The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation’s PIN Leaders Program recently celebrated the inaugural cohort’s successful completion
The Portal Innovations Atlanta office at Georgia Tech’s Science Square hosted the October closing ceremony of the inaugural PIN Leaders Program. The effort, part of the Economic Opportunity pillar of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, is designed to foster inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem building and tech-based economic development in small, midsized and rural communities in the Southeast through a unique public-private-civic collaboration model.
Four teams took part in the seven-month pilot program, which emerged through the realization that communities often lack the human capital, support resources and community-centered approach to build and grow thriving ecosystems.
“The Economic Opportunity pillar fosters entrepreneurial ecosystem capacity building and tech-based economic development to drive impact and inclusive economic growth,” said Jamal Lewis, the Partnership’s Economic Opportunity manager. “We approach our work from an ecosystem and network level change because they all are part of larger regional cluster. What you do in your community impacts a larger community, and that’s why we’re looking at this from a regional approach.”
It also explains the unique feature of the PIN Leaders Program that requires a team of people from different sectors of a community — public-private-civic.
During the closing event, each of the teams presented their progress during an eight-minute pitch. Each pitch was led by a member of one of the four community teams, who spoke more about the PIN Leaders program after their presentations.
Albany, Georgia, will open the Launch Room, an innovation center for early-stage entrepreneurs, in downtown Albany in 2025.
The Partnership has “really made us think hard about who we bring into our innovation circle,” said Jud Savelle, an entrepreneur and startup catalyst with the Advanced Technology Development Center, a sister economic development program to the Partnership that is also part of Georgia Tech. Savelle, who lives in Albany and is a member of the project team, said, “I heard someone last night say to build circles not lines when building an ecosystem. That’s made us think harder about the challenges people might have accessing an inclusive ecosystem. We can call our ecosystem inclusive, but if there are still people that can’t get into that circle, then maybe we haven’t done our job.”
Montgomery, Alabama, seeks to boost entrepreneurship in the city by enhancing its small business support center, the Small Business One-Stop Shop (SBOSS), which provides tools, resources and social capital to enhance sustainability and growth.
Nichole Thompson, program director of SBOSS Montgomery spoke about the impact of the program. “I believe, personally, the impact has been felt the greatest in how we innovate, how we think, how we implement,” she said.
Thomasville, Georgia’s project, Invest Thomasville (InvestTVL), will increase access to capital for economically disadvantaged communities and help grow a locally owned community development financial institution. They do this through providing resources, including training, to entrepreneurs within the community.
DeShay Williams, executive director of Spark Thomasville, was excited to report that with the support of the Partnership, InvestTVL was able to launch its loan fund for entrepreneurs, with 12 in the first cohort. “We took them through several courses, and nine applied for our loans,” she said. “We’re in process of doing exactly what we set out to do. It was very exciting to kick that off and see our plan come to fruition.”
Tennessee and Kentucky seek to unlock the innovative potential of underserved universities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the innovators at those institutions through the creation of a centralized technology transfer office. The office will offer commercialization resources across the region and help develop an inclusive innovation ecosystem.
Kayla Meisner, executive director of Kentucky Commercialization Ventures, Kentucky’s tech transfer office, discussed the most important aspects of the Leadership Program. “My biggest takeaway from the program was the impact of this work,” she said. “We’re doing something new, and it matters. Innovation happens everywhere, and bringing communities together is really the passion that I have.”
The cross-community collaboration is already helping drive inclusive innovation, a hallmark of all Partnership programs. As part of the project, each team received in-person and virtual workshops on best practices in community-centered impact and tech-based economic development, peer learning, project coaching, access to project funding and site visits.
In addition to the team members who spoke at the event, other speakers included Ashley Cornelison, executive director of Portal Innovations, the event host; David Jackson, assistant vice president, community and economic development for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Laura Taylor, director of the Energy Policy and Innovation Center at Georgia Tech; and Debra Lam, founding executive director of the Partnership.
“When you think about networks like [the ones the Partnership is building], it really becomes an opportunity in the South to grow networks that can continue to work toward innovation, work to make change, and really provide a level of security for you to start to innovate,” said Jackson.