Mary Blackford is the Founder of Market 7, a community marketplace that features  Black-owned food and lifestyle businesses for the purpose of alleviating food and retail deserts in Washington, DC.

Mary graduated from Babson College with a BS in Business Management. As a student she also taught entrepreneurship courses to high school students in Ghana and South Africa. She began her career in the socially responsible finance industry as an Analyst. In 2013, Mary became one of the founding chapter leaders of the DC Chapter of Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE), a women-led professional group committed to providing resources to women working within the impact investing industry. In the summer of 2017 she launched her most recent venture Market 7. Market 7 has worked with 60 Black-owned businesses in the DC area to create alternative community pop-up markets that include fresh food, lifestyle products, and home essentials in Ward 7 (DC). Market 7 is currently building a new 7,000 sq ft food hall slated to open in 2021. Market 7 has been highlighted by the DC Mayor Muriel Browser, The Washington Post, CNBC, Black Enterprise, The Washingtonian, Essence Magazine, NBC, FOX, and WUSA.

In 2019, Mary created a partnership with Whole Foods Market (Mid-Atlantic) to bring more Black-owned brands to their stores. Mary has also developed training partnerships with Google and the Greater Washington Urban League to provide entrepreneurial training in underserved communities in 2020-2021.