New online platform, Assemble, officially launches on Black Friday with original content series, featuring lessons taught by prominent Black and Brown innovators and leaders from around the world.
With the launch of Assemble, the platform aims to inspire and create new dreams and visions of the future for all BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students and young adults, according to a release.
Chief Executive Officer Cortney Woodruff explains, “Our philosophy is that you can’t be what you can’t see. Assemble is the first platform to purposely highlight minorities that have worked hard to achieve success in their respective fields and display them to audiences that may be unaware of their success.”
Rounding out the Assemble executive team: President Cortez Bryant, Chief of Philanthropy Avrell Stokes (and President of Assemble’s nonprofit arm, BeGreat Together), and Co-Founder Jesse Williams.
Investors in the revolutionary platform include Backstage Capital, Belinda Johnson (AirBNB and PayPal Board Member), Firebrand VC, InkWell Ventures, The Jasco Venture Fund, Stand Together Ventures Lab and Tiffany Haddish.
“We have everything we need to train and inspire our own in any field. We have all the parts; we just need to assemble. It’s time we grow our own food again, together. As all self-respecting communities have always done,” explains Assemble Co-Founder Jesse Williams.
Assemble’s content consists of 12-15 episodes per instructor, focused on lessons that promote personal growth and career development. The series will include industries and everyday professionals covering business, entertainment, arts, sciences, design, lifestyle, community, government, writing, music and more.
With 20 individual instructor courses already scheduled for production, initial collaborators include prominent voices such as Grammy winning Trumpeter Maurice “Mobetta” Brown,
acclaimed music manager Cortez Bryant, investor Arlan Hamilton, global makeup artist Sir John, entertainment manager Corey Smyth, and radio personality and entrepreneur Angela Yee.“I know firsthand who you learn from matters,” said Cortez “Tez” Bryant, President of Assemble.
“Growing up there were few Black mentors in the community I could emulate. Our vision for Assemble is to place the advice and knowledge of successful Black innovators
into every household and onto every device, creating touch points to inspire Black, minority, and other underserved youth to achieve their own version of greatness. Our platform showcases unique stories and career paths – including mine – to inspire generations of Black and minority leaders to accomplish amazing things for themselves and their communities.”Assemble is offering a limited free trial for the month of December. Members will be able to access classes for free until the New Year. To get started, sign-up at Assemble.FYI.