WOVU JumpStart Fridays, Episode 10: Debt Crowdfunding With Dora Rankin And Monica Grays

JumpStart and WOVU 95.9FM have partnered to bring you JumpStart Fridays, a show focused on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Cleveland. Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear from local business owners, business assistance and funding experts, community organizations and more as we dive into live and honest conversations about entrepreneurship. In this week’s episode, Monica

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WOVU JumpStart Fridays, Episode 9: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion In Small Business With Lamont Mackley and Shashonna Duckworth

JumpStart and WOVU 95.9FM have partnered to bring you JumpStart Fridays, a show focused on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Cleveland. Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear from local business owners, business assistance and funding experts, community organizations and more as we dive into live and honest conversations about entrepreneurship. In episode 9, JumpStart’s Lamont

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WOVU JumpStart Fridays, Episode 8: The Business of Fashion with Charron Martin and Sharia Livingston

JumpStart and WOVU 95.9FM have partnered to bring you JumpStart Fridays, a show focused on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Cleveland. Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear from local business owners, business assistance and funding experts, community organizations and more as we dive into live and honest conversations about entrepreneurship. In this week’s episode, two

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WOVU JumpStart Fridays, Episode 1: Diving Into Diversity Equity and Inclusion In Cleveland’s Tech Ecosystem

JumpStart and WOVU 95.9FM have partnered to bring you JumpStart Fridays, a show focused on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Cleveland. Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear from local business owners, business assistance and funding experts, community organizations and more as we dive into live and honest conversations about entrepreneurship. In episode one, JumpStart’s

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Diversity in the workplace

No matter how cautious or forward-thinking, few organizations had plans in place for simultaneously dealing with a global pandemic, an economic shutdown and political and social unrest. Our natural instincts lead us to stick with the basics, set aside the nonessential and ride out the storm until conditions improve. But if the status quo does

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Six Questions with Entrepreneur-in-Residence Ron Stubblefield

Earlier this month, Leaders from the Economic Community Development Institute (ECDI), the Hispanic Business Center, The Presidents’ Council, The Urban League of Greater Cleveland and JumpStart announced Ron Stubblefield as the group’s first shared Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR). A nationally recognized lawyer, scholar, economic development professional and entrepreneurial advisor, Stubblefield acts as a collaborative resource between all

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JumpStart’s Commitment to Taking Action Against Systemic Racism

Like so many other Americans, I was deeply saddened and disturbed by the death of George Floyd, alongside the growing list of injustices that have sparked a national conversation about the impact of systemic racism on our society. We’ve had these conversations before, only to fall back into the same patterns. But something feels different

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Our Public Commitment to Fighting Systemic Racism

Earlier this week, JumpStart released this public statement amidst the ongoing unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd: JumpStart stands with all Black and Brown Americans, for whom systemic racism has been an ever-present barrier to individual and collective progress. Our mission is to unlock the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to

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JumpStart’s Core City: Cleveland and Northwest Ohio Impact Programs Will Split Prize Money Equally and Eliminate Upcoming Showcase Events

In February 2020 JumpStart kicked off its third Northwest Ohio Impact Program and its ninth Core City: Cleveland Impact Program. Then COVID-19 hit our communities and we were forced to pivot our approach for these two cohorts, continuing to teach virtual class sessions while altering curriculum to meet the rapidly evolving needs of all the

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Pride & Knowledge: A Conversation About Black History Month With JumpStart’s Lamont Mackley

Each February, the U.S. celebrates Black History Month, highlighting the rich heritage, extraordinary achievements and unique culture of African Americans throughout our nation’s history. As our 2020 celebration comes to its conclusion, we sat down with JumpStart’s Chief Inclusion and Outreach Officer Lamont Mackley for a conversation about life before Black History Month, how the celebration

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A Step Toward A More Inclusive Innovation Economy

At JumpStart, we strive to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve in the work we do. That’s because diversity is a powerful thing. A recent study from the Boston Consulting Group found companies with diverse teams produced 19 percent more revenue due to increased innovation. Another famous study from McKinsey found companies in

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