NEW YORK, NEW YORK (July 2, 2021) — University and foundation-backed Global Social Enterprise Institute (“GSEI” or the “Institute”) announced details today on a new partnership and expansion plans with New York City-based community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) venture Inclusive Capital, Inc. Under the new partnership agreement, GSEI will expand operations under a new name, the Inclusive Capital Institute, and will continue to support ventures and initiatives that are working to have a positive community impact and use market-based solutions to solve the most pressing challenges in communities world-wide.
Founded in 2015 by LeMoyne College’s Social Entrepreneur in Residence with support from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, & Whitman School of Management, the Institute is now based in New York City at host institution Medgar Evers College School of Business.
Named in honor of civil rights activist Medgar Wiley Evers, the College is “one of the nation’s largest & most comprehensive Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).”
“We make this announcement today, on what would have been Medgar Wiley Evers 96th birthday, in order to celebrate his life, to honor his legacy, and to reaffirm our commitment to social justice,” said Institute Founder W. Michael Short. “Medgar Evers College shares our mission of empowering underserved communities through inclusive and equitable community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) initiatives and ventures.”
Photo Credit: The City University of New York
“To this end, we will build on our long-term collaboration with host institution Medgar Evers College as we do our part to fight systemic economic inequality and to ensure equal access to community, economic, and entrepreneurial development resources and funding opportunities — especially in communities that are historically underserved,” said Mr. Short. “The Dean of Medgar Evers College School of Business, Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, is one of the top entrepreneurial development experts in the world and she’s also one my favorite people to work with — she knows how to get things done and she’s a very loyal partner.”
For more news and updates from Inclusive Capital Institute, click here.
For more news and updates from Inclusive Capital, Inc., click here.
Photo: Institute Founder W. Michael Short (far right) and Dr. Jo-Ann Rolle, PhD (center) in 2019 with International Innovators Initiative (IN2NYC) entrepreneurs at Medgar Evers College School of Business. The New York City Economic Development Corporation recognized the program as “most innovative.”
Inclusive & Equitable Community, Economic, & Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives
Throughout the U.S., there is unequal access to community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) funding opportunities and resources to support entrepreneurs, freelancers, start-ups, established businesses, non-profits, social and philanthropic ventures, and community organizations. This was especially evident in the widely reported unequal access to pandemic related small business support programs and funding opportunities.
This systemic economic inequality makes already widespread and generational inequality even worse and is a major limitation on the economic vitality and competitiveness of the U.S.
“With the unprecedented wave of millions of permanent business closures in the U.S. due to the pandemic’s catastrophic economic impact, now is the time to solve the systemic economic inequality of unequal access to CEED resources and that’s a key focus of our Institute,” said Mr. Short. “If we don’t fix this now, we’ll never be be able to Build Back Better post-pandemic.”
To this end, it was announced that development efforts will continue with a growing network of university partners on the Institute’s FundingNavigator℠ Platform with SourceFunding.org, which at launch was the first online platform in the U.S. designed specifically to help entrepreneurs, small businesses, and community organizations avoid high-cost predatory online lenders and brokers by providing access to the entire network of 14,000+ low-cost, transparent, and trusted community banks, credit unions, & community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the U.S. FundingNavigator℠ is now the largest funding platform of it’s kind in the U.S. for community, economic, & entrepreneurial development (CEED) funding opportunities and resources.
Charitable Community, Economic, & Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives
The Institute also announced the launch of a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, SourceStrategies, Inc., (SourceStrategies.us) that was established to independently continue charitable community, economic, and entrepreneurial development (CEED) initiatives and ventures originally initiated by the Institute with university and community college partners such as mentoring disabled military veterans in entrepreneurship and providing pro-bono business development services, financial literacy support, and startup technical assistance to entrepreneurs, small businesses, & non-profits in underserved & historically disenfranchised communities.
DOGE Institute: Do Only Good Everyday
The launch of DOGE Institute was also announced. DOGE is short for “do only good everyday.” DOGE Institute is the world’s first and only university-based institute focused exclusively on the philanthropic and financial literacy applications of cryptocurrency Dogecoin and market development of Dogecoin in the multi-trillion dollar philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.
