2021 Newsome Fellows Partner With Nonprofits Across the District To Support Small Business Initiatives
This summer, seven aspiring and mid-career professionals joined the LISC DC team, forming the second cohort of the Oramenta Newsome Community Development Fellowship. Bringing a wide range of skills, experiences in community engagement, and a passion for small businesses, each fellow was matched with one nonprofit partner to work on initiatives aimed to support small businesses throughout the region.
Since March of 2020, communities across the world have endured major challenges no one could have predicted. In addition to the devastating health impacts, the pandemic caused catastrophic economic instability, affecting individuals, families, and businesses. Small businesses were disproportionally harmed by shut downs, particularly small businesses owned by people of color. Despite the plethora of resources available, the road to recovery presented its own set of unique challenges. This was the motivating factor for the focus of the 2021 cohort.
"The field needs people like you to come in and generate new energy. This opportunity through Oramenta’s leadership and inspiration has been an important thing for LISC DC"
Small businesses are the backbone of local communities, and to lose them is to lose the heart and soul of a neighborhood. Creating and preserving thriving equitable neighborhoods is what former LISC DC Executive Director, Oramenta Newsome, stood for. Oramenta served as Executive Director of LISC DC for 25 years, dedicated to making Washington, DC an inclusive, and community-driven city that benefited neighborhood residents.
With this fellowship, we are honoring Oramenta’s legacy by putting her principles to work. By focusing on small businesses in the midst of the pandemic, the LISC team saw the impact this cohort could have on the larger DC ecosystem. Thanks to the generous support from the Jane Bancroft Robinson Foundation, Meyer Foundation, and a new funder, Intentional Philanthropy, LISC was able to make the fellowship a reality.
The Newsome fellows and LISC DC staff pictured with Ron Motten of Check It Enterprises during the Anacostia walking tour
The Fellows and Nonprofit Partners
Each fellow worked closely with a nonprofit partner on initiatives to address the challenges small businesses are facing, and create a pathway for an equitable recovery as the region continues to opens back up and navigates the new Delta variant:
Anvitha Prasad worked with Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) to assist with technical trainings and facilitate seminars for small business owners and entrepreneurs
Daisy Chang worked with the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development (CNHED) to design a program to connect local small businesses with Georgetown students within the DC Community Anchor Partnership (DCAP).
Marcella Willis worked with CNHED to develop a DC Small Business Lenders Guide to enable small businesses to identify financial products and connect to available lenders.
Maya Coleman worked with Marshall Heights Community Development Organization (MHCDO) to assist with the development of Pennsylvania East Avenue Main Street.
Michelle Zayed worked with Uptown Main Street where she helped support small businesses along the corridor of upper 14th Street NW and Kennedy Street with financial support and reopening measures.
Shalene Miller-Whye worked with Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization CDC to assess, analyze, and support Kenilworth Avenue and Riverdale Road Businesses and connect them with technical assistance support.
Winona Francis worked with District Bridges to support the research, implementation, and outreach for the pilot Business Preservation Assistance Program, focusing on strategies to support small businesses at risk of eviction or closure.
To learn more about the fellows and the nonprofit partners, read our article here. LISC is grateful to each of the partners and commend their commitment to equity, adaptability, and hard work to support small businesses in the DC Region.
Who Said Virtual Fellowships Couldn’t Be Engaging?
Despite the virtual setting, LISC made efforts to engage the broader community as much as possible. LISC held seminars every week with guest experts from across the field. The seminars were an opportunity for the fellows to ask questions and gain a deeper understanding of community development and small businesses ecosystem from experienced practitioners, nonprofit leaders, and small businesses owners.
Seminars covered a wide range of topics including community development and racial equity, small business ownership in the midst of COVID-19, affordable housing, district revitalization and more. The fellows, as well as the LISC staff, found tremendous value hearing from the guest speakers, including two members of LISC’s LAC, Peter Tatian, Senior Fellow at Urban Institute, and Ellen McCarthy, Principal at the Urban Partnership, Carla Perlo, founder of Dance Place, Heather Raspberry, Executive Director of HAND, Kevon King, co-founder of TheVillage DC, and many others.
In July, as COVID-19 vaccination rates increased and restrictions were lifted, the fellows and the staff gathered, showcasing LISC’s targeted work in historic Anacostia – a hot mid-summer, mid day walking tour. Following a groundbreaking for a new project LISC is supporting, our tour made site visits and met with Christie Walser, Executive Director of Project Create, Ron Moten of Check It Enterprises, Kristina Noell, Executive Director of the Anacostia Business Improvement District and Stan Jackson, CEO of AEDC. In addition to meeting partners, the tour was the first time the staff met in person; all but two were hired during the pandemic. In LISC fashion, the tour included a visit to the Anacostia Arts Center and highlighted by a delicious West African inspired lunch from Open Crumb.
Christie Walser, Executive Director of Project Create, gives the fellows and LISC DC staff a tour of the newly renovated Project Create building.
The Group Project
To complement their individual fellowships, the fellows also collaborated as a group to analyze the DC small business ecosystem, compile data, and interview stakeholders. They identified gaps within the system and developed a paper offering three policy recommendations to better support small businesses owners and particularly entrepreneurs of color in an equitable recovery
They found that DC, fortunately, did not lack resources. It is more an issue of accessibility, trouble navigating complex systems, the urgent need for back-office preparation, and a lack of trust between the government agencies and small businesses. The fellows' findings exemplified how crucial on-the-ground community-based organizations are and that there are several ways to bridge the gaps between the resources and the businesses. For more information, read the policy paper here.
The fellows presented their findings at the end of their fellowship to a group of stakeholders, including members of DC’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development (DMPED), DC’s Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), program funder Intentional Philanthropy, members of LISC’s Local Advisory Committee, the LISC DC staff, and Oramenta Newsome’s husband, Wallace Newsome.
The fellows presenting the findings of their group project and work with their nonprofit partners
"I’m always impressed by the quality of people who are in the fellowship. I know Oramenta would be so pleased that this has had an impact and brought so many wonderful people together"