2025 BIPOC Maker Accelerator Program

2025 BIPOC Maker Accelerator

Eight selected program participants will receive:

  • $1,000 business stipend toward materials, website development, etc.

  • A free 10x10 vendor space to sell at Handmade Arcade’s 2025 Holiday Market on December 5-6, 2025

  • $75 event-day stipend for the Holiday Market for transportation, parking, food, etc.

  • Product photography to use for website, social media, etc.

  • Extensive promotion on Handmade Arcade’s digital outlets

  • Four group creative entrepreneurship workshops taught by BIPOC entrepreneurial experts

  • A 1:1 hour-long consultation/coaching session with a BIPOC entrepreneurial expert

Application Timeline

Application Deadline: Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 11:59 PM (EST)

Applicant Notifications: Second week of February

Imani Batts from Catherine Trendz (2023 BIPOC Maker Accelerator)

Apply by January 16, 2025!

Participation Requirements

All accepted makers are required to:

  • Complete a confirmation form that will detail all required workshop dates and milestones

  • Sell their products at the 2025 Holiday Market on December 5-6, 2025 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center

  • Complete the 2025 Holiday Market post-market survey

  • Attend four group workshops between March-August 2025

  • Participate in a 1:1 hour-long coaching or consulting meeting between March-August 2025

  • Complete a post-program survey by December 31, 2025

  • Adhere to Handmade Arcade’s Maker Terms & Conditions.

Eligibility:

  • Maker business must be under three years old

  • Maker must reside in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver, Westmoreland, Washington, or Armstrong counties with the ability to attend in-person workshops in Pittsburgh

  • Maker must have access to technology that will allow them to attend virtual workshops via Zoom

  • Maker must have already developed products (this program is not intended to help start up a new business or develop an idea into fruition)

Makers who have already participated in Handmade Arcade’s BIPOC Maker Accelerator are not eligible to participate again but are encouraged to contact Handmade Arcade for future paid mentorship and contract opportunities at makers@handmadearcade.org.

Application Support

If you have questions about the application process or program, feel free to attend of one of the following Office Hour sessions hosted by HA’s Executive Director. These are casual drop-in sessions, not formal presentations.

January 7 (12-1 PM)

January 8 (3-4 PM)

January 13 (6-7 PM)

All Office Hours can be accessed via this Zoom link. Feel free to reach out to makers@handmadearcade.org with questions.

Funding for the 2025 BIPOC Maker Accelerator Program was provided by The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Program Background

Handmade Arcade made a public operational commitment in 2020 to examine all “legacy” policies and procedures through a lens of anti-racism and equity, acknowledge past harm HA’s exclusionary attitudes or jurying practices may have caused to BIPOC makers, and create and implement new programs, policies, and procedures that would center HA’s five core values of anti-racism, equity, collaboration, transparency, and financial sustainability in every decision. Handmade Arcade’s BIPOC Maker Accelerator program was piloted in 2023 in partnership with Talpha Harris and Sustainible, and the pilot program was generously funded by Neighborhood Allies. The purpose of the BIPOC Maker Accelerator program is to provide money, support, exposure, and connections to BIPOC makers to support their ability to thrive in our region’s craft and maker landscape.

The goals of the program are to:

  • Provide financial resources for program participants to sell at Handmade Arcade’s Holiday Market

  • Amplify and promote the work of program participants through extensive and prioritized marketing to Handmade Arcade’s audiences

  • Provide individualized creative entrepreneurial training and resources to BIPOC makers by hiring BIPOC creative entrepreneurial experts as coaches, consultants, workshop leaders, etc.

  • Build and strengthen genuine relationships with BIPOC makers to support their continued ability to thrive in our region’s craft and maker landscape