Socio destacado de E-Suite: Urban Business Support

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Hoy queremos destacar a uno de nuestros socios destacados de E-Suite, Urban Business Suppor, una organización sin fines de lucro con sede en Washington dedicada a apoyar a empresas propiedad de mujeres y minorías.

Oliver Scott es el director ejecutivo de Urban Business Support. Su misión es brindar capacitación en planificación empresarial y asistencia financiera a pequeñas empresas. Urban Business Support cree firmemente que las inversiones en comunidades de bajos ingresos deben beneficiar a las personas que viven y trabajan allí.

"Nuestra visión es el desarrollo sin desplazamiento. Creemos que la inversión en comunidades de bajos ingresos debe beneficiar a las personas que viven y trabajan allí. Y nuestra misión es brindar capacitación en planificación empresarial a empresas en vecindarios en proceso de gentrificación. También brindamos asistencia financiera en forma de subvenciones a estos propietarios de negocios". - Oliver

El Camino de Construir Una Organización

Urban Business Support ha sido nuestro socio de E-Suite desde 2018. Oliver recordó su relación de larga data con Centro Community Partners, ya que conoce a Arturo Noriega, fundador y CEO de Centro, desde que se fundó la organización.

Compartió cómo Urban Business Support comenzó a utilizar la Centro Business Planning App y nuestro plan de estudios para brindar una capacitación integral en planificación empresarial a sus emprendedores. La asociación con Centro desempeñó un papel crucial para que Urban Business Support despegara, brindándoles orientación y materiales.

"Comencé a impartir capacitación en planificación empresarial y conocía la aplicación de planificación empresarial de Centro. Inmediatamente fui a hablar con Arturo y Naldo al respecto, ya que sabía que quería usar la aplicación. Así que cuando decidí comenzar una organización, contacté de inmediato a Centro. De lo contrario, no conocía a nadie más a quien quisiera usar para el plan de estudios, y no quería diseñar el mío propio, por lo que Centro proporcionó la solución perfecta, la Suite de Emprendimiento. Y gracias a eso pude comenzar esta organización". - Oliver

Desatando el potencial EMPRENDEDOR

Urban Business Support se enfoca principalmente en servir a empresas propiedad de mujeres y minorías en vecindarios en transición. Oliver reconoce los desafíos que enfrentan los emprendedores en estas comunidades, particularmente en el acceso a capital. Para abordar esto, Urban Business Support inició un programa de subvenciones para ofrecer asistencia financiera a emprendedores que a menudo no son elegibles para préstamos tradicionales. Ofrecen $5,000 al mejor plan de negocios entre sus graduados. Este apoyo financiero no solo ayuda a los emprendedores a superar las barreras de financiamiento, sino que también les proporciona los recursos necesarios para prosperar y tener éxito en sus emprendimientos comerciales.

Urban Business Support se dedica a empoderar a los emprendedores y realiza anualmente doce campamentos y cuatro programas de emprendimiento con el plan de estudios de Centro. Los campamentos, diseñados para ser intensivos y eficientes en tiempo, brindan a los participantes una versión condensada de la capacitación en planificación empresarial utilizando la aplicación de planificación empresarial de Centro. Por otro lado, los programas de emprendimiento ofrecen un plan de estudios más completo, equipando a los participantes con una comprensión más profunda de varios aspectos del desarrollo empresarial.

Desde su fundación, Urban Business Support ha capacitado con éxito a un impresionante grupo de aproximadamente 300 emprendedores. "Mi primer objetivo era capacitar a 100 emprendedores, y llegamos a 75. Nuestro segundo año, lo hicimos muy bien, capacitando a unos 160".

Solo en el año fiscal actual, 70 emprendedores ya se han beneficiado de los programas transformadores de Urban Business Support. Esto demuestra el compromiso de la organización de fomentar un ecosistema empresarial próspero y empoderar a las personas para que logren sus objetivos comerciales.

Afrontando desafíos y construyendo hacia metas futuras

A pesar de sus logros, Oliver reconoció los desafíos que enfrentan al mantener asociaciones de referencia, lo que resultó en una ligera disminución en la participación en los programas. Oliver se mantiene firme en sus esfuerzos por restaurar estas asociaciones y cumplir con el objetivo de capacitar a 250 emprendedores para este año fiscal. Oliver enfatizó que Urban Business Support ofrece subvenciones de $5,000 para premiar el plan de negocios más ejemplar de sus emprendedores graduados, brindando un poderoso incentivo para el éxito empresarial.

