Finalist

EDI Community Engagement Initiative of the Year Award

HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives

Finalist of the EDI Community Engagement Initiative of the Year Award

HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE - United States

"10 Entrepreneurial Programs Enrich the Minority Landscape"


Engage on social media

#womeninbusiness
(Women in business programs)
#minoritywomeninbusiness
(Entrepreneurial programs for women)
#houstoncommunitycollege
(Entrepreneurial programs)

Have a say and vote for this entry to win the People's Choice Award!


Registered vote
500 points per vote

Provide your email address and click on "vote". You will then receive an email that enables you to verify your vote by clicking on a link.

 
Social media vote
1500 points per tweet. 500 points per retweet. 250 points for a like.

Support this entry by engaging with it on Twitter. Tweet or retweet using the following two hashtags to support this entry (use both hashtags in the same Tweet). Also, if you "like" an existing Tweet with these hashtags, the entry gets points.
#ACEEU_Awards
#2023Entry657

Live voting at Awards Ceremony
7500 points per vote

Join the Awards Ceremony online and vote live for this entry. Register here and we will send you a reminder and streaming link closer to the event.

The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "EDI Community Engagement Initiative of the Year ") will take place on 26 June 2023, 18:45 to 19:45 CEST.

Summary

Houston Community College’s (HCC) Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Houston, Texas is making a difference in building equity and parity. The college’s 10 Signature Entrepreneurial Programs have made a focused, energetic and deep commitment to change the diversity landscape, one minority business owner at a time, one women-owned business at a time and one success story at a time. It’s not an overnight achievement but one that is rooted in building strong business skills, providing access to funding, access to robust contracts, and introduction to networking with the business community, all targeted to building wealth for minority owned businesses.
Our success is grounded in five principles of operation:
1) Entrepreneurial programs are taught by successful entrepreneurs who reflect the diversity of our community; 2) HCC hosts four full time “Entrepreneurs in Residence” who work pro-bono; 3) We collaborate with over 50 local business chambers and organizations to build together the business eco-system; 4) Programming is offered in Spanish to serve the large Hispanic community; and 5) HCC faculty and staff have developed robust entrepreneurial programs with meaningful engagement.

10 Entrepreneurial Programs

1) Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
2) Open for Business for Women Entrepreneurs-Women of Color
3) Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
4) HCC Business Plan Competition
5) HCC Small Business Success Series ©
6) Entrepreneurship for Youth (for middle school children)
7) Bilingual Small Business Programs
8) HCC-Mattress Mack School of Selling
9) HCC Student Hackathons
10) Student Pitch Competitions

Key People


Maya Durnovo
Associate Vice Chancellor
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Kimberly Burroughs
Executive Director, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Marshette Turner
Director, Minority Business Development Agency
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Tamala Austin
Director, Open for Business for Women of Color
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Sandra Louvier
Director, Glenda & David Regenbaum Center for Entrepreneurship
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



April Felton
Director, Pandemic Recovery Center
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Ravi Brahmbhatt
Director, Southwest College Center for Entrepreneurship
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Susie Molina
Director, Southeast College Center for Entrepreneurship
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



David Regenbaum
Entrepreneur in Residence
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Austin Tenette
Entrepreneur in Residence
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Ned Mueller
Entrepreneur in Residence
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College



Kimberly Penn
Entrepreneur in Residence
Office of Entrepreneurial Initiatives,  Houston Community College


Acknowledgements

Maya Durnovo, Associate Vice Chancellor, Entrepreneurship, Houston Community College (HCC)

Kimberly Burroughs, EX Director, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, HCC

