Partner with UPBI
We invite you to join the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative
Entrepreneurship is about empowerment and transformation. It offers a viable pathway out of poverty. Both universities and local communities are rich in resources that can help support successful venture creation by those in poverty and adverse circumstances. The challenge is to recognize and creatively take advantage of these resources.
Why Your University Should Participate
By launching a poverty and adversity entrepreneurship program in your community, your university can:
- Empower your community. Help address the serious challenge of poverty in your community by supporting entrepreneurs from under-resourced backgrounds.
- Create hands-on learning opportunities. Interviews, site visits, and consulting opportunities provide meaningful, real-world venture-building experiences
- Advance teaching and research. Conduct scholarly and applied research using the database or design studies with the entrepreneurs being served; develop compelling case studies and class content
- Build community partnerships. Establish new relationships with local organizations, business leaders, and changemakers
- Foster campus-wide collaboration. Involve academic and administrative units—such as business, communications, IT, and procurement—in shared problem-solving.
- Feature guest speakers. Identify interesting guest speakers from among those you serve
- Elevate your university’s reputation. Position your university as a difference maker and build credibility with donors and partners by showing real-world outcomes.
You don’t need a large budget to get started. Many partners have launched programs with modest resources and seen meaningful results. The return—in learning, reputation, and impact—is well worth the effort.
Resources & support
We provide a turnkey approach for universities and non-profit organizations to implement an entrepreneurship and adversity program in their communities. A sample of the elements available for those interested in joining the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative include:
Program design & implementation
- Content and materials for training modules
- A unique mentoring model and insights on building and managing a mentor pool
- Approaches for using students as consultants to low-income entrepreneurs
- Administrative requirements to support the program
- A budget capturing typical program expenses
Campus & community engagement
- Resources on university campuses that can be tapped to support your efforts
- Techniques for engaging the local business community to support these entrepreneurs
- Methods for successfully marketing the program in your community
- Partners and their roles
Monitoring, assessment & best practices
- Program assessment metrics and approaches
- A structure and data collection approach for a tracking database
- Identification of best practices from across our collaborating programs
- New program elements that participating organizations are experimenting with
Entrepreneur support & success stories
- Case studies of successful entrepreneurs going through the program
- New insights on microcredit and how low-income entrepreneurs can access funding
Join Us
For more information, contact Michael Morris:
Phone: (574) 631-9880
Email: mmorri24@nd.edu