Economics

New Clinic Partnership Supports Underserved Entrepreneurs

Published

7 years ago

January 24, 2017

University of San Francisco News

USF School of Law’s Entrepreneurial Ventures Legal Services Project (EVLS) has launched a partnership with Centro Community Partners to provide legal advice and support to underserved Bay Area entrepreneurs.Several of Centro’s advanced entrepreneurship training program participants from San Francisco and the East Bay will be matched with USF law students and supervising faculty. The clients will receive pro bono legal services to help them create businesses with a solid legal foundation.

“Joining forces with Centro is a perfect fit for both USF and EVLS because our missions are so aligned,” said Professor Robert Talbot, director of EVLS and the four clinics that comprise it. “Centro’s clients, who are primarily women and minorities, are creating businesses with a social mission, and we are constantly strive to provide our law students with unique hands-on learning opportunities while making a positive impact in our communities.”

Centro’s entrepreneurship trainer and program manager Daniel Healy said finding affordable legal support is a big challenge for clients. “USF’s pro bono legal support will help our clients understand and meet the legal requirements they need to launch and run their businesses, and understand what they can do to reduce the legal risks facing their businesses.”

Gretchen Pfeffer, who joined Centro’s advanced entrepreneurship training program in September, decided to follow her passion for dogs and is creating a natural dog treat business with the goal of donating a percentage of her profits to local animal shelters. USF students Daniel Armstrong 3L, Lindsay Hill 2L, and Carmen Martinez Rodriguez 2L, worked with Pfeffer this semester on trademark research and registration, business formation, and permitting, licensing, and general business issues.

“Each student answered specific questions I had about forming a small business. But more importantly, each one told me things I had never even heard of before,” Pfeffer said. “I can’t tell you how many things they’ve taught me that could have been a potential future business killer for me.”

Hill is interested in working with women entrepreneurs and innovators focused on social justice initiatives, so her work with EVLS and clients like Pfeffer “couldn’t be a better fit” for her career goals. She loves “the legal facets of this work, but I am especially inspired by the creative brainstorming and business aspects of working with entrepreneurs.”

“EVLS provided the institutional support I needed to learn and ask questions, as well as the freedom and opportunity to work one-on-one with clients,” Hill said. “As a law student, this was such an empowering and unusual experience.”

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Business

Black Business Summit Focuses on Equity, Access and Data

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship. Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA), answers questions from concerned entrepreneurs frustrated with a lack of follow-up from the state. January 24, 2024 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Lost Angeles, Calif. Photo by Solomon O. Smith

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship.

Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA) was a guest at the event. He told attendees about his department’s efforts to increase access for Black business owners.

“One thing I’m taking away from this for sure is we’re going to have to do a better job of connecting through your chambers of all these opportunities of billions of dollars that are coming down the pike. I’m honestly disappointed that people don’t know, so we’ll do better,” said Omishakin.

Lueathel Seawood, the president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of San Joaquin County, expressed frustration with obtaining federal contracts for small businesses, and completing the process. She observed that once a small business was certified as DBE, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, there was little help getting to the next step.

Omishakin admitted there is more work to be done to help them complete the process and include them in upcoming projects. However, the high-speed rail system expansion by the California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a goal of 30% participation from small businesses — only 10 percent is set aside for DBE.

The importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in economics was reinforced during the “State of the California Economy” talk led by author and economist Julianne Malveaux, and Anthony Asadullah Samad, Executive Director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Assaults on DEI disproportionately affect women of color and Black women, according to Malveaux. When asked what role the loss of DEI might serve in economics, she suggested a more sinister purpose.

“The genesis of all this is anti-blackness. So, your question about how this fits into the economy is economic exclusion, that essentially has been promoted as public policy,” said Malveaux.

The most anticipated speaker at the event was Janice Bryant Howroyd known affectionately to her peers as “JBH.” She is one of the first Black women to run and own a multi-billion-dollar company. Her company ActOne Group, is one of the largest, and most recognized, hiring, staffing and human resources firms in the world. She is the author of “Acting Up” and has a profile on Forbes.

Chairman of the board of directors of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, Timothy Alan Simon, a lawyer and the first Black Appointments Secretary in the Office of the Governor of California, moderated. They discussed the state of Black entrepreneurship in the country and Howroyd gave advice to other business owners.

“We look to inspire and educate,” said Howroyd. “Inspiration is great but when I’ve got people’s attention, I want to teach them something.”