The YOUNG, GIFTED, & BLACK™ (YGB) ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS program began in 2006 as a means to bring exposure to everyday individuals who represent a positive role model to their peers and provide a means by which onlookers can become inspired and motivated.    

The YGB ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS program is a simple measure of giving recognition, highlighting and showing appreciation towards his/her peers. 

The YGB ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS program started out as a marketing idea to help attract business back to the Blue Mahoe Restaurant in NYC which was one of top Caribbean establishments in the late 1980’s & 1990’s.  The marketing campaign was directed towards attracting new customers to patronize the establishment. which business partners Carl Gray – President & CEO of The NetLinkz Group, Inc & Kenny ‘Suga Bear’ Groves of Word of Mouth Entertainment both thought that was a good method of getting an audience  by creating a  weekly event titled ‘One Luv Wednesdays’. 

Each week a special tribute or emphasis was placed on key individuals to honor during  Black History Month:

• Week one (1) the focus was placed on Robert Nesta Marley being that his birthday fell on February 6th and his contribution to Reggae music worldwide.

• Week two  (2) the focus was placed on Coretta Scott King for her position in history and to honor our strong women of color.

• Week three (3) the focus was to highlight the Historical Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) , Pan Hellenic Greek Fraternal Organizations, Black Ivy, CUNY & SUNY Universities and School of ‘Hard Knocks’ for those that did not receive a formal college education.

• Week four (4) was an impromptu idea to just show appreciation to everyday individuals who keep making strides in their lives as entrepreneurs. 

There weren’t any real criteria set to give the award other than the persons strive for success, accomplishments & achievements.  Carl Gray wanted people to see the path that they took from where they came to where they are now and where they are going. His feeling is “there are many individuals in our lives that do not get the accreditations or notoriety because they are not mentioned in the media, but they are impactful at what they do for their industry”.

Since 2006, Carl Gray has continued to produce the YOUNG, GIFTED, & BLACK™ (YGB) ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARDS program and has given out honors to over 300+ entrepreneurial recipients.

How Are The Award Recipients Chosen?

The former year honoree(s) are first to recommend a new recipient for the following year’s award; should there be no acceptance or no recommendation for the award by the most recent honoree, the default selection is done by the founder and committee in addition to public nominations which are also taken into consideration.

The individual(s) making the nomination must have some type of personal connection with the nominee whether as a friend, business acquaintance or associate. A minimum of 10 to 20 nominees at most are chosen but there are exceptions made to reduce or increase the list based on the committee vote.