A Year of Strategic Growth and Economic Mobility

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In 2025, Forward Cities advanced economic mobility through entrepreneurship by strengthening community-centered ecosystem infrastructure in Durham, expanding our national and global thought leadership, and welcoming new leaders to guide our next phase of growth.

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Save the Date for 1MC Durham

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Save the date for our first 1 Million Cups Durham event on January 14, 2026! Coffee. Community. Entrepreneurs. The countdown is on.

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A Message from Dr. Walker

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In her new message, Forward Cities CEO Dr. Diamonte Walker outlines how Forward Cities is translating a decade of experience into practical, scalable strategies that strengthen the conditions for entrepreneurship and long-term economic mobility. Read more below.

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Welcome LevTech Fall Cohort

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We are proud to welcome the Fall 2025 LevTech Accelerator cohort! The LevTech Accelerator helps small business owners integrate technology to streamline operations, expand their reach, and strengthen their foundations for growth.

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Moving Cities Forward

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Sign up for our Moving Cities Forward Newsletter to hear the latest news and updates about the work we’re doing in communities across the country.

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Collaborators in Ecosystem Building

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Forward Cities is fortunate to have a growing number of funding and ecosystem building partners to help us deepen and expand our work.

Meet Our Partners about Collaborators in Ecosystem Building

Impact Stories

Storytelling is in our DNA. We celebrate the champions and change-makers dedicated to growing and sustaining entrepreneurial ecosystems in their communities and beyond.

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2025: A Year of Strategic Growth and Economic Mobility

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The Future is Facing Forward

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LevTech Accelerator Welcomes Its Fall 2025 Cohort

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Featured Program

The E3 Durham program employs a community-centered model that reduces the cost of doing business for Durham entrepreneurs. Local Navigators — trusted advisors who have extensive relationships in the community — provide guidance to enrolled entrepreneurs at no-cost.

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Community Impact

Strengthening a local entrepreneurial ecosystem requires intention, stakeholder alignment, local leadership, timely data, trust-building, authentic community engagement, and an actionable plan that can be invested in and sustained over time. We work with cities to help implement their plans, track their data, amplify emerging stories, and identify public and private resources to sustain this work over time.

read the 2023 annual report

Support the vision

Our work is generously supported by local and national foundations as well as corporations and individuals who share our commitment to growing and sustaining entrepreneurial communities across the country. If you are interested in supporting us directly please click here.  If you’d like to talk further about how you or your organization can best support Forward Cities’ mission please contact us.  Thank you!

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