Marshette Turner, Director, Minority Business Development Agency, HCC

Tamala Austin, Director, Open for Business for Women Entrepreneurs, HCC

Sandra Louvier, Director, Glenda & David Center for Entrepreneurship, HCC

April Felton, Director, Pandemic Recovery Center, HCC

Ravi Brahmbhatt, Director, Southwest Center for Entrepreneurship, HCC

Susie Molina, Director, Southeast Center for Entrepreneurship, HCC

David Regenbaum, Entrepreneur in Residence, HCC

Austin Tenette, Entrepreneur in Residence, HCC

Ned Mueller, Entrepreneur in Residence, HCC

Kimberly Penn, Entrepreneur in Residence, HCC














Images

Minority Business Development Agency

Programs for Women

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Graduates

HCC Business Plan Competition Awards Ceremony

Small Business Success Series Program

Entrepreneurship For Youth

Bilingual Programs

Mattress Mack School of Selling

Student Hackathons

Student Pitch Competitions

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Kim Roxie is an extraordinary businesswoman who started her own make up line in her kitchen. Her business LAMIK stands for Love and Makeup in Kindness. The makeup line is vegan made with natural and organic ingredients for multicultural women. The brand is the first black-owned clean, and cruelty-free bran on Ulta.com. https://lamikbeauty.com/
Kim grew up in Houston, Texas and while working in a makeup store, she discovered a passion for making women feel good about themselves. Her motto is “Beauty is Revealed, not Applied.”

Kim created her own makeup line because regular makeup ingredients were appalling. “I thought, “I can’t put my name on that and sell it to people! I resolved to create my own make up with organic ingredients. My mom gave me $500 and her blessing.”
In 2004, LAMIK started locally and today is highlighted as one of eight black-owned beauty companies by BET (Black Entertainment Television) and is one of seven black cosmetics lines dominating the market.

In 2012 Kim joined HCC’s Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and in 2014, HCC’s Business Plan Competition. These programs gave her the tools to expand her business. Kim appeared on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and on CBS’s Morning Show segment, “Changing the Game” series highlighting extraordinary women who make a difference.
Kim has grown into a Business Icon and Role Model. She speaks at HCC entrepreneurial events and serves as a business Plan Competition advisor.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

1. Start with one event or activity such as a workshop or a small Business Plan Competition. Partner with a local organization or chamber of commerce and build alliances. Experts love to share their knowledge and you can provide a platform.
2. Identify and hire a diverse and energetic staff who will try new approaches and will not be scared to make mistakes. Your staff should be “entrepreneurial” in the development of programs!
3. Apply for local, regional and federal grants as well as foundation grants; even a small grant makes a difference and can lead to a larger one later! You won’t win every time, but you will learn about the process and through good writing, will secure funding.
4. Invite experienced and often retired business experts to serve as Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR).
5. Partner with Chambers of Commerce & Economic Organizations and sign MOU’s (Memorandums of Understanding) which formalize the collaboration.
6. Join professional entrepreneurial organizations and share your experiences and learn from others.
7. Build alumni organizations to keep participants engaged and involved. Invite business owners back to share their experiences. Alumni enjoyed the camaraderie and will give back to the organization who helped them!

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

There is much work to continue to build equity and parity in our world. We are eager to do more in the following ways:
1) Engaging students at an earlier stage to encourage “Entrepreneurial Thinking” and “Entrepreneurial Mindset” which is beneficial in any career-- with or without a business!
2) Expand programs for Men of Color as we have attracted many women to our initiatives and somehow the men have lagged behind. We have piloted a new program for Men of Color which launched in March 2023.
3) Engaging more women of color in leadership programs to address the fears and reluctance to start businesses. Many of our women participants have business plans but they have not launched the business. We need to do more to encourage risk taking, self-confidence and solid vision planning.
4) We plan to build an Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame to honour those businesses who launched and succeeded. We want to acknowledge their efforts and work and promote their businesses.
5) Expand our Alumni Associations to build a stronger network with mentoring, success stories, testimonials and gift giving. We want to give our successful entrepreneurs an opportunity to give back and help others who are eager to start an enterprise.
6) Expand Entrepreneur In Residence program. As America ages, there will be many retired business executives who will be available to share their expertise and wisdom.
7) Integrate innovation into our entrepreneurial work to encourage the development of new products and services.

KEY STATISTICS

12,500

Number of small businesses served in 12 years

$641 million

Contracts won by minority owned businesses in Houston

$686 million

Financing accessed by minority owned businesses

1,285 women

1,285 women of color participated in Open for Business Program

969 graduates

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

610 businesses

Participants in Annual Business Plan Competition

1,500 students

Participants in Student Pitch Competitions

$22 million

Grant funds awarded to support small businesses; programming is at no cost to participants!

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

Home | About the awards | Categories | Apply | Ceremony | FAQ | Contact

2024 © ACEEU. All rights reserved.