Meet the founder of Akina, the Google for Black women

Leigh Higginbotham Butler is the creator of Akina, a CaaS (Community-as-a-Service) app and platform that employs culturally appropriate AI and machine learning technologies.

In 2020, Butler established a safe space after failing to find one for herself on how to discuss the nation’s civil unrest with her Black boys. Her first idea was to create an app that would help Black mothers support one another on social media as they navigate parenthood. It swiftly grew into much more than that, serving as an avenue for groups and specialists to rally around one another.

Higginbotham Butler told Essence, “The conversations we were having in there extended beyond just children. There were so many women who needed help with things across the board.”

“We have spent the last 18 months retooling, reconfiguring, and pivoting as a company to truly create a community for Black women, a Google specifically for them.”

Black mothers usually face more challenges than White moms largely due to racism and prejudices, several reports show. Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. — 69.9 per 100,000 live births for 2021, and this is almost three times the rate for White women, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Akina app, which will be formally launched later this year, will be divided into three categories: (1) entrepreneurship and career development, (2) mental health and wellbeing, and (3) maternal health and healthcare.

The mompreneur said the platform will provide peer- and expert-vetted guidance as well as pop-up events across the nation to help Black women develop meaningful relationships.

She added, “Oftentimes we think we are in it alone and that we have to put on a superwoman cape and figure things out on our own, but we all need help. We can lean on one another to get where we aim to go.”

After more than three years of work, Higginbotham Butler expressed that she is finally ready to reveal Akina to the world, saying, “This was put on my heart some years ago and I couldn’t keep running from it. I had to do it. Like many others, I struggle with impostor syndrome. It was a lot for me to get out of that. So to have a space that encourages, provides for women, and celebrates all in one space is incredible.”

As per the publication, Akina will function on a freemium business model, which implies that its free membership tier would grant restricted access to the platform’s content.

The $20/month plan is the next step up, and it grants complete access to the app and the website, as well as a discounted rate for its in-person events and immersive moments.