The mission of Fund 17 is to support business cultivation in the 17 wards of New Orleans and the surrounding area, focusing on BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) entrepreneurs often overlooked by traditional business incubation and economic development strategies. We prioritize low-income entrepreneurs of color and native New Orleanians, especially those facing the threat of displacement.
One of the key principles of Fund 17 is to invest in the community. Since our 2022 reconfiguration, in addition to providing technical assistance and capital access we have expanded our focus to collaborate across the GNO economic development ecosystem. This has been intrinsic to growing our work in our communities and deepening relationships with our community and program partners.
We have continued to support our entrepreneurs in formalizing their businesses, and in addition to our policy research in permitting and licensing, we were able to collaborate with Sinnidra Taylor — executive director of Friends of Codey’s Nola and a former Fund 17 program graduate and business case manager — to facilitate workshops on LLC and EIN (Employee Identification Number) processes and LED (Louisiana Economic Development) certifications. With Friends of Codey’s, we have supported “foodpreneurs” with a commercial kitchen space and provided industry-specific technical assistance to food-service vendors at Friends of Codey’s Commissary Kitchen and Co-Op.
The Financial Wellness Collaborative (FWC) — a collaboration between Fund 17, Thrive Nola, and Propeller over the past two years — is a testament to our expanded support for our entrepreneurs. FWC supports our entrepreneurs with direct capital access, technical assistance workshops, and one-on-one advising to help them become “bankable.” It also provides clear pathways for referrals to support them as they continue to progress in our region’s Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) ladder.
During this time, our team reevaluated our “why” and how we fit in the overarching economic development ecosystem among other ESOs in the region. As of the summer of 2023, we launched our Wellness Initiative to provide comprehensive holistic wellness training in a mini-retreat format tailored to support our entrepreneurs in collective healing. This offering was developed after we disbursed $60,000 in Ida Relief Stipends to entrepreneurs, a heightened need after Hurricane Ida and past floods, which entrepreneurs stated were a sustained impediment to business as they recovered from COVID-19 closure impacts.
In the spring of 2024, we launched our Culture Bearer Promise initiative to support the New Orleans entrepreneurial community in addressing their unique needs. We found that entrepreneurs we work with require a level of technical assistance as dynamic as their challenges. By honing a cultural-specific lens to programming, creating a viable pathway of business incubation and providing resources and opportunities while building trust, Fund 17 directly contributes to the economic advancement of low to moderate-income communities, BIPOC, women and other groups experiencing economic oppression.
We are excited to present our upcoming fall program lineup, showcasing our enriched portfolio. We are expanding our offerings to include more workforce development, distinctive educational workshops, and opportunities to enhance our current Core Pipeline Programs and Capital Access Initiative. Our new offerings will focus on operational structure essentials, business soft skills and digital safeguards awareness, all aimed at building the capacity for successful workforce growth.
FUND 17 is focused on our Actionable Intention for 2024-2027. Stay tuned and reach out.
We like to say we’re only “hood famous” in four wards, but we aim to be in all 17 by 2027!
Veranisha Thompson is the executive director of Fund17. She may be reached via email at Veranisha@fund17.org.
