J Hackett is a social scientist and a serial entrepreneur with over 20+ years of community and economic development experience. He is a TEDx speaker whose cross-sector work has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Yahoo! Finance, NC Bar Journal, and many scholarly journals.

He is the founder of Grind - Asheville's first Black Owned Coffee Shop. His award-winning business was recognized as the #1 best minority owned business, #3 best coffee shop in the state of North Carolina, and most recently, the #1 fastest-growing startup in Asheville.

Hackett is also the founder of Black Wall Street AVL, the business incubator with over 141 businesses with a mission to start, grow, and expand BIPOC businesses in Western North Carolina. He is also an instructor at Lenoir Rhyne Equity and Diversity Institute.

In 2017 he spoke for South by Southwest on neighborhood revitalization. 2009 he founded the Leviticus Educational Center in Nairobi, Kenya

Dr Hackett holds a BA in Sociology from the University of North Carolina – Asheville, Sociological research from the University of Ghana – Legon, a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University, and a Ph.D. from Eli College.

His work and scholarship has been featured in the NC bar journal, published in scholarly journals, awarded by Chambers of Commerce, and recognized on national and international levels.

He has worked on the United Nations Sustainable Development goals to support local work in countries around the world.

However, in the United States, he is most excited about his company 6 Figure Grants where he helps local leaders receive grants to support their own communities. To date, he has helped organizations raise over $58 Million in grants for their community work.

He is married to Dr. Alaysia Black Hackett, who was appointed by President Biden as the Chief Diversity Officer for the US Dept of Labor, and the two have three children. Most of all, he is a diehard fan of Golden Girls - thank you for being a friend.