I am excited to announce our small, but mighty ParentPreneur Foundation is now part of the Techstars Foundation's Accelerate Equity program. We were nominated and added to the Techstars program thanks to a generous $100K donation from Techstars co-founder, Brad Feld.
This is a game-changer for us.
Here's what the Techstars Foundation says about the program:
Through Accelerate Equity, the Techstars Foundation identifies early-stage nonprofits and ideas to empower and support underestimated entrepreneurs. We then call on the Techstars network to pitch in.
SOCIAL CAPITAL
The Accelerate Equity program will not only allow us to raise capital and prepare to scale, so we can brilliantly execute our 2021 programs, but it will also increase our social capital, which we will pass along to the members of our community.
Social capital is important because, while everyone talks about lack of access to financial capital for Black entrepreneurs, and they're right to do so, the dearth of social capital also keeps Black entrepreneurs from executing our would-be brilliant ideas. And worse yet, keeps us from imagining what's possible, and we can't leave a legacy for our kids and grandkids if we can't imagine what's possible.
COME FOR THE COMMUNITY. STAY FOR THE COMMUNITY.
At the ParentPreneur Foundation, we want Black ParentPreneurs to see themselves as a great parent, as a great partner or spouse, and as a great entrepreneur - to see their children inspired to live a purposeful and prosperous life because of the choices their parents made.
We want to tell the story of the transformation of Black ParentPreneurs from struggle and loneliness to triumph and community.
This is what we do.
I'd like to thank Seth Godin for his generosity - it's because of him and his Akimbo Marketing Seminar that I am able to brilliantly articulate why the work we do matters. In this video, Seth helped crystallize why our community of Black ParentPreneurs won't fail as we take this challenging journey together to leave a legacy for our kids.
We won't fail because we have each other's backs!
If you're a Black ParentPreneur, come for the grants, but stay for the community.
2021 PROGRAMS
We have a compelling slate of programs we are already executing and fundraising will help us complete them. Here's a list of some of our programs.
More $1,000 cash grants
Since starting the Parentpreneur Foundation in July of 2020 we gave away $30,000 in grants via three rounds of $1,000 for ten people in our community. We will continue more of this in 2021.
Because we look holistically at Black ParentPreneurs, our grants aren't prescriptive, meaning, we don't tell people what they have to spend the money on. If they need to take a vacation to improve their relationship with a spouse, or pay for childcare, or finish their MVP, we encourage them to use the grants for whatever will ease their parenting or business lifestyles.
Paying for mental therapy
For too long, mental health has been stigmatized in the Black community.
This is crazy.
According to Columbia University, Black people are 20% more likely to have mental health issues than white people. And with Covid, virtual schooling, and the racial trauma we experience watching Black people get gunned down by the police, things are tough for many of us right now.
We will pay for therapy for one hundred members of our community this year using BetterHelp. So far, we've paid for therapy for thirty-five people; this is the thing for which I'm most thankful.
Paying for virtual assistants
Many people in our community are virtual schooling their children and business tasks are being neglected. Paying for virtual assistants will help our members stay on track. We have already provided virtual assistants for five people this year but will do so for twenty-five people via Tasks Every Day.
Paying for virtual tutors for our children
Many families in our community are virtual schooling their children and some kids aren’t doing well in this new virtual learning environment and need additional support. We have already paid for this service for five people but will do so for an additional twenty people using eTutorWorld.
Paying for babysitters
ParentPreneurs are tired and need a break. Access to free babysitting services is just what many of them need - especially now that Covid is nearly behind us. We will provide three months of babysitters for twenty-five families in our community via Nanno.
Paying for LinkedIn consulting
As previously mentioned, social capital matters, and this is one way we are helping our community level up. We have already paid for LinkedIn consulting for nearly thirty people with LinkedIn consulting expert, Bianca J. Jackson. We will expand this program for a total of one hundred people this year.
TECHSTARS FOUNDATION 5% DONATION MATCH
One of the main benefits of the Accelerate Equity program is the Techstars Foundation will match 5% of all donations. We need to raise $165K to fully execute our 2021 programs.
Please kindly make a tax-deductible donation, so we can empower the Black ParentPreneurs in our foundation community to leave a legacy for their beautiful Black children.
And stay tuned for more 🔥 from us in 2021!
Ad astra (to the stars). 🚀
Warm regards,
James Oliver, Jr.
CEO
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