Across the country, there are a handful of individuals committed to supporting and empowering entrepreneurs in the places where they live.
Equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem builders play a unique and vital role - helping to ensure that every entrepreneur has an opportunity to launch and grow a business that creates wealth for themselves, their families, and/or their communities. This work is often complex and requires a distinctive set of skills, as well as a long-term commitment. These builders are, themselves, often racialized individuals who take on the work as committed volunteers or in addition to full-time jobs or businesses.
PLACE Builders Fellowship
The PLACE Builder fellowship was developed in honor of Ecomap forever Chief Ecosystem Officer - Pava LaPere - and the values that she embodied so well.
PLACE (Pava LaPere Award for Cultivating Ecosystems) Builders is an intensive, 3-month fellowship program empowering these change-makers to catalyze more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems. The fellowship is inspired by the legacy of Pava LaPere, the late Co-Founder of EcoMap Technologies as a tribute to her legacy of fighting for equal access to opportunity.
PLACE Builders centers the following values:
- Building community through mutual love of place.
- Being a prolific connector of people and resources.
- Breaking down barriers in the name of equity and accessibility.
Eight builders representing regions across the country will have an opportunity to build their capacity through training, peer support, and community pilots. Fellows will have access to professional mentorship, a digital toolkit, community, funding, and a platform to tell the stories about the places they love to a broader audience. By the end of the fellowship, each builder will also have identified, developed, and launched a pilot project to either address an ecosystem gap or scale something that’s working well.
Meet the Fellows
Angela Hollowell
Southeast Region
Angela Hollowell
Southeast Region
The Southeast fellow is founder and host of Honey & Hustle, a video podcast committed to highlighting the unique and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that makes North Carolina a premier destination for work, travel, film production, and community development. She plans to scale up her newsletter, Please Hustle Responsibly, to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and the resources and strong community they need to thrive.
Arsh Haque
Far West Region
Arsh Haque
Arsh HaqueFar West Region
The Far West fellow launching culturally specific accelerator programs with a focus on race and neuroatypicality. Their unique program identified traded sectors that have overrepresentation by marginalized groups but have been under-resourced. The goal is to serve these marginalized founders by connecting them with community and additional resources, breaking down barriers along the way.
Charlyn Moss
Rocky Mountain Region
Charlyn Moss
Charlyn MossRocky Mountain Region
The Rocky Mountain fellow is a former sole proprietor who intimately understands the multifaceted challenges and barriers that confront Black-led-and-serving entrepreneurs. She recognizes the urgent need for tailored support and resources to address the unique obstacles faced by Black entrepreneurs and is establishing the Black Owners Club (BOC), a transformative initiative designed to address critical gaps and foster sustainable growth within the Black entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Erica Williams
Plains Region
Erica Williams
Erica WilliamsPlains Region
The Plains fellow creates spaces and opportunities for entrepreneurs to work and support their families. She believes her community needs and deserves the opportunity to create wealth for themselves and is looking to license a shared commercial kitchen and small-scale manufacturing space to give food entrepreneurs and value-added producers a place to create and market their products.
Francisco Ramos-Meyer
Mideast Region
Francisco Ramos-Meyer
Francisco Ramos-MeyerMideast Region
The Mideast fellow saw firsthand how hard it was for Latino business owners and is passionate about preserving and enhancing the vibrancy of Columbia Heights in D.C. He is looking to forge a long-term partnership between young residents and local businesses, specifically to harness the former’s language and literacy skills to lift up business owners.
Justus Cornelius Pugh
Great Lakes Region
Justus Cornelius Pugh
Justus Cornelius PughGreat Lakes Region
The Great Lakes fellow is creating community by bringing together the right ingredients to push impactful initiatives forward. A natural facilitator, he plans to gather passionate entrepreneurs to share meals, create strong bonds, and explore the power of collaboration and resource sharing.
Marion Hicks
Southwest Region
Marion Hicks
Marion HicksSouthwest Region
The Southwest fellow is a project manager taking a multi-faceted, ecosystems-level approach to supporting Indigenous femme entrepreneurs. She plans to blend proven programs into a codified ecosystem to provide multiple avenues to shift wealth and provide equitable access to capital and other resources for Indigenous femme entrepreneurs.