Oliver también enfatizó que el apoyo de Centro Community Partners, especialmente a través de su aplicación y plan de estudios, desempeñó un papel vital en el éxito de Urban Business Support. El plan de estudios y el apoyo de Centro permitieron a Urban Business Support aprovechar su potencial para lograr un impacto positivo. Oliver también compartió que ha recomendado la E-Suite de Centro a otras organizaciones, reconociendo el valor que ofrece al empoderar a los emprendedores.

Urban Business Support, bajo el liderazgo de Oliver Scott, ha logrado avances significativos en el empoderamiento de emprendedores en vecindarios en proceso de gentrificación. A través de su asociación con Centro, han podido brindar valiosa capacitación en planificación empresarial y asistencia financiera, ayudando a los emprendedores a hacer realidad sus sueños al tiempo que contribuyen al desarrollo de la comunidad. Con su compromiso con el crecimiento inclusivo y su dedicación a su misión, Urban Business Support continúa creando un impacto duradero en las comunidades a las que sirven.

"Si no fuera por Centro, no habría podido iniciar la organización. La aplicación de planificación empresarial de Centro es increíble, cubre los conceptos básicos de un plan de negocios, y podemos hacerlo en un campamento intensivo de un día. Si no fuera por la aplicación y el plan de estudios de Centro, no estaríamos donde estamos hoy". - Oliver Scott

Si desea obtener más información sobre cómo también podemos ayudar a su organización, contáctenos en esuite@centrocommunity.org. ¡También estaremos encantados de responder cualquier pregunta sobre nuestro plan de estudios actual, herramientas de aprendizaje y enseñanza y el apoyo que brindamos a las organizaciones!

Featured E-Suite Partner: Urban Business Support

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Today we want to highlight one of our Featured E-Suite Partners, Urban Business Support, a non-profit organization based in Washington dedicated to supporting women and minority-owned businesses.

Oliver Scott, is the Executive Director of Urban Business Support. Their mission is to provide business plan training and financial assistance to small businesses. Urban Business Support firmly believes that investments in low-income communities should benefit the people who live and work there.

“Our vision is development without displacement. We believe that investment in low-income communities should come to the benefit of the people who live and work there. And our mission is to provide business plan training to businesses in gentrifying neighborhoods. We also provide financial assistance in the form of grants to these business owners.” - Oliver

The Journey of Building an Organization

Urban Business Support has been our E-Suite Partner since 2018. Oliver recounted his longstanding relationship with Centro Community Partners, having known Arturo Noriega, Founder and CEO of Centro since the organization was founded. 

He shared how Urban Business Support started using Centro Business Planning App and our curriculum to provide comprehensive business plan training to their entrepreneurs. The partnership with Centro played a crucial role in getting Urban Business Support off the ground, providing them with guidance and materials.
“I started doing business plan training, and I knew about the Centro Business Planning App. I immediately went to Arturo and Naldo to talk about it, as I knew that I wanted to use the app. So when I decided to start an organization, I immediately contacted Centro first. Otherwise, I didn't know of anybody else that I wanted to use for the curriculum, and I didn't want to design my own, so Centro provided the perfect solution for it, the Entrepreneurship Suite. And thanks to that I was able to start this organization.” - Oliver

Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential

Urban Business Support primarily focuses on serving women and minority-owned businesses in transitioning neighborhoods. Oliver acknowledges the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in these communities, particularly in accessing capital. To address this, Urban Business Support initiated a grant program to offer financial assistance to entrepreneurs who are often ineligible for traditional loans. They offer $5,000 to the best business plan among their graduates. This financial support not only helps entrepreneurs overcome funding barriers but also provides them with the necessary resources to thrive and succeed in their business ventures.

Urban Business Support is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and annually conducts  twelve boot camps and four entrepreneurship programs with Centro’s curriculum. The bootcamps, designed to be intensive and time-efficient, provide participants with a condensed version of the business plan training using the Centro Business Planning App. On the other hand, the entrepreneurship programs offer a more comprehensive curriculum, equipping participants with a deeper understanding of various aspects of business development.

