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Cassels Launches Second Annual Grant to Support Canadian Black-Owned Small Businesses

04/12/2021

Update: Recipients of the 2021 grant have been announced. Learn more here.

Cassels is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications from Black-owned or operated small businesses in the Calgary Metropolitan Region for the second annual Cassels Black-Owned Small Business Grant, supported by Wheaton Precious Metals.

As in 2020, we are focused on supporting businesses who align with our firm’s core values and will most benefit from the grant and the legal expertise that we offer. In 2021, the total of the grants provided will be up to $125,000, combining funds raised by individuals from across Cassels with the generous support of Wheaton Precious Metals.

In addition, this grant amount will be matched with pro bono legal services to help these businesses succeed. Our hope is that this initiative will provide recipients with the financial support and expert advice needed to sustain their business and create long term economic opportunity.

We are also pleased to announce that Lola Adeyemi, founder of It’s Souper and recipient of the 2020 Grant, will be joining our Grant Committee to review applications in 2021.

Applications have now closed and the recipient(s) will be announced in June 2021. Thank you to everyone who applied!

If you have any questions, please contact Natasha Jimeno and Kwaku Tabi, Grant Committee Members, at grantapps@cassels.com.

About the Cassels Black-Owned Small Business Grant

At Cassels, we believe that a diverse environment is a rich environment, and an open, inclusive atmosphere benefits everyone working in it. While we continue to work to foster such an environment within our firm it is also our desire to promote such diversity and inclusion in the broader business world in which we operate.

We understand the funding challenges that small businesses face in Canada and are aware of the unique challenges faced by Black business owners. Accordingly, over three years, Cassels will offer financial support to the Black business community in the form of a grant or grants to one or more Black-owned or operated small businesses in each of the three cities in which we work and live (Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary) with the goal of creating long-term economic opportunity.