Sarah Spear
New England Region
Sarah Spear
Sarah SpearNew England Region
The New England fellow is creating the inclusive world she wants to live in with her kids, including her daughter who lives with a disability. She is building an online marketplace that enables people with disabilities and caregivers to discover, connect with, and review curated businesses through an accessibility lens.
Magalie Yacinthe
Fellow Liaison
Magalie Yacinthe
Magalie YacintheForward Cities Senior Director of Programs
Magalie, an alumnus of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, was born in Nassau Bahamas, raised in Miami FL, and is one of five daughters to Haitian parents. As the Senior Director of Programs, she leads the execution and delivery of Forward Cities' equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem building solutions and learning engagements. Leveraging a depth and breadth of experience in entrepreneurial support and resource development, as well as best practices for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is a founder and Executive Director of HUSTLE Winston-Salem, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inclusive entrepreneurship. Magalie created YES Strategies & Solutions, a cost-effective consulting firm helping nonprofits and corporations accomplish successful programming and project management to carry out their missions.
Empowering Change-Makers
- Three month fellowship program from early April - late June designed for self-identifying equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem builders
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Three in-person cohort events (all travel, lodging, and meal expenses covered by the program)
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April 6-7: Cohort Kickoff in Baltimore, MD
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April 30-May 2: SCN 2024 Spring Summit in Shenandoah Valley, VA
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June 22-23: Close-out Celebration in Durham, NC
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Weekly virtual cohort meetings led by Forward Cities
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1:1 mentor matches with ecosystem building experts
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Fellows received a stipend and small operational grant following successful completion of the program; all travel/lodging/registration for in-person events covered by the program
Support PLACE Builders
We invite you to support the inaugural PLACE Builders fellowship fund.
Learn more by reading
Program Directors
FAY HORWITT
FAY HORWITTFORWARD CITIES PRESIDENT & CEO
As President of Forward Cities, Fay Horwitt partners in mission and strategy for the organization and leads in program design. As an accomplished ecosystem builder and inclusive entrepreneurship expert, she uses asset-based and creative approaches to help communities build inclusive strategies into their DNA. As a sought after presenter and trainer, Fay designs and delivers in-person and virtual events, education, and interactive experiences to help organizations, companies, and individuals grow more effective and equitable human ecosystems.
KEVIN CARTER
KEVIN CARTERECOMAP TECHNOLOGIES DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Kevin Carter is responsible for developing critical partnerships and strategies that facilitate EcoMap’s mission of making information more accessible. He has worked in the world of entrepreneurial support throughout his career, helping to launch the first student accelerator programs at Johns Hopkins University, where he first met Pava, before joining EcoMap at her behest in 2021. A long-time collaborator, co-founder, and friend of Pava, Kevin is looking forward to building one more program with her in spirit.
In partnership with
We're grateful to partner with EcoMap Technologies to empower change-makers to catalyze more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.
For additional information about PLACE Builders, please contact us.
Thank you to PLACE Builders supporters
Al Wood
Alex Miles
Anastasia
Anna Meyers
Anonymous (16)
Anthony Garay
Atlas UP team
Austin S
Bailey
Benjamin Johnson
Bromo Arts District
Brooke Stephanian
CADRE
Cecilia Wessinger
Cheri Soliday
Chris and Kerriann Blair
Christy Wyskiel
Chuck and Cheryll Davis
Courtney James
David Raksin
Deb Weidman
Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
Dug and Linh Song
Elliot
Emergence Baltimore
Emily Breiter
Erica Howe
Frank Bonsal
H H
Henry Mortimer
Hilary Roxe
Hope Chang
IEDC
Jamie McDonald
Jax St.onge
Jeff Reid
Jen
Jen Leroux
Jennifer DeRose
Joanna Cheng
Joe Mechlinski
Justin Label
Karen & Stewart Wilson
Katia
Keisha Carr
Kevin Carter
Kim B
Kristen Nixon
Kristin Garcia
Kristin Speaker
LaKendra
Les & Dan
Live Oak Bank
LouAnn Zwieryznski
Madison Marchwinski
Malika Dia
Megan Marszalek
Micky Wolf
Mindgrub Technologies
Nancy
Nancy Carter
Pat and Christina Scheper
Peter Diprinzio
Rebecca Corbin
Rob Williams
Shaina Poore
Shamara
Shana Harris
Sherri Messinger
Sherrod and Kim Davis
Smitha Gopal
Stephen Speicher
Sujka
Teddy Gresser
The LaPere Family
Wendy Bolger