Entrepreneurs are Changing the World — and the bottom line isn’t what you think.
This is a guest post by PACE members, Pam Lewis, Director of the New Economy Initiative, and Sarah Koch, VP of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation.
Today, entrepreneurship is different. On the coast, we often hear about the next big idea helping people share their lives online — in pictures or in a snapshot of text. But in cities like Detroit, instead of holding out for the next Mark Zuckerberg, there is an effort to support all forms of entrepreneurship, from tech-led innovation to neighborhood small business. And that choice continues to transform communities like this every day.
If you ask anyone from Detroit about their city, you’ll hear that it’s a special place full of diversity, innovation, and resilience. But Detroit is also a model for what is happening across communities in America: business, nonprofit, and civic leaders are stepping forward to say, “How can we engage our citizenry to build our economy and develop innovations to change our community?” For a decade, philanthropy in metro Detroit, through the New Economy Initiative (NEI), has intentionally invested in creating an inclusive network of support for all types of entrepreneurs at any business stage. Driven by needs that resulted from drastic economic declines, millions of dollars have been granted to ensure anyone with the will and desire to start and grow a business can find the programs, capital, and community to support them.
An interesting observation has emerged from this industry-agnostic, inclusive approach to supporting entrepreneurship: there is a clear connection between entrepreneurship among people from underrepresented communities — and civic engagement.
In a recent conversation about philanthropy’s role in supporting entrepreneurship ecosystems, responses to the question, “why is entrepreneurship philanthropic?” were varied: funders expressed connections to economic development, racial and gender equity, and democratizing access to innovation. Of course, many of these values also surface when funders describe their civic engagement work — and this common language and strategic framework is no coincidence: inclusive entrepreneurship offers the potential to impact and improve the health of community, lead to increased equity and opportunity, and offer a pathway out of poverty.
The Case Foundation is finding this to be true as they support and raise awareness of entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities from across the United States through their Faces of Founders initiative, a movement to redefine who is — and who can be — an entrepreneur. The effort is the centerpiece of the Foundation’s inclusive entrepreneur initiative — inviting entrepreneurs, in particular, women founders and entrepreneurs of color — to share their photos and stories on FacesofFounders.org or on social media with the hashtag #FacesofFounders. Entrepreneurs like Helen Adeosun, founder of CareAcademy in Boston, Massachusetts, and Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family Organics in New York, are impacting society and the economy.
In addition to the economic and community benefits of developing inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems, startups also have a direct impact on our civic framework. Civic engagement enables people to feel a part of something larger than themselves, constructively participating in society to make it better for all.
In a yet-to-be-published survey, NEI recently asked metro Detroit entrepreneurs what motivated them to grow a business in Detroit, and a number of their responses were broader than their personal interests; many described a desire to give back and contribute to the city’s economic growth. Additionally, more and more, entrepreneurs are approaching social problems with a fresh eye and developing innovative solutions for some of the more intractable problems facing communities. To illustrate this driving force behind entrepreneurship, below are three Detroit-based entrepreneurs who are using their experience and the place they live as inspiration to solve problems their communities face: sickle cell anemia, gun violence, and homelessness.
Patrick Hines, Functional Fluidics
Dr. Patrick Hines, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and instructor at Wayne State University Medical School, was challenged by the lack of innovation in diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell anemia, a disease that primarily affects people of color. Over the past 50 years, very little progress has been made in treating the disease. For Dr. Hines, it was the words of an eight-year-old patient that motivated him to do something about it. This young woman had been diagnosed with sickle cell, and one day, she looked at her circumstance in contrast to those of her roommate, who had a different disease with more innovative treatment options and asked, “Is there anything that can be done for me?” Each year, more than 300,000 people are born with sickle cell — a disease which can lead to long-term organ damage and early mortality — yet the FDA only has only approved two treatments for the disease. Dr. Hines and his partners launched Functional Fluidics, a company that has created innovative technology to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell patients. Functional Fluidics has further developed this technology for pharmaceutical companies and research scientists to evaluate new therapies for bleeding and clotting disorders.
Omer Kiyani, Sentinl, Inc.
From 2014 to 2016, Michigan experienced 49 accidental shootings involving children: 32 were injured; 17 were killed. Omer Kiyanni was concerned. He was a safety engineer working on airbag technologies on the leadership tract at a tier-one automotive supplier in metro Detroit. In his spare time, he chose to focus on developing a company that can deliver a solution to the problem of accidental shootings. Omer launched a startup called Sentinl and its IdentiLock product is his response. IdentiLock is a biometric trigger technology that allows a gun to be activated only once it recognizes the owner’s fingerprint. A clamshell-like device made of high-strength polymer and a fingerprint reader, IdentiLock clamps over the entire trigger area of a gun. Once the fingerprint registers and is authenticated, the lock instantly falls off, enabling the user to fire. The authentication and release all take place in less than a second. Omer took his expertise in engineering technology and applied to solving this troubling social challenge. His solution can now be found in retailers across the United States as well as online.
Veronika Scott, Empowerment Plan
No one could have imagined how Veronika Scott’s vision would evolve once she decided to tackle the issue of keeping people experiencing homelessness warm on the cold winter streets of Detroit. Her first solution was an innovative coat design that could convert to a sleeping bag. For most, that would have been success enough. But on-the-ground research she’d done as a student of the College for Creative Studies led her to the next idea: providing these coats for free to homeless men and women, an effort sustained by donations. This is an important part of her business model. Recruiting, training, and employing homeless mothers to make them is her mission. Since 2012, the Empowerment Plan has hired 45 homeless women from local shelters and provided them with training and full-time employment as seamstresses that has led to stable income, secure housing, and a return to independence for these women and their children. Today, over 25,000 coats have been distributed across the world through generous donations of individuals. Additionally, Empowerment Plan launched their retail line called Maxwell, that can be purchased online.
These are just three of many examples of entrepreneurs who exist at the intersection of business opportunities and the greater public good, as they build companies focused on issues that affect their communities — regardless of place, race, or gender.
To learn more about inclusive entrepreneurship, visit the Case Foundation’s hub at FacesofFounders.org
To learn more about entrepreneurial support in Detroit, visit the New Economy Initiative website at newconomyinitative.org
