We built ecosystems. And in 2020 we gifted our community mission — Creating a Vibrant Community of Black Entrepreneurs, Professionals, and Leaders — to the AYA Foundation, Colorado's only Black-led community foundation, which we founded to sustain that work beyond BBI

WHAT WE BUILT — AND WHAT IT COST

We set our sights higher. We developed Colorado's first Black, woman-owned venture fund — a landmark moment for our community and a direct expression of what BBI had been building toward.

What happened next was bittersweet in the way that much of Black history is bittersweet. The fund was hostilely taken over, turned into a private equity vehicle, and lost to the community it was built to serve. The loss was real. We name it here without apology.

We did not stop.

From that chapter we carried the lesson and the resolve. We secured $1.6 million over two years and launched the Economic Development Association for Black Communities — opening its doors in 2023. That infrastructure exists today because BBI refused to let a setback become a stopping point.

WHERE WE FOCUS NOW

A decade of this work has shown us something clearly — technical support alone is not enough. Black founder-CEOs need a breadth of support: advisory, community, capital access, and cross-border connections to build businesses that last beyond a single generation.

We have watched with pride as organizations across the country have stood up to support Black entrepreneurship. We were among the early ones leading the way. Now we turn our focus to the missing middle — the founder-CEOs who have consistent revenue and real operational challenges, who have outgrown startup resources without yet reaching the enterprise support they need.

This is the work Beyond the Bottleneck was built for. Not to start businesses — but to help the founders who are already running them break free from the ceiling they have unknowingly become in their own business.

We are still building. We are not done.

WHAT WE STAND FOR

Access — Expanding pathways to capital, networks, and opportunities.
Growth — Equipping founder-CEOs with the tools to scale sustainably.
Innovation — Designing creative solutions for evolving business needs.
Community — Building connections that foster collaboration and resilience.
Global Perspective — Positioning businesses to succeed locally and globally.

BBI'S STANDARD

We don't validate — we diagnose, challenge, and build alongside founders who are serious about growing beyond themselves. Our philosophy is honest over comfortable. That standard applies to our clients, to our work, and as you have just read — to our own story.

BBI has delivered programs in partnership with state economic development agencies, financial institutions, and small business development centers. We bring that same institutional standard to every founder we work with.

AS SEEN IN

LEADERSHIP

Jice Johnson

Founder & Chief Visionary Officer

Jice Johnson is a U.S. Army veteran, mother of three, and award-winning founder who has spent a decade building economic infrastructure for Black communities. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Management and Leadership from Amridge University and has been recognized by the Denver Business Journal as an Outstanding Woman in Business and Top 40 Under 40 honoree. She founded BBI Professional Services in 2015 and has since launched the AYA Foundation and the EDA for Black Communities. Everything she builds is driven by one thing — legacy.