October 4, 2024 9:00am - 1:30pm
Strengthening Communities and Expanding Opportunity through Diversity and Entrepreneurship in California
In Spring of 2021, the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a grant of more than $333,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to launch a two-year Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. The new initiative expands Berkeley undergraduate research, advocacy and internship experiences that focus on how small businesses, especially those that are POC (People of Color)- and women-owned, are faring across California and what can be done to strengthen them. IGS’s Diversity and Entrepreneurship initiative brings resources and attention to the political and economic challenges faced by diverse entrepreneurs and the need to ensure an equitable recovery in the post-COVID-19 commercial landscape.
This year's Diversity and Entrepreneurship (D&E) Research Symposium features two panels of original research presentations by 2024 D&E Fellows and responses from experts in the field. Topics covered include: the role of CDFIs in addressing the racial wealth gap and responses to recent legal and political challenges; CDFI best practices and how to increase lending to entrepreneurs at the margins: the impacts of diverse small businesses on community resilience and creating “third space”; strategies for targeted outreach and expanding the range of resources needed to help diverse small business owners thrive.