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