Accelerating Green Equity on the North Peninsula
Free experiential training program for businesses that improve their communities - Apply Now!
Port Angeles, WA, December 22, 2022: Applications for the Green Equity Accelerator open today.
The Green Equity Accelerator is a collaboration led by CIE in partnership with EDC Team Jefferson, North Olympic Development Council (NODC), and Rural Development Initiatives, with funding from a BECU Social Impact Grant and the Washington State Department of Commerce Small Business Innovation Fund.
The accelerator is designed to catalyze social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs are business owners who use their businesses to generate revenue by solving social or environmental problems and improving their communities.
The accelerator is powered by SEA Change, a nonprofit whose mission is to move social entrepreneurs forward further and faster by equipping them with the tools, knowledge, skills, and connections that help them determine their financial sustainability plan and measure their non-negotiable social impact — because SEA Change believes that entrepreneurs have the power to change the world for the better.
A cohort of up to 12 applicants from Clallam and Jefferson County will be selected to participate. Priority will be given to overlooked founders - individuals with limited resources who have traditionally been excluded from business ownership opportunities, including Indigenous people, recent immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, people identifying as LGBTQA+, returning veterans, formerly incarcerated people in re-entry, and people recovering from the trauma of domestic violence or homelessness.
Those with idea-stage businesses, those currently operating and seeking growth, and everything in between is eligible and encouraged to apply at https://www.cie-nw.org/green-equity-accelerator. To ensure the program is accessible, it is offered virtually at no cost to participants.
The accelerator will feature a 14-module training program facilitated by SEA Change, feedback by experienced local business professionals and subject matter experts, access to local volunteer mentors, and ongoing counseling from CIE’s business advisors during and after the training. The training will culminate in a pitch event and business showcase sponsored by EDC Team Jefferson. Up to 10 participants completing all required activities will receive up to $5,000 in startup capital to move their projects forward.
In consultation with NODC, participants will develop a green equity collective impact dashboard to measure environmental benefits produced by their social enterprises that align with the North Olympic Peninsula Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) goals and objectives. The CEDS is produced every 5 years by NODC, the Regional Economic Development District for Clallam and Jefferson Counties, with broad input from local governments, economic development agencies, Tribes, and the business community.
According to Karen Affeld, the director of NODC, “The CEDS is an indication of the importance of small businesses in Clallam and Jefferson Counties and their potential to help lead the way to a local economy that is more socially equitable, more environmentally sustainable, and more self-sufficient and resilient.”
The accelerator will catalyze the systemic transformation envisioned in the CEDS. Mike Skinner, CIE’s director, explains it this way: “Rather than designing the solutions ourselves, we will encourage diverse solutions being developed by the North Peninsula’s overlooked founders and help them design and launch financially self-sustaining social enterprises that measurably maximize the region’s green equity.”
“We are excited for participants to explore the creative energy of the entrepreneurial mindset and develop leadership potential as they work together to start social enterprises that turn waste to profit, reduce food miles and carbon footprints, develop renewable clean energy, and other innovations,” says Cindy Brooks, the director of EDC Team Jefferson. “At the same time, participants will create a pathway to meaningful work for themselves and others while building generational wealth, becoming leaders of a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient North Olympic Peninsula economy.”
Press Contacts
Mike Skinner, CIE Executive Director, mike.skinner@cie-nw.org
Michelle Pruden, CIE Community Engagement Coordinator, michell.pruden@cie-nw.org
Isabel Bratvold, CIE Marketing and Communications Coordinator, isabel.bratvold@cie-nw.org
Mallory Masarik, Senior Program Manager at SEA Change, mmasarik@seachng.org
Volunteer Mentors and Facilitators are needed
If you want to get involved, please reach out to Michelle Pruden at michelle.pruden@cie-nw.org.
Who: Volunteer mentors (including experienced business owners and subject matter experts)
How: Visit www.cie-nw.org/green-equity-accelerator to complete a volunteer interest form
When: The virtual volunteer training will occur on March 6, 2023.
Where: All cohort sessions will be held online via Zoom.
Why: See above