Black Girls Build Inc

09/03/2026

💪🏿🙌🏿

08/28/2026

BUILDING BEYOND THE TOOLBOX. 🔨

At Black Girls Build Inc., preparing women and youth for the trades means teaching more than technical skills. It also means preparing them to confidently navigate the environments where those skills will be used.

There is a difference between correction and disrespect.

🚨NEGGING attempts to undermine confidence through subtle insults or backhanded compliments:

“You’re actually pretty good… for a woman.”

“Your husband must have taught you.”

“People only notice you because you’re a Black woman in construction.”

🚨NAGGING addresses responsibility and accountability:

“Measure twice.”

“Put your safety gear on."

“Finish the task.”

“Put your tools away and clean your workspace.”

In the trades, correction is necessary. Accountability is necessary. Disrespect is not.

We teach women and youth to remain teachable enough to receive instruction, confident enough to ask questions, accountable enough to correct mistakes, and secure enough to recognize when criticism has nothing to do with their actual performance.

Because workforce readiness isn't only knowing how to use the tools.📌

It's knowing how to carry your skills, confidence and professionalism into the spaces where you'll use them.

That's building beyond the toolbox. 🔨

08/27/2026

💛 FOR THE MANY PARENTS WHO ASK: “HOW CAN I GET MY DAUGHTER INVOLVED WITH BLACK GIRLS BUILD?”

We hear you, and we appreciate every parent who sees the value in what Black Girls Build Inc. represents and wants that exposure for their daughter.

We also want to make an important distinction.

Black Girls Build Inc. is a nonprofit organization. Our workshops, youth programming, school visits, community appearances, and organizational collaborations are currently offered through funded partnerships, sponsorships, grants, honorariums, donations, and invited opportunities. At this time, BGB is not offering open individual enrollment or one-on-one mentorship.

However, our Founder & President, JC Sykes, has independently opened a limited number of PAID personal mentorship opportunities for girls and women seeking more individualized guidance, support, confidence building, skilled-trades exposure, entrepreneurship development, and personal growth.

These mentorship opportunities are offered directly through JC Sykes/Carpenter Kween Ink and are separate from Black Girls Build Inc.

This distinction is important. Nonprofit does not mean that the labor, expertise, materials, travel, programming, or professional time required to serve our communities has no cost. Sustainable programming requires sustainable support.

If you're looking to bring Black Girls Build to your school, organization, community, or event, contact BGB regarding a funded partnership.

If you're looking for individual mentorship for yourself or your daughter, JC's new paid mentorship opportunities may be the appropriate fit.

💛 Want to support the BGB mission? All donations are welcome and help us continue creating hands-on opportunities, providing materials, and expanding access to skilled-trades education for women and youth.

🌐 www.bgb2.org

Thank you for continuing to believe in the mission, support the work, AND respect the value behind it. 💛🛠️

08/22/2026

We’re bringing BGB with us to Chicago! 🛠️👑

Black Girls Build Inc. T-shirts, hoodies, and promotional items will be available for purchase during Chicago Build Expo 2026.

Every purchase supports the mission and helps us continue creating hands-on building experiences and opportunities for the communities we serve.

Rep BGB. Support the mission. Build the future. 💪🏿

🚧 JOIN BLACK GIRLS BUILD INC. IN CHICAGO! 🏗️💛

Black Girls Build Inc is inviting our former participants, volunteers, partners, sponsors, supporters, and friends to join us at the 2026 Chicago Build Expo—one of the largest construction and design events in the country.

I am also honored to return as a Chicago Build Expo Ambassador for the 3rd consecutive year, representing Black Girls Build Inc. and continuing our mission of creating access, exposure, and opportunity in the skilled trades.

🎟️ Registration is FREE. All you have to do is get there!

For those traveling from the St. Louis area:
🚆 Amtrak is approximately a 5-hour ride, with round-trip fares often around $75 or less when booked in advance.
🚖 McCormick Place is a short Uber ride from Union Station.
🏨 Consider staying one night in a nearby hotel or Airbnb to make the trip more enjoyable.

Although the Expo is a two-day event, one full day provides plenty of time to explore exhibits, attend educational sessions, network with industry professionals, and discover new opportunities within the skilled trades.

📌Unfortunately, tickets to the Obama Presidential Center are already sold out during our visit, so we'll save that experience for another time.

After the Expo, we'll gather for dinner, fellowship, and a chance to enjoy Chicago together. Think of it as a Black Girls Build community meetup with a little STL in Chicago energy. 💛🖤

👕 Official Black Girls Build T-shirts will be available for purchase for anyone who would like to represent our organization during the event.
Whether you've attended a workshop, volunteered with us, partnered with our organization, or simply support our mission, we'd love to have you join us.
Let's learn, network, and continue building the future—together.

