Startup Champions Network headed to the Bay Area for our Fall 2024 Ecosystem Builder Summit - mere days before Election Day. Our Summit theme, Building Community Power, could not be more relevant. As ecosystem builders, we possess the skills and power to bring people together in the name of equitable entrepreneurship. And now, more than ever, these skills are needed.
The Bay Area Summit was a special one. Rather than focus our time and attention on San Francisco, we explored Richmond and Oakland - two communities that have come together in many ways to support each other and lift up entrepreneurship as a means for economic freedom.
127 ecosystem builders joined us across our 2.5 days together, representing 2 countries (US and Germany), 18 states, and 45 cities! Each day we convened at a different epicenter of community power - CoBiz Richmond, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and Oakstop to learn more about the ecosystem. Here are some highlights of key takeaways from the entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders who build community power together in their communities.
Place-based economic development
“From the mindset of charity to the mindset of solidarity.”
We have to be all in together. And by all in, we mean the folks working in “the treetops” to the folks working at the grassroots level.
At CoBiz Richmond, CEO Wesley Alexander shared his vision to ensure everyone in the community could access the resources to start their own businesses - something many in the community didn’t know they could do. But beyond that, he offers wellness and community support to be the node. His love of place led him to build this beautiful community space to help revitalize the city of Richmond.
“It was incredible witnessing the power that folks are maneuvering with. Talks that especially stood out to me were Mimi Hernandez and Martha Hernández, two powerful CEOs who shared how they're pioneering entrepreneurial ecosystems. I love how Wesley Alexander stepped up to share how CoBiz has built an ecosystem of business, wellness, and community. And Tara Lynn Gray wow, you can command an audience!” - Ben Gilbarg
At Nasdaq, we heard from Shelby Starks of Mothers Touch, who fed us for most of the Summit. Shelby spoke about the undeniable pride of Oaklanders - who are often misjudged and disregarded. Love of place brings the community together and has helped build a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem full of people who look out for each other.
That’s how love of place - or topophilia - which we’ve covered in past Summits, helps bring people together in solidarity. We also heard from Chicago-based social entrepreneur Bevon Joseph, who stressed the importance of social capital as a means of opportunity and access.
“Amazing Summit in the Bay Area. It was groundbreaking to have the broad variety of sectors and insights from the very ground level to those who are working at the treetops to open access for scaled entrepreneurial economic development and ecosystem development working hand and hand to change the landscape - particularly for those who live in marginalized communities to begin to build wealth and their communities at the same time.” - Paulo Gregory
Distributed resources and assets
Building community power is about more than looking out for one another. It’s about building up your resources and assets. Trevor Parham of Oakstop shared his entrepreneurial journey, spun from his fear of being displaced as an artist. As the CEO & Founder of Oakstop, Trevor has transformed commercial real estate into a tool for community empowerment, offering workspace and creative space for entrepreneurs of color.
“It wasn’t about coworking. It was about the threat of displacement as artists.”
Trevor came together with his community to create the first space, and then they kept acquiring real estate and opening more spaces year after year so that no one could take what they built from them. He shared the importance of building assets in your community and making sure resources are distributed so that if one node goes down, there are others still standing to step in.
Creating change through policy
The Bay Area was a perfect opportunity to continue our discussion about policy and launch the Policy Committee. ESO Ventures has been able to help entrepreneurs in their community because they were brave enough to propose a bill to the state of California to fund entrepreneurs in the region and the work that they do. It was a policy effort that got them to this place. In under two years, they've already distributed $5.2 million of capital to 107 Black, Brown, and female-owned entrepreneurs' businesses. Their free 8-week incubator is designed for entrepreneurs who are just starting out and have generated $0-$10,000 in revenue.
While at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, we shared our vision and goals for the SCN Policy Committee. We’re recruiting members to join us! Email admin@startupchampions.co if you’re interested.
Jessica Straus Fuchs joined us to share case studies from states leading the way in creating inclusive economic growth, with highlights from Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Maryland, and Florida. It was fascinating to see stats on what states are introducing bills on entrepreneurship and how those bills have affected the state of entrepreneurship in their ecosystems. You can check out the report she helped develop here. Her team has also launched a webinar series that will focus on the Revitalizing Innovation report and will feature lead researchers from Heartland Forward and Penn State University. Sign up here.
Out in the Community
We didn’t just talk about the Bay Area Ecosystem. We fully immersed ourselves in it, going out and about in Richmond, Oakland, and San Fransisco. We took public transit, got on a chartered bus to learn about the history of the East Bay, ate lunch at the Ferry Building, met up with Bay Area ecosystem builders and entrepreneurs at the Oakland Museum of California, and had dinner on our own in Oakland.
Ecosystem building is about love
Andy Stoll shared a beautiful sentiment that he read in Victor Hwang’s book, The Rainforest. That ecosystem building is really about love. That really sums up why we do the work we do: for love of place, love of community, and the passion to ensure that opportunity and access are available to all.
“I am infused with faith and fire to blaze ahead in action knowing how many immensely talented people with good hearts across our country, who care about building real community and real resources, connecting people to those resources, each other, and their own as well as our collective power. There are always people doing good work, sharing their gifts to make our world abundant in the same opportunities for ALL to have the tools to build their dreams.” - Jennifer Yell
As we navigate America’s future, it will be crucial for us to act with love and solidarity in our communities but fight like hell to push forward policies and initiatives that keep us moving forward.
