Successful summits, new programs, new sponsors, new leadership, new members  … 2022 was an exciting year for Startup Champions Network! 

Back to What We Do Best: Summits

The 2022 Spring Summit centered on building racial equity in a way no other SCN summit has. Ecosystem builders across 56 cities in 27 states and 2 countries were welcomed to the South to explore the Triangle ecosystem. Being in Durham - the home of one of our nation’s historic Black Wall streets - was the perfect backdrop to showcase the collaboration and equitable approach members from the Triangle are taking in their ecosystem while also showcasing the vibrant past and present of Black entrepreneurship in Durham. And we had a record number of attendees! We want to thank the the team at Forward Cities for being incredible hosts, and to Summit Hosts Fay Horwitt, Krista Covey, and Anika Horn. Read the recap.

 

“The Black Butterfly Network on boarded 200 businesses onto the https://BlkBtrFly.exchange. In parnership with SCN we brought more than 20 representatives from Baltimore’s ecosystem to the two SCN summits this year. Our participants were moved by the incredible welcoming and open environment of the Summits, and stated that the depth of learning has provided models that have shifted the nature of the way they see their own businesses in the context of the broader ecosystem. This experience of belonging also reflects the hard and conscious effort SCN has engaged through the InterCultural Unity work to build a beloved community within the SCN network. Change is possible! We look forward to the leadership of our regional colleague, Mark Lawrence, as he takes on the role of stewarding SCN into our next stage of development.” - Paulo Gregory” - Paulo Gregory, SCN Board/Chair, InterCultural Unity Committee, Founder of Cohado and Black Butterfly Network

In Fort Worth, we focused on movement making and how we can grow the movement of ecosystem building. We learned about the Right to Start movement, the Startup Act, Topophilia, policy movements, placemaking movements, ecosystem building movements… Attendees left re-energized with lots to bring back to their ecosystems. We want to thank HSC Next and Summit Hosts Cameron Cushman, Kendel Rogers, Marco Johnson, and Amber Yourman for their hard work putting together a great summit. Read the recap.

“2022 came and went with many new wins for SCN. Across our communities I saw more understanding that in order to improve economic prosperity for us all, we need to have systems in place with people committed to helping entrepreneurs succeed. I saw the cementing of an industry around ecosystem building. This was reaffirmed at the Fort Worth Summit when ecosystem builders of all kinds come together. From economic developers to entrepreneurs and VCs to CDFI leaders, the uniting of people to share ideas across different communities was wild to see. Like planting a seed and watching it grow. What a journey to be on.” - Jenny Poon, SCN Board, Founder of Huub and Co+Hoots

We welcomed new leadership

A baton was passed at the Fort Worth Summit: that of our Board Chair, Tom Chapman. Tom has served on the board for many years and stepped up in a big way during the pandemic. We’re so grateful for his leadership and dedication. Taking the reins is Mark Lawrence, who was our Board Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. 

Mark is an entrepreneur ecosystem builder who is passionate about the enabling power of innovation and entrepreneurship to create new industries and new opportunities that directly impacts local communities. He leverages his professional experience to help support economic empowerment in underserved communities.

Mark is the founder and managing partner of Inncuvate, a full-stack entrepreneurship-led economic development enterprise that specializes in creating purpose-built programs and places that create an environment that merges ideation, invention, incubation, commercialization, and collaboration into local innovation centers that transforms the communities where they are located.

“2022 has been a great year for SCN as this work has become more visible and more important as various communites focus on entrepreneurship to rebuild their economies.  I appreciate being invited to the board in 2019 and I am excited to step up as the Chair to help continue the positive momentum shaping SCN’s path forward. The pandemic forced us to really focus on providing better support to our members who are passionate about entrepreneurship ecosystem building. SCN is focused on sustainability of ecosystem building as a profession which will lead to organization sustainability for SCN. Over the next couple of years we are focused on organization capacity building, increasing membership, and harnessing the network to provide multiple levels of value to members.” - Mark Lawrence  

We also welcomed a new board member, Chris Cain. Chris works on the front lines empowering people to open businesses by educating them on business planning, navigating the process of getting a business loan, and lending an ear of support and empathy. She currently works as the Chief Lending Officer at Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union

