Capital Readiness for Underrepresented Entrepreneurs

Income Inequality

County of Los Angeles

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Businesses especially those owned by the underrepresented Black and Brown community rarely exceed $1MM in sales and do not typically close the wealth gap or offer a wealth transfer to subsequent generations. The scope and scale of the problem is such that 80% of Black and Brown businesses create no legacy or transfer of wealth once the founder dies. Pi trains Black and Brown, Women, and Veteran emerging business owners and helps them build a legacy business above $1MM in sales and sustainable into the 2nd or 3rd generation thus closing the wealth gap. Pi reaches out to under-served communities of persons adversely affected by persistent poverty, discrimination, or inequality, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+ individuals, women, immigrants, veterans, individuals with disabilities, individuals in rural communities, individuals without a college degree, Individuals with or recovering from substance use disorder, and justice-involved individuals.

Pi offers two levels of practitioner and mentor driven training and technical assistance on a tuition-free basis. Pi is industry agnostic. Unlike many industry-specific incubators and accelerators, Pi is open to all types of industries. Instead, Pi targets entrepreneurs that are coachable, have grit, and have a vision to grow a business to annual sales of $1,000,000 in three to five years. Regardless of location, industry, or market segment, it is Pi's intent to deliver an entrepreneurial training and technical assistance program especially for low-to-moderate-income entrepreneurs and under-served Black & Brown entrepreneurs to help them find financial freedom and create a positive business legacy for future generations. To reach the Fundable CEO level means they have completed the first two phases. In order to be ready for their phase 3, Access to Capital, Pi culminates their capital readiness-training program with a Showcase event called Founders Meets Funders Demo Day. Pi Phase-1 (incubator) Clients presents a 5-Minute "Go to Market" Pitch whereas Phase-2 (accelerator) Clients presents a 10-minutes "Investor Quality" Pitch during the Showcase. Pi invites Angel individual investors, Angel groups, Venture Capitalists, and Community Development Lenders to attend the Showcases. In just two plus years, Pi launched three separate Cohort Classes of startups, early stage, and emerging businesses (one to nine years in business) for a total of 84 businesses served thus far.

Our vision is To Launch 1,000 Social Entrepreneur...Ships by 2032, representing success for our overall program. Polk Institute (Pi) launched in September 2020, right in the heart of the negativity created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pi was a positive ray of hope. Now imagine the positive impact created by the prosperity coming from the 1000 companies that Pi launches and 60% or 600 of them become social entrepreneurs. 100% is not realistic for social entrepreneur converts, however 60% is certainly realistic. Now imagine the positive impact that PI will have on Los Angeles County. Imagine the multiplier effect that our 600 Social Entrepreneurs who share a purpose driven mission of The Triple Bottom Line of People + Planet + Planet will create. Imagine if 600 companies averaged sales of $1,250,000 each over the next five years for a total of $750,000,000. What if...those 600 companies created just seven new jobs each over the next five years for a total of 4,200 new jobs.

The Polk Institute (Pi) promotes social entrepreneurship, leading to more companies like Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia, and Tom's Shoes. This benefits Los Angeles County residents fostering more communities achieving social justice. Social entrepreneurship cultivates ethical leaders who prioritize sustainable practices, care for their employees, and challenge profit-centric mindsets. Pi's vision of launching 1,000 ventures by 2032 includes empowering underrepresented groups. Overall, our efforts create positive change by supporting social entrepreneurs and making a significant impact on society.