Flint, Mich. February 9, 2023 — Eight Flint-based nonprofit organizations, directed by leaders of color, have been invited for a new fellowship cohort designed to strengthen their individual, organizational, and collective resiliency. The inaugural Enterprising Ventures of Color Fellowship Cohort will focus on strengthening the long-term capacity and infrastructure of participating nonprofit organizations.
The organizations are Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flint & Genesee County, Center for Higher Educational Achievement, Flint & Genesee Literacy Network, InvolvedDad, MADE Institute, Motherly Intercession, Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, and Voices for Children Advocacy Center.
The Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, and the United Way of Genesee County have partnered through the Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities to fund this venture. The Enterprising Ventures of Color Fund, established at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, supports the work.
“At Enterprising Ventures of Color, we imagine a future where nonprofit leaders of color deliver impact from a place of abundance and opportunity rather than scarcity and limitation,” said Lillian D. Singh, founder and CEO. “Nonprofit leaders of color have close proximity to the communities they serve. Along with organizational capacity building, capital is the fuel that drives the operations and growth of any nonprofit enterprise. So, we combine these two powerful approaches — capacity building and enterprise capital — for revolutionary level change.”
The Enterprising Ventures of Color (EVC) team has over a decade of experience working in several cities to help nonprofits connect to transformational capacity-building resources, collective people power, social network capital, and enterprise capital. EVC also works to encourage trust-based philanthropy practices for funders.
Fourteen Fellows, representing the organizations in the cohort, will benefit from an 18-month process that includes personalized executive-level coaching, socially and culturally tailored technical assistance, and power-building strategies to disrupt systems of inequities as they strive to create financially resilient communities. Fellows will receive support to advance their organizational development outcomes from expert consultants in topical areas, including revenue generation pipelines, strategic planning, financial management, and effective communication. The goal is to advance long-term, sustainable community solutions.
"The launch of the EVC cohort in Flint will position the Fellows to advance innovative solutions they have developed to address complex challenges,” Singh said. “Collaboration with the funders will further leverage the social, financial, and economic resources nonprofit leaders need for long-term, sustainable impact. Too often the groups who are closest to the problem are furthest away from having funding for the solution.”
Isaiah M. Oliver, the first Black president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, said, "This partnership with the EVC team builds on our commitment to racial equity and allows us to harness the power of our collective energy and assets for equitable change. This collaboration is critical because supporting organizational capacity will always be a vital component of any effort to lift the sector. We also understand as funders that capital is the fuel that drives the operations and growth of any enterprise."
As supporters of the work, Jamie Gaskin, CEO of United Way of Genesee County, said, "We embrace Enterprising Ventures of Color’s commitment to combining the two powerful approaches – capacity building and enterprise capital – with the goal of systemic change in Flint."
Raquel Thueme, president of the Ruth Mott Foundation, said, “Nonprofit organizations serve a vital role fulfilling many of the social, economic, and civic needs of people in our community, and the Ruth Mott Foundation is proud to support the EVC Fellows and their organizations who are doing this essential work every day.”
“Here in Flint, we have so many leaders of color working on the ground to strengthen the community, but their organizations haven’t had the same resources and opportunities to grow their capacity as their white counterparts,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. “Through a grant to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, the Mott Foundation is pleased to support these leaders and organizations who are working to tackle systemic inequities in the community.”
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Enterprising Ventures of Color partner with nonprofit executives of color. We empower them through a collaborative growth process which includes personalized executive coaching, socially and culturally tailored technical assistance, and we join forces with funders for greater impact in creating racial wealth equity. To learn more, visit www.enventofcolor.com
The Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities’ Philanthropic Subcommittee aims to lean into the expertise of Black- and Latinx-led organizations to effectively serve their constituencies by increasing philanthropic investments in them. Support organizations that connect individuals and families to resources build power in communities to address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and bring to the forefront long-standing social constructs that impede progress for Black and Latinx communities. To learn more click here.