Since its foundation, Urban Business Support has successfully trained an impressive cohort of approximately 300 entrepreneurs. “My first goal was to train 100 entrepreneurs, and we made it to 75. Our second year, we did really well, training about 160.”

In the current fiscal year alone, 70 entrepreneurs have already benefited from Urban Business Support’s transformative programs. This demonstrates the organization's commitment to fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and empowering individuals to achieve their business goals.

Embracing Challenges and Building Towards Future Goals

Despite their achievements, Oliver acknowledged the challenges faced in maintaining referral partnerships, which resulted in a slight decline in program participation. Oliver remains resolute in his efforts to restore these partnerships and fulfill their objective of training 250 entrepreneurs for this fiscal year. Oliver emphasized that Urban Business Support grants of $5,000 to award the most exemplary business plan from their graduating entrepreneurs, providing a powerful incentive for entrepreneurial success.

Oliver also emphasized that the support from Centro Community Partners, especially through their app and curriculum, played a vital role in Urban Business Supports success. Centro's curriculum and support enabled Urban Business Support to secure their potential for positive impact. Oliver also shared that he has recommended Centro Entrepreneurship Suite to other organizations, recognizing the value it offers in empowering entrepreneurs.

Urban Business Support, under the leadership of Oliver Scott, has made significant strides in empowering entrepreneurs in gentrifying neighborhoods. Through their partnership with Centro, they have been able to provide valuable business plan training and financial assistance, helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams while contributing to community development. With their commitment to inclusive growth and dedication to their mission, Urban Business Support continues to create a lasting impact in the communities they serve.

“If it wasn't for Centro, I wouldn't have been able to get the organization started. The Centro Business Planning App is amazing, it covers the basics of a business plan, and we're able to do it in a Bootcamp in just one day. If it weren't for the App and for Centro's curriculum we wouldn't be where we are today.” - Oliver Scott

If you want to learn more about how we can also help your organization, please contact us at esuite@centrocommunity.org. We are also happy to answer any questions about our current curriculum, learning and teaching tools, and the support we provide to organizations!

Featured E-Suite Partner: Bethel LA CDC

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We are pleased to feature one of our first partner organizations: Bethel Los Angeles Community Development Corporation (Bethel). Frank Stokes is the founder of the Business Entrepreneurial Stewardship Training Mobile Accelerator (BEST Mobile Accelerator); in partnership with Bethel LA CDC, a non-profit corporation, whose mission is to revitalize South Los Angeles through social, economic, physical, mental, educational, and vocational support services and programs. 

They do this by developing and nurturing youth, providing assistance to senior citizens, supporting the family structure, fostering the creation of businesses, promoting computer literacy, bridging the education gap between generations and connecting life purposes with career choices in the community of South Los Angeles.

PIONEERS TESTING THE CENTRO BUSINESS PLANNING APP

Centro launched the Business Planning App in 2015 and made it available to other non-profit organizations in California that served entrepreneurs. Thanks to CAMEO, Bethel LA CDC was introduced to Centro as part of a cohort of organizations in Southern California that were the first to receive the Train-the-Trainer program and use the app to help entrepreneurs as new E-Suite Partners. 

“We were really excited about the Centro Business Planning App. We have used other tools before, but what we really like about this one is that it was portable on mobile devices and it was introspective, meaning that if you're answering responsively to the questions you're building your content. It took a lot of mystery out of the wordsmithery, and you know how to get started.” - Frank Stokes

PROVIDING AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM IN SOUTH LA

Bethel LA CDC goal is to revitalize South Los Angeles by improving facilities and promoting opportunities through career and entrepreneurship training in the community.

With this goal in mind, Bethel LA CDC BEST Mobile Accelerator provides an entrepreneurship program to their community where they use the Centro Business Planning App. This program facilitates access to business development resources that enhance growth and self-sufficiency. It also provides information and seminars to retain, attract, and expand new and existing businesses. Assistance is provided to minority, women and disadvantaged business enterprises.

“We serve as a network for small businesses and an ecosystem for entrepreneurs that are seeking to realize their vision. We do that with a variety of resources. We start with the training and technical assistance and then we offer assistance with the implementation of the business plan and access to capital. In many cases, we can make those handshakes for mentorship or some particular resources unique to the entrepreneurs’ business.” - Frank Stokes

EMBRACING ENTREPRENEURSHIP LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bethel LA CDC BEST Mobile Accelerator’s outreach has expanded. They started facilitating their programs virtually and discovered that removed the transportation barriers. People who couldn’t attend in-person programs were able to attend now.

