Help close the relationship gap help change the world

[Music]

i believe

the power of communities and the trust

that lives within them

have driven more change than capital

ever has

in 2020 the covet 19 pandemic had a

devastating impact

all over the world according to the

united nations

71 million people were pushed into

extreme poverty

and as for education school closures

caused 90 percent of all

students remain out of school while

remote learning remained

out of reach for at least 500 million

of them reversing years of progress made

we need to solve these problems and more

fast

and you know who’s used to moving fast

entrepreneurs

i believe entrepreneurs are uniquely

positioned to solve these problems

because they’re used to leveraging

relationships rooted

in trust and according to stephen m r

covey

speed is a function of trust

so why is it that when it comes to

creating a better and more sustainable

future for us all

the majority of articles conferences and

discussions

are focused on the lack of capital for

entrepreneurs what if the real

problem is the lack of strong trusted

communities

or should i say networks for them

now we all know that no entrepreneur can

succeed

without a strong network of support and

generations of people have passed down

phrases like

your network is your net worth it’s not

what you know

it’s who you know so the key questions

we should be asking ourselves are

what is a strong network made of and who

is the who

well a k poor center report gives us a

critical clue

the strong network and the who are those

that are influenced by graduates from

top colleges

and employees from top companies but

unfortunately not all entrepreneurs are

getting their just due

diverse entrepreneurs black latinx

and women not located in coastal

financial centers

are less likely to know the who than

their counterparts

and from my experience working with

social entrepreneurs

from all backgrounds over the last seven

years this applies to them as well

why because the ways access and

opportunity

have traditionally been distributed in

the united states and many other

countries

this means they have less robust

networks to draw upon

yes for capital just 2.6 of venture

capital funding

goes to black and latinx founders and in

q3 of 2020

venture capital funding for women

founders hit a three-year low

but it also means they have less people

to draw upon

for advice customers talent

and professional development i call the

lack of connection

between entrepreneurs and key

influencers

the relationship gap

relationships are powerful and i’ve

heard stories from trusted family

members

over the years about how they can create

transformative change

let me take you back to where my father

is from mobile

alabama to the neighborhood of africa

town to be exact

this is where a small group of africans

from the clotilda

the last slave ship to come to the

united states of america

settled and built a community led by

cujo

lewis imagine how close they grew

as they were transported across the

atlantic ocean in horrendous conditions

and endured slavery together with the

passing of the emancipation proclamation

but with their dreams of returning to

africa dashed

imagine as they grew closer while they

retained their language

customs and traditions since they had

only been away from home for a few years

eventually this community creates mobile

county training school

the oldest training school for african

americans in the state of

alabama and during the first part of the

20th century

this school created a baseball culture

in mobile

that supported hall of famer’s satchel

page

hank aaron billy williams and willie

mccovey

creating an inflection point or

significant moment

not just for mobile but for baseball as

a whole

now travel with me 160 miles northeast

to montgomery alabama where my mother is

from specifically to the neighborhood

of centennial hill a quarter-mile

tight-knit community near the state

capitol it’s where an employee of the

community pharmacy

owned by entrepreneur dr rich harris

headed the pulpit selection committee

that recruited a charismatic

25 year old leader named martin luther

king

jr to be the pastor of dexter avenue

baptist church

creating an early inflection point for

the civil rights movement

walk a little bit up the street and

you’ll find the home where dr king

coretta and her two young children lived

provided by the church their house was

bombed in 1956

with my mother’s aunt mary lucy williams

in it

along with coretta and their two young

children

and as martin came rushing to the scene

he had my mother’s uncle

roscoe williams an entrepreneur himself

at his side if you go just two doors

down from the kings

dr harris provided safe haven to the 33

freedom riders

including a young john lewis

after they were attacked as they arrived

at the montgomery greyhound bus station

in may 1961. over the next

three days at the harris house they

along with mlk

ralph david abernathy and other civil

rights leaders

created a strategy for continuing the

freedom rides

and just down the street from them after

the selma to montgomery march in 1965 my

uncle roscoe

hosted mlk harry belafonte

james baldwin and others for a welcome

break from the struggles of the day

from the stories told by my mother

father grandmothers aunts and uncles

i learned how the power of community

relationships and

trust have the ability to change the

world

so much so that it created greatness

that was normalized to me

it taught me to be a convener a

community builder

an ecosystem developer and to use

entrepreneurship

as a way to equalize social economic

disparities

on a global level so then how do we

close the relationship gap

how do we build trust between social

entrepreneurs and diverse founders

and those in strong networks from those

family stories

i also learned the process about how

everyday people with

everyday relationships built on trust

used

to change the world they use

relationships

of coaching in africatown they were

intentional

about having the better athletes teach

the next generation of baseball players

they use relationships of commerce

meaning capital

or purchases in centennial hill they

were intentional about relying on each

other for transportation

during the year-long montgomery bus

boycott

they used relationships of personal

growth in africatown

they were intentional about developing

the leadership skills

of the best students by allowing them to

have decision making power

at mobile county training school they

used relationships

of talent in centennial hill they were

intentional

about leveraging relationships to

recruit martin luther king jr

finally there were people who simply

used their

influence to make introductions to

others

who could do any of the previous things

who has been intentional about helping

you

opening doors for you

what inflection points have been created

in your own life

how much better would the world be if

you were intentional about giving just

two hours per month to helping social

entrepreneurs and diverse founders

whether it be by advice commerce

personal growth talent or introductions

if you can do this consistently for six

months then it’ll create a habit

when enough people have a habit it turns

into group behavior

and eventually group behavior turns into

a culture

of supporting social entrepreneurs and

diverse founders

you are the current versions of the

people who have created inflection

points in your own life

you are the cujo lewis’s of the world

you are the dr rich harris’s of the

world

you are a force for good now go pay it

forward

for the good of your nation

you