Who's making the trip? 🔨



PLEASE SHARE 🌹

08/11/2026

🛠️ TUESDAY BUILDER’S PERSPECTIVE
From the Field. From Experience.

You can’t choose a future nobody ever showed you existed.
We keep hearing about the skilled-trades shortage.

But from a Builder’s Perspective, recruitment is only part of the conversation.
Women have been entering the construction trades for decades. As fewer men entered the industry, recruiting women became increasingly important.
But recruiting women and building an industry prepared to respect, support, and retain women are two very different things.

The opportunity may exist.
Exposure, inclusion, and equitable support don’t always follow.
And for young girls, exposure often starts even earlier.
How many have actually held a drill?
Used a tape measure?
Built something with their own hands?
Had someone show them that construction isn’t just something they can do—but an industry where their skill, intelligence, creativity, and leadership belong?

That is the gap Black Girls Build Inc. works to close.

Because something powerful happens when you put a tool into someone’s hands and say:
“Your turn.”
The hesitation starts disappearing.
The questions start coming. “I don’t know how” becomes “Let me try.”
And eventually, “I can do this.”

That is where boldness begins.💥

Construction teaches far more than how to build. It teaches problem-solving, precision, decision-making, accountability, confidence, and the authority to stand behind something you’ve created.
Those skills build people, too.

Our mission is to bring boldness and authority to women and youth by providing exposure and opportunity to the construction industry through hands-on opportunities.

Because getting women and girls into the room isn’t enough.
They deserve to be exposed. Prepared. Respected. Included. And equipped to BUILD. 🛠️💜

— Black Girls Build Inc.



DISCLAIMER: Black Girls Build Inc. is not sponsored, funded, endorsed by, or affiliated with DEWALT or BLACK+DECKER. Any branded tools appearing in our photos are simply tools currently used in our hands-on programming. Their appearance should not be interpreted as a paid partnership, sponsorship, endorsement, or promotional relationship.

08/04/2026

One unexpected "yes" changed everything. 🛠️💛

Six years ago, a mom registered for one of our Black Girls Build Inc. workshops but couldn't find a babysitter for day two. She asked if her 9-year-old daughter could come. My answer? Absolutely.

By the end of the day, she quietly whispered to her mom, "I don't want to leave."
Mom and daughter became teammates, building their project side by side. That little spark turned into something much bigger.

She went on to become Black Girls Build Inc.'s very first youth instructor—a role she's grown into through years of mentorship, hands-on learning, and showing up with a willingness to learn. Many of our day-one supporters may remember her from our children's workshops, adult workshops, and her appearance alongside me on Channel 4 News.

Learning from women you can relate to has always been a staple of Black Girls Build Inc.
Today, six years later, she's still Team BGB.💪🏿

Now we're preparing to mentor the next generation of youth instructors.
Stay tuned. The future is looking bright. 💛🛠️

08/04/2026

Today's exposure becomes tomorrow's opportunity. 🛠️👷🏾‍♀️
One conversation.
One tool.
One skill at a time.

We had the privilege of introducing an incredible group of high school young women to the world of carpentry through hands-on learning and career exploration. For many, it was their first time holding construction tools or seeing themselves represented in the skilled trades.

That's exactly why Black Girls Build Inc. exists.
Representation matters.
Exposure matters.
Opportunity changes lives.

The future of construction is stronger when every young woman knows she belongs in the room—and on the jobsite.

Interested in bringing Black Girls Build Inc. to your school or community?
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.bgb2.org⁠

Serving communities nationwide through partnerships, sponsorships, and hands-on workforce development.

08/04/2026

Every board laid is more than a floor—it's a foundation for confidence. 🛠️✨
One measurement. One cut. One lesson at a time.

These moments remind us that the skilled trades aren't just about building structures—they're about building problem-solvers, leaders, and future professionals.

Every participant leaves knowing they're capable of more than they imagined.
This is why we do the work. This is Black Girls Build Inc.
We're not just teaching construction.
We're building confidence that lasts long after the project is complete.

Partnerships. Sponsorships. Community Collaborations. Nationwide.
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.bgb2.org⁠

07/30/2026

BLACK GIRLS BUILD INC. 🛠️👑

We didn't disappear. We pivoted.

New states.
New partnerships.
New opportunities.
Same mission.

Every room we walk into reminds the world that women belong wherever something is being built. We don't wait for seats at the table—we build the table too.
This is only the beginning of our next chapter.

We're actively welcoming partnerships, sponsorships, volunteers, and community collaborations nationwide.

Our updated website is live and still growing—just like us.

📩 DM us or email: [email protected] 🌐 www.bgb2.org⁠

Building confidence.
Building skills.
Building communities.
Building legacy.