About 200 Black tech founders, executives, and local business owners gathered at Belle Isle Golf Center in Detroit this past weekend for Founders on the Fairway, an annual networking event organized by Black Tech Saturdays that uses golf as a vehicle to build professional relationships and dismantle barriers to corporate deal-making spaces. Co-founder Alexa Turnage framed the initiative as a deliberate strategy to move Black entrepreneurs into environments where business relationships are historically built, telling WDIV’s ClickOnDetroit that “so many deals are done on the golf course” and that the event is designed to get participants practicing the sport and building relationships before entering those spaces.
Key Takeaways
- Approximately 200 golfers attended the annual Founders on the Fairway event at Belle Isle Golf Center in Detroit on July 12, 2026, organized by Black Tech Saturdays
- The event pairs beginning golfers with experienced players to demystify the sport and build professional networking skills in a setting where business deals are traditionally brokered
- Black Tech Saturdays was co-founded by Johnnie and Alexa Turnage and is headquartered at Newlab at Michigan Central in Detroit
- The organization has received more than $2.5 million in institutional backing, including $1.2 million from the Gilbert Family Foundation, $1 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and $350,000 from Rocket Community Fund
- Black Tech Saturdays has impacted more than 25,000 people through workshops, mentorship programs, pitch competitions, and networking events
Why Is Golf the Vehicle for This Initiative?
Golf occupies a unique position in American business culture. The sport has functioned for decades as an informal extension of the corporate boardroom — a setting where relationships are deepened, partnerships are negotiated, and deals are advanced outside of formal office environments. That dynamic has historically excluded Black professionals, who face barriers to entry that range from the cost of equipment and club memberships to the cultural unfamiliarity that comes from being underrepresented in the sport.
Founders on the Fairway addresses that gap directly. The event pairs beginners with seasoned golfers, offering instruction on fundamentals while simultaneously creating space for the kind of relationship-building that drives business outcomes. Alexa Turnage told ClickOnDetroit that “with everything going on, golf is a great way to find friends and get some vitamin D,” but the underlying strategy is more deliberate than recreation. The event is structured to transfer both athletic and professional skills at the same time.
Paige Simmons, a new golfer who attended the event, described the parallel between the course and the conference room. Simmons told ClickOnDetroit that participants are “learning patience, strategy, how to connect with people and how to get better at something with time — and it takes perseverance to do that.” The observation captures what organizers are building: a program where the discipline required to improve at golf mirrors the discipline required to build a business, and where both are practiced inside a community of peers who share similar professional trajectories.
What Is Black Tech Saturdays and How Has It Grown?
Black Tech Saturdays was co-founded by Johnnie and Alexa Turnage as a small weekend gathering for Black entrepreneurs and creatives in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. What began as informal Saturday sessions in a Newlab conference room at Michigan Central has grown into an economic mobility organization that has impacted more than 25,000 people through workshops, mentorship, pitch competitions, panel discussions, and networking events.
The organization is headquartered at Newlab at Michigan Central, where it opened official offices in December 2024. Black Tech Saturdays hosts monthly large-format gatherings that draw hundreds of attendees, along with smaller micro-workshops, virtual sessions, and signature events like Founders on the Fairway and the annual Detroit Digital Empowerment Summit.
The Turnages have built the organization’s thesis around a specific premise: technology is a vehicle for closing the racial wealth gap, and the path to generational wealth runs through entrepreneurship, access to capital, and professional networks that have historically been difficult for Black founders to enter. Johnnie Turnage has spoken publicly about the gap between Detroit and ecosystems like Silicon Valley, where early-stage capital and a culture of entrepreneurial risk-taking are more accessible. Black Tech Saturdays positions itself as infrastructure for closing that gap — not by replicating Silicon Valley, but by building a model rooted in Detroit’s own strengths.
The organization’s impact has attracted institutional backing. The Gilbert Family Foundation has invested $1.2 million, Rocket Community Fund has contributed $350,000, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarded Black Tech Saturdays $1 million through its Trusted Connector Grant program — the single largest grant out of $6.8 million distributed across 23 organizations statewide. The MEDC funding supports expanded micro-workshops in Detroit and Lansing, along with $150,000 designated for pitch competitions at the monthly Newlab gatherings.
How Does Founders on the Fairway Fit Into the Broader Model?
Founders on the Fairway is one component of a programming calendar that Black Tech Saturdays has built to address different dimensions of entrepreneurial development. The monthly Newlab gatherings provide community and exposure. The micro-workshops deliver technical skills in areas like business development, fundraising, and technology adoption. The pitch competitions offer direct access to capital. The Detroit Digital Empowerment Summit — a three-day annual event supported by General Motors, Comcast, DTE Foundation, and the Kellogg Foundation — connects the local ecosystem to national investor and corporate networks.
Golf fills a different role. The sport provides access to an informal professional environment that has historically operated as a gatekeeping mechanism in corporate America. By introducing Black founders to the game inside a community of peers rather than in isolation at a country club, Founders on the Fairway removes the cultural barrier first and builds the athletic skill second. The result is a cohort of entrepreneurs who can show up in those spaces with both comfort and competence.
The event also reflects a broader pattern in Black Tech Saturdays’ programming: meeting participants where they are rather than where traditional accelerators expect them to be. The organization has run virtual sessions with the National Science Foundation, partnered with Google on an innovation summit, and hosted visits from public figures including actor and former U.S. Senate candidate Hill Harper and Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones. Governor Gretchen Whitmer spotlighted the organization during the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference, and the Turnages have spoken at Afrotech, one of the largest Black tech conferences in the country.
FAQs
What is Founders on the Fairway? Founders on the Fairway is an annual golf networking event organized by Black Tech Saturdays at Belle Isle Golf Center in Detroit. The event pairs beginning golfers with experienced players to build professional relationships and introduce Black entrepreneurs to a sport where business deals are traditionally brokered.
Who founded Black Tech Saturdays? Black Tech Saturdays was co-founded by Johnnie and Alexa Turnage in Detroit. The organization is headquartered at Newlab at Michigan Central in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.
How many people attended the 2026 event? Approximately 200 golfers attended the Founders on the Fairway event on July 12, 2026, including tech founders, executives, and local business owners from the Detroit area.
What funding has Black Tech Saturdays received? The organization has received more than $2.5 million in institutional backing, including $1.2 million from the Gilbert Family Foundation, $1 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and $350,000 from Rocket Community Fund.
How many people has Black Tech Saturdays impacted? The organization has impacted more than 25,000 people through its workshops, mentorship programs, pitch competitions, and networking events since its founding.
What other events does Black Tech Saturdays host? Black Tech Saturdays hosts monthly gatherings at Newlab at Michigan Central, micro-workshops, pitch competitions, virtual sessions, and the annual Detroit Digital Empowerment Summit — a three-day event supported by sponsors including General Motors, Comcast, and the Kellogg Foundation.