The Bethel LA CDC BEST Mobile Accelerator serves a wide spectrum of people, from the underserved entrepreneurs to the disenfranchised, including people who were employed and decided to leave their employment.

“Today people are embracing the idea of running your own business like never before. This was a real challenge for people. They were more focused on finding employment that takes care of bills, and so there's a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace right now.” - Frank Stokes

SEVEN YEARS OF A VERY RICH PARTNERSHIP

Since then, the Bethel LA CDC BEST Mobile Accelerator has implemented Centro’s curriculum in their entrepreneurship programs. In their first year as E-Suite Partners their goal was to impact 25 businesses. Now, 7 years after becoming partners, they have served over 500 entrepreneurs using the Centro Entrepreneurship Suite (E-Suite).

In the last two-and-a-half years, they’ve served 250 businesses. Of those served, 40 are in cohorts, and the rest of them are businesses in the community or they are previous graduates of their program that are in the network, and they receive continuous support and new information.

“The partnership with Centro has been rich and has provided us with a tool that is user-friendly to the community we serve. This tool, the Centro Business Planning App, is the most user-friendly we've had. It has eliminated some of the mystery to get a basic business plan once they've gotten to that stage. The technical support we have received from Centro has been great. Growing together and serving our community over the years has been a very valuable collaboration and partnership.” Frank Stokes

If you want to learn more about how we can also help your organization, please contact us at esuite@centrocommunity.org. We are also happy to answer any questions about our current curriculum, learning and teaching tools, and the support we provide to organizations!

Featured E-Suite Partner: Women Enabled Enterprises

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It’s a great pleasure for us to have Women Enabled Enterprises (WEE) renewing as an E-Suite Affiliate for the third year, and we want to take this opportunity to highlight the amazing work they do in Africa. Mpho Hansjee is the Founder and CEO of Women Enabled Enterprises, a non-profit organization working with women in South Africa, that helps low-income, high-potential women start or grow a small business for self-sufficiency. 

"We are a non-profit organization that breaks barriers to access for South African women of color seeking to flourish or embark on an entrepreneurial journey." - Mpho

EMPOWER A WOMAN, UPLIFT A COMMUNITY

Mpho founded Women Enabled Enterprises with the aim of solving one of the biggest issues in her country: unemployment. South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, with a 35% rate of unemployment, and women aged 15 to 34 contributed 60% of this number.

As an organization, WEE is really committed to solving this problem. They know that when women have no agency over their lives they aren't able to take care of the kids. This affects childhood nutrition, education, and so many different other areas. WEE helps women artisans by developing their business skills so that they have an opportunity to create employment for themselves and others out of their skill set. 

“We also are very well-known, unfortunately, for gender-based violence in Southern Africa and while our organization doesn't directly contribute to helping that area, what we know is that when women have more of their own money, they're able to leave relationships that are no longer safe for them.” - Mpho

TOGETHER SINCE THE BEGINNING

Women Enabled Enterprises was founded in 2019 in South Africa, and referred to Centro by Julie Abrams. WEE started running its programs 2020, and since the beginning, they trusted Centro’s methodology and incorporated it together with the Centro Business Planning App into their 12-week program. 

The phone accessibility for running the programs was one of the most important things for WEE when we started our partnership, as most of the women we work with in South Africa don’t have a laptop. “When we tested the Centro App with our first group, everything went smoothly, and everyone was able to download the app and set it up. Our goal was to have every single entrepreneur on the app and be able to use it with ease within the first three weeks. However, within the first two weeks, we were able to have everyone on board!.” 90% of the women they work with only have mobile phones, so when they get on Zoom everything they do has to be very mobile phone friendly. 

When WEE first started, its main organizational goal was to serve 100 women in a year, and it wanted to run 4 quarters, serving 25 women in each. They launched their first program in 2019 with 15 applicants in the first cohort, 25 in the second, and 70 in the third. After that they stabilized to an average of 30 to 40 women in each group. Now they have decided instead of doing 4 programs in a year, they will do 2 but will have bigger groups. “I'm so proud to say this but we're almost at 200 for the fall quarter on and it's the biggest group we've had actually.” - Mpho

OVERCOMING BARRIERS WITH TECHNOLOGY

This year, Women Enabled Enterprises expanded its virtual programs to other African countries like Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Senegal, and Uganda. All programs are online and they combine the activities from the Centro Business Planning App. It also invites guest speakers from the US and from different countries in Africa.

