By Freda Freeman
Correspondent
“What becomes possible is empowerment, understanding, access and growth. All of those things become not just possible, but it allows us to create a legacy and a foundation to uplift those priorities. Once those priorities have been established, it allows us to pass that on to the Black women, the Black girls, who will come after us.”
This is what Nana Asante-Smith says is possible with the establishment of the Black Women’s Talent Network, a new statewide digital platform that will connect Black women with job openings and professional and personal growth opportunities.
Asante-Smith first defines the BWTN by saying what it is not: “an initiative to address or remedy societal ills that Black women are experiencing in the sense of being undervalued and undermined in the workforce.”
Through the virtual platform, members can find job openings, share development opportunities and find support when facing challenges.
“This is a space by us and for us that is intended to represent Black women showing up for each other, supporting each other, and is a mechanism to establish access in the work space where access has been compromised by our larger society,” Asante-Smith said. “It is a space that is intended to allow its members to feel empowered and to help us navigate the workforce in a productive and supportive manner that only we can do in the best way that we know how.”
Ghanaian born Asante-Smith has lived in Durham since she moved here to attend college and law school, and is a lawyer with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein in Raleigh. She founded the BWTN after talking with and seeing Black women on social media seeking jobs, professional enrichment opportunities, guidance and space to vent.
Asante-Smith urges Black women to go to bwtn.com to create a profile while waiting for the platform to formally launch. The BWTN doesn’t require paid membership or members to meet specific criteria. “I wanted to create a space that was not judgmental, no gatekeeping, free, accessible, empowering, useful and navigable, even at the most basic level,” she said.
According to The American Prospect political magazine, approximately 300,000 Black women left the workforce during the first half of 2025. More recent reports from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that over 600,000 Black women, many with master’s degrees and Ph.D.s, lost their jobs between January 2025 and mid-2026 due to federal job cuts, anti-DEI policies and other systemic barriers.
State Senator Natalie Murdock said Black women are being targeted and disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn.
“Black women who are overwhelmingly one of the most educated, if not the most educated, demographics are the highest percentage of individuals who are becoming unemployed. So, we know there’s a disconnect there, and it’s not for lack of education and skill set,” she said. “There are women over 50, over 60, who should be getting ready for retirement now saying, ‘I’ll be working until I’m 75 to make up for not working in the last year and a half.’”
Murdock said Black women need efforts like the BWTN. “To me, we’re in crisis mode, and Black women do what we always do, and that’s stand together and figure it out,” she said. “We know this is a targeted assault, so we have to work collectively together to support each other because we do have an impact, and I think if we multiply that power, we can weather this storm that, sadly, I think will last for the next two years.”
Destiny Alexander, who runs POOF teen center in East Durham, said Asante-Smith helped her when planning a trip to take 26 teens to Ghana. Alexander said this is an example of how the BWTN can help Black women make connections, grow financially and support each other.
“It’s opportunities; it’s spaces that we may can’t get into ourselves, an opportunity to have assistance and help and even learn how to navigate places,” Alexander said. “Financially, it can help bring economic wealth for Black women if we can get into these spaces, and it can help your mental health to know you have a specific community that you can lean on.”
