This article, in Second Wave, talks about the strides the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is making in Battle Creek – and Northern Initiatives is a huge part of that.
“One of the goals for us and the Kellogg Foundation is looking at minorities and People of Color and seeing how we can support them,” said Israel Flores, Northern Initiatives Business Services Director. “Within the financial sector with loans People of Color have not had as much access to capital. Our role here is to provide and create those opportunities so people can have access to capital.”
Tiffany Blackman, who facilitates the FastTrac Business Planning Cohorts in Battle Creek, is such an effective leader.
Blackman says in the three years she has been a Lead Facilitator she has interacted with more than 75 entrepreneurs and only about five percent of them have completely stopped their business idea.
“Working as a local business coach, I tell them that they don’t have to give up on their dreams. They may walk in with one set of ideas, but they may have to change that,” Blackman says. “I tell them that your dream has to be delivered differently. Entrepreneurial dreams come in stages and they may have to start small.”