“The app made the process of building a business plan less daunting. I like how it broke down each section into manageable, bite-sized pieces. It was more enjoyable than it was overwhelming to make one. The functionality of being able to export it out as different files for future use was also an added bonus.” - Kagiso, Entrepreneur from WEE.

One of WEE biggest successes is that they’ve been able to transcend its own capabilities and its own reach. Every time they serve a woman, one-third of them employ two people in their community. “That's a powerful result because one person creates their own job, and creates capacity in their life and in their business to employ other people. And the same thing about the children of the women we serve, and how different the children’s lives will be now that their mom is on their feet. The children will have better education, they'll be able to eat wholesome food, and they'll be able to have books for school and shoes. Those to me make everything worth it.” - Mpho

MEETING ENTREPRENEURS WHERE THEY’RE AT

“Our partnership with Centro has been so incredibly beneficial because what Centro provides is exactly what our beneficiaries need and what our organization needs. What I love the most is that Centro meets the women we serve right where they're at. They have opportunities to make the app in a different language. Centro is open to creating accessibility. They are central to where we find our entrepreneurs, which is on a mobile phone. We can’t thank Centro enough because they have been with us since we started, and they are still with us. They have been such responsive partners to feedback and they’ve made us better. We wouldn’t have been able to have the success we created without Centro” - Mpho

You can learn more about Women Enabled Enterprises, their mission, and their impact by watching this video:

If you want to learn more about how we can also help your organization, please contact us at esuite@centrocommunity.org. We are also happy to answer any questions about our current curriculum, learning and teaching tools, and the support we provide to organizations!

Featured E-Suite Partner: Prospera

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Today we want to highlight one of our Featured E-Suite Affiliates, Prospera. Prospera partners with Latina entrepreneurs in the Bay Area to launch businesses that foster cooperation, economic independence and well-being in immigrant communities.

Through their culturally-based programs, Latinas access the networks, tools and capital they need to become successful business owners and powerful community leaders.

PLANTING THE SEEDS TO SUCCESS

We started our partnership with Prospera in 2018, with our first Business Plan Bootcamp as part of their Explora program. A year later, following the success of the first program, we did our second Bootcamp together. In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we provided three additional Bootcamps.

Thanks to the success of the programs during the first 3 years, Prospera became an Entrepreneurship Suite (E-Suite) partner in May 2021, and we did four Bootcamps and trained three of their trainers by September.

WORKING TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE GREATER GOALS

Prospera’s team

Some of their organization's main goals before joining Centro’s E-Suite were to support their participants to create their business model and to train themselves to coach entrepreneurs and colleagues on how to create their business plans.

Thanks to the train-the-trainer program we offer E-Suite partners, they got the tools and training they needed to coach their programs’ participants. Centro provided this training in Spanish as they’re focussed on Latina entrepreneurs.        

COOPERATION AS ONE OF OUR MAIN GOALS

Prospera’s team highly values the personalized support they have received from Centro to help them implement and adapt Centro’s resources to their programs. “I love the camaraderie among the Centro trainers and the availability to customize our performance Plus they give very honest feedback on details where we could improve" they share.

“Collaborating with Centro has helped us work hand-in-hand with our participants. One of the values that guide us at Prospera is cooperation, collaborating with Centro echoes this value and reminds us that in order to make structural changes it is necessary to collaborate with partner organizations. Using the Centro app has simplified the process so that our participants can easily and quickly develop a first draft of their Business Plan, working together for the benefit of our community!” - Claudia Arroyo, Prospra’s Executive Director

TOGETHER WE CAN CREATE A BIGGER IMPACT

At Centro, we are super grateful for Prospera’s level of engagement and commitment, both to the communities they serve and to building a strong partnership.

Trust and transparency have been pillars in our relationship, and the constant feedback has helped us improve our curriculum, and both organizations have benefited enormously from the 2-way commitment.

If you want to learn more about how we can also help your organization, please contact us at esuite@centrocommunity.org. We are also happy to answer any questions about our current curriculum, learning and teaching tools, and the support we provide to organizations!