Building Organizational Capabilities in Service of Equitable and Inclusive Small Business Ecosystems
Economic and community developers striving to nurture equitable small business ecosystems in underinvested places need support and proven strategies to do the work well. A new playbook for practitioners from LISC and Next Street offers guidance, best practices, and a platform for workshopping ideas. It also aims to spark conversation and brainstorming among partners and stakeholders engaged in this imperative work.
Operationalizing Strategies with this Guide
LISC and Next Street have partnered to publish this practitioners’ guide. It outlines how organizations serving small businesses can work together to identify ecosystem-level and organization-specific strategies.
LISC and Next Street recognize practitioners need support for ecosystem-level coordination as well as informed strategies for their individual organizations based on local market needs and varying stakeholder assets. This guide is designed for practitioners looking to strengthen their support for small businesses and will also serve as a tool to spark conversation alongside other local partners.
This guide will:
- Share best practices leading with equity and inclusion to help assess local market capacities and gaps
- Outline the potential roles in which local stakeholders can adapt or intensify their efforts
- Provide decision-making criteria to identify appropriate ecosystem roles for organizations and their partners
- Offer guidance on how to create an implementation plan to execute
The creation of this guide was made possible by Lowe’s Companies, Inc., The Nielsen Foundation and Visa Foundation, together with the ongoing support for LISC’s national small business ecosystem building efforts from JPMorgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, The Kresge Foundation, MetLife Foundation, State Farm, Truist Cares, a cooperative effort between Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Foundation, Inc., and Truist Charitable Fund, U.S. Bank, Verizon and Wells Fargo.
