50 Black Women Business Owners Launch the BOW Collective

Despite decades in the technology industry, Theresa Harrison would never have landed a contract with Microsoft Corp. on her own, she said.

But then the founder and president of Baltimore cybersecurity, IT and software development firm George Street Services Inc. teamed up with the Black Owner & Women’s Collective, a group of 50 Black women business owners primarily in Greater Washington that launched earlier this year to help Black women business owners access more capital and contracts.

Within months, Harrison and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had signed a master service agreement for her firm to perform contracting work. The BOW Collective made the introduction, sharing information about all its member businesses with Microsoft with an eye toward increasing the latter's supplier diversity. Now, the agreement provides a framework for Harrison's firm to take on individual projects from Microsoft.