E+I Kauffman Inclusion Awardees Named

Last month we hosted an incredible group of entrepreneurship program leaders who gathered to more deeply understand the perspective of entrepreneurs of color and women entrepreneurs, and then to think of ways the programs they run could be inclusive of those groups.

Since then, many of those entrepreneurship program leaders have continued to refine their ideas, and through support from the Kauffman Foundation, ASU Entrepreneurship + Innovation has funded ten of those programs to experiment with those ideas over the next six months.

• 1 Million Cups Phoenix will execute focused marketing campaigns to reach women and minorities, and hold special events for women and minority entrepreneurs. They will also increase diversity of the team of organizers.
• ASU American Indian Policy Institute will support Native American owned businesses with a tribal collision community for entrepreneurship, co-working, mentoring, training, and support services.
• After additional discovery, City of Buckeye’s Entrepreneurship Outreach Network will develop and test two pilot programs that bring value to Buckeye’s Latino entrepreneurs, use communication practices identified through discovery, and delivered in the format recommended by focus groups.
• After more discovery, Changemaker Central @ ASU will design programming with the specific needs of First Generation ASU students, such as new aspects of Solutions Summit, Startup Summit, Changemaker Community Action Grants and/or Changemaker Challenge.
• The City of Apache Junction will market their program to Latino entrepreneurs and will host pitch competitions for their program participants to compete for one-on-one time with consultants.
• The City of Tempe Economic Development Department will target women and people of color for Artrepreneur, a series of workshops, coaching and a meet-up group to provide practical tips to artists on business basics.
• Hustle PHX will offer child care for under-served, minority women entrepreneur cohort program participants who need help and support with their children as they think through and launch their businesses.
• Maricopa SBDC (Small Business Development Center) will create a program for women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color focused on financial literacy and use of financial tools to manage their business operations and guide daily business decisions.
• NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) Phoenix will host a 3-month mentoring program that will address issues from a survey of minority women business owners, and offer scholarships to NAWBO Phoenix for women of color and women between the ages of 25 and 40.
• Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation will offer a program, including small group workshops and mentoring, for women business owners and business owners of color to start or grow their businesses.

We can’t wait to see what incredible things will emerge from experimenting with these ideas! If you have an entrepreneurship program and would like support in increasing the inclusivity of your program, there is still time to apply. We will review applications weekly until all seed funding is allocated. Please reach out to Robin Baskin McNulty [email protected] for more information.