Gainesville Black Professionals started nine years ago to fill a gap. Now, the work will continue even as the organization ends.  

Virginia Grant had moved to Gainesville a few years prior but still felt disjointed from the community. She attended a program with the city to learn about the different departments and their functions; then she did the same program through Alachua County. 

Grant, whose background is in mental health counseling, found that everyone said they wanted to connect and work with the Black business community, but no one was connecting. 

“Now I’m feeling like I want to be connected. I’m hearing people say they want to be connected, the city and the county saying they want to be connected, but we’re not connected,” said Grant. 

Without a roadmap, Grant started Gainesville Black Professionals (GBP) to finally put the pieces together. She said it was an organic process, with one event flowing into another through suggestions from attendees.  

GBP hosted mixers to start and curate workforce development events as well. Grant’s proudest achievement is the group’s magazine, Synergy. It featured Black leaders from North Central Florida overlooked by other outlets. 

She had no idea the community would catch the vision so quickly.  

“When you have a vision and you have an idea, all you can do is throw it out there, and you don’t know if people are gonna buy into it or not,” Grant said. “So, I was extremely impressed with the way that people just really bought into it.”   

Next month, GBP will dissolve as an organization, but Grant said the work will live. 

Through the nonprofit, she said other groups have started, like a revitalized 100 Black Men of Gainesville, and other will start soon, like Support BLK GNV slated to launch in 2025. Local businesses and individuals, Gainesville and Alachua County—they’re connected and know each other now, she said. 

“The beautiful thing about our organization was that we build relationships, and we create connections,” Grant said. “So, now that those connections are formed, and those relationships and those partnerships are there. The work continues.”   

GBP will host a final Impact Gala to look back at its years of operation. Then, Grant will pivot to another gap that she sees in the community rooted in another personal experience. 

Nearly four years ago, Grant’s sister suffered an anoxic brain injury. Grant decided to become her full-time caregiver instead of placing her in a nursing home. It’s a full-time job that she’s tackled on top of leading GBP.  

Grant said caregivers can suffer from isolation and stress. It’s overwhelming sometimes. 

Caregivers work around the clock and count on a nurse showing up on time in order to get a break. A late arrival can throw the day off.  

“Through my experience, I realized what makes mine different is that I had a strong support system, and a lot of caregivers don’t have that,” Grant said.  

She said family members caring for loved ones sometimes aren’t sure what to do, how to do it or when to do it.  

The nonprofit, called Assurance, will hopefully launch next year.  

It’s hard to set aside GBP, but Grant said her energies have continued to go to the new work. She said she’s talked to God about the change and feels it’s the right time. 

Still, she’s not sure if it’ll be a clean break. With a laugh, she said a popup mixer might be in the future, but nothing will be planned or expected with regularity. Grant will also continue to support other organizations already doing the connecting.  

Grant has received a lot of feedback since announcing the end of GBP. People have reached out to say how much they enjoyed the nonprofit or benefited from the connections it fostered.  

“I had no idea that it would mean that much, or that it would catch on that quickly,” Grant said.