Alliance For Community Development Announces Launch of The ‘Bay Area Entrepreneurship Alliance’ at Ninth Bay Area Capital Connections Conference

November 29, 2017November 30, 2017 News Room

Annual Conference To Increase Access to all Forms of Capital, Business Resources and Relationships for Diverse Entrepreneurs Building “A Vibrant Economy for All”

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Now in its 18th year, the Alliance for Community Development (“The ALLIANCE”) is proud to launch the Bay Area Entrepreneurship Alliance (BAE Alliance) at its ninth “Bay Area Capital Connections” (BACC9) conference on December 2, at the Impact Hub in Oakland, California. BAE Alliance, a membership-based organization consisting of local entrepreneurs as well as business, finance, personal and environmental support providers, will work to increase access to opportunity and capital for the economic growth of businesses and start-ups owned by underrepresented entrepreneurs across the Bay Area. All BAE Alliance members share in a mutual commitment to inclusivity, diversity, equity, accessibility, local leadership, and sustainability.

To jump-start the new initiative, this year’s BACC9 will connect diverse Bay Area entrepreneurs with key stakeholders across the “Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” through a full day of programming featuring:

A special “Welcome to Oakland: The Heart of the Bay” by Oakland Vice Mayor and District 4 Councilmember, Annie Campbell Washington
Two interactive 90-minute break-out sessions for attendees to participate directly in addressing inequity in access
Dynamic presentations featuring local entrepreneurs, support providers, and the Charter Members of the BAE Alliance
Various networking opportunities inviting participants to step out of existing siloes within the local entrepreneurship space
Discussion boards to increase participation throughout the conference

Keynote speakers include:

San Francisco District 10 Supervisor, Malia Cohen – San Francisco Supervisor and 2018 Board of Equalization Candidate Malia Cohen will share her thoughts on what the Bay Area can do to promote community support for representative entrepreneurship and equitable access to capital, as well as what the State of California can do and what structural changes are needed. She will set the stage for the discussion around how to build this vibrant economy — the diverse, inclusive, equitable, accessible, locally-led, sustainable economy many people envision — together.
REDF President and CEO Carla Javits – Carla Javits, REDF’s President and CEO, focuses on achieving measurable results by leveraging the business community’s knowledge, networks, and resources, and the dedication of the social enterprise sector to create pathways to employment for men and women who are striving to overcome histories of homelessness, incarceration, mental health, substance abuse challenges, and limited education. Javits will address questions such as “How can we create structures for more coordinated effort, for more collective impact?” “How will we build the diverse, inclusive, equitable, accessible, locally-led, sustainable economy we envision together?”

“We believe entrepreneurship is a team sport. Think about all the support a venture-backed company receives. In addition to capital, that company receives high caliber marketing, product development, human resources, legal advice, web support, and more. Now think about the resources a local, diverse entrepreneur trying to start their own business has access to. This disparity in resources and support contributes to disparity in outcomes. We’re on a mission to change that,” said Nayeli Maxson, Executive Director, the ALLIANCE. “We’re thrilled to be gathering people with skills, access to capital, ideas, guidance, decision-making authority, and robust networks to support local entrepreneurs, giving them the same level of support as the most highly valued venture-backed companies. BACC9 and the launch of our BAE Alliance will establish a system to give our own local entrepreneurs all of that support.”

BACC10 will take place in June of 2018 and will include reports on progress made by the featured entrepreneurs speakers from this year’s BACC9 conference.

Registration for the conference is open on the ALLIANCE’s website (www.alliancecd.org). For more information and a full conference agenda click here.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Alliance for Community Development (“The ALLIANCE”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs including but not limited to women, people of color, veterans, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with disabilities, low-income people, and youth. The ALLIANCE was started in 1999 by leaders in small business and economic development in the Bay Area who were concerned that many promising and potentially fast-growing businesses in the underserved geographic areas and industries could not access equity capital. As discussion proceeded, the Alliance developed the idea that a venture capital fund, if of sufficient scale and with supportive services, could achieve two bottom lines: market rate financial results and the creation of new jobs and other benefits for residents of low-income communities. The ALLIANCE now runs a 24-hour text hotline for Bay Area entrepreneurs who need support. For more information visit: http://alliancecd.org

ABOUT THE BAY AREA ENTREPRENEURSHIP