“For me, the Durham summit was powerful. The Black Wallstreet tour showed me the depth and breadth of Black banking and Black business in a way I hadn't seen. It changed the way I look at community development. SCN gave ecosystem builders the opportunity for people to come from all over the country to see the rich history in Durhman. It was really moving to me. Kudos to the team at Forward Cities for putting on such a meaningful summit.” - Chris Cain

We launched new SCN Challenges

This year we challenged members in new ways. In addition to welcoming two new Ecosystem Health Challenge cohorts, we launched two new SCN Challenges! The Map What Matters Challenge is an opportunity to try your hand at mapping out 20 resources in your ecosystem. Read the recap from our first Map What Matters challenge. The Fluency Score Challenge helps organizations measure the product-market fit of their ventures and the impact of the organization's programming on those ventures using the Fluency Score. 

In addition to our new challenges, we launched Members Only Coffee Roulette, a fun way to meet and/or reconnect with other SCN Members. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 1 to join the next one! Details and registration here.

We welcomed new sponsors

We are blown away by the support of other organizations this year. First, from the Kauffman Foundation, who provided us with sustainable funding.

“The Kauffman foundation champions bold ideas to change futures because, like our founder Ewing Kauffman, we believe every person should have the opportunity to be uncommon and take risks to achieve their goals. We first listen to the communities we serve, seek to understand the problems and dream big with partners like Startup Champions Network to build innovative programs that drive results,” says Wendy Guillies, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Agora stepped us as a Sustaining Sponsor this year, offering funding but also opening up opportunities to our members. We are so thankful for Agora and their give first mentality as a sponsor. 

“The best spend of our resources, as a startup program team, to build long-lasting relationships with partners, is to invest in helping them be as successful as possible. Supporting them in their goals helps us achieve ours and seeds the ground upon which we aim to travel. We are proud to support the amazing work the Startup Champions Network is doing and honored to be a part of it. I’m always up for chatting with any of the Startup Champion Network members so please don’t hesitate to grab time on my calendar HERE” - Todd Embley, Startup Program Director, Agora

Each of our new Challenge partners is also a sponsor of SCN. We’ve loved working with the EcoMap team, as well as Fluent and Assure

We also had a tremendous amount of support on the local level for both Summits. We want to thank every single organization that helped make our Summits successful. Shout out to Ioogo, presenting sponsor of our Fort Worth Summit. Learn more about them here.

We re-engaged our network

This year felt like we finally hit our stride again after a tough pandemic. We re-engaged our network and saw so many new faces at the Summit. We also welcomed dozens of new members (and welcomed back some OGs).

“Baltimore has been brimming with activity, locally and in partnership with SCN. We have trained 50 businesses in the Cohado Emergent Ecosystem Development network organizing process to deepen and strengthen the ecosystem through culturally anchored mutual support and collaborative initiative development. - Paulo Gregory

“In my reflection, 2022 stands out as a year that offered significant opportunity for SCN to reengage as a network building facilitator and strengthener. Plainly, we finally got to bring more like-minded people from throughout the country together than we hadn’t been able to in a couple of years. It’s been exciting to see this activity return for us and for other organizations in the field of supporting ecosystem builders. It’s exciting and, I believe, is telling that the profession of ecosystem building, and the importance of its impact, is on the rise.” - Toni Eberhart, SCN Board Member / Innovation Program Development, Booz Allen Hamilton / Innovation Programs, NASA International Space Apps Challenge

 

“2022 welcomed many positive changes on personal and professional levels. Excited to see the evolution of our profession foster and grow as the next phase of ESHIP - Ecosystem Building work flourishes. As a field we have several people affiliated with government who now have “ecosystem” in their title; shout out to Julie Heath and Jennifer Shieh! I met my granddaughter in time to celebrate her 1st birthday. I joined the team at the Global Entrepreneurship Network as the Director for Global Community. I had the honor of hosting over 9,000 international delegates at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Riyadh and supporting countries around the world and ecosystems here at home during the 15th Anniversary of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Thanks to all who participated!” - Cecilia Wessinger, SCN Board Treasurer / Founder, Mass Collaboration / Director for Global Community, Global Entrepreneurship Network

 

It has been a re-energizing and successful year and we can’t wait to show you what’s next for 2023! Join us on Wednesday, January 25 for SCN’s 2023 Townhall. Learn more here.