It Takes A Village!
Couragion was recently selected as one of 12 companies for Village Capital’s 2016 US Education Cohort. This week, I had the honor of participating in the kick-off in Chicago. It has been an intense week of 12-hour days filled with business plan analysis and refinement. I’m exhausted yet invigorated by all of the learning.
One of the best aspects of the program has been learning from my 11 peer companies and the program’s mentors. I am impressed with the caliber and diversity of the entrepreneurs. And Village Capital secured amazing mentors that bring unmatched experience in education technology, fundraising, teaching, and school administration. I am full of gratitude for their willingness to donate their time to help – because start-ups need a village to help us reach our full potential!
But the most important part of the program is that every start-up is poised to be part of the village that supports and enables our youth to grow to their full potential! Village Capital selects only those start-ups that drive deep social impact and it fills my heart to see the type of impact that my peers are providing. Here are just three examples (BTW I am pictured above with the powerful and driven CEOs of these companies):
- Education Modified – Melissa Corto helps special education teachers meet the unique needs of every kid in their classroom by providing personalized strategies that meet each learner’s unique challenges.
- Skill Scout – Elena Valentine is changing the recruiting and hiring process to help underemployed and unemployed find meaningful jobs with higher pay.
- Yenko – Margo Wright is helping low-income college students track and keep their financial aid in order to boost college retention and graduation rates.
You can learn more about the impact being made by the other cohort companies in this Village Capital article. And for more details about the US Education program, visit Village Capital’s website.
Thank you Village Capital for creating this unique venture development program and thanks to AT&T Aspire, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Leap Innovations, and Spark Baltimore for supporting the 2016 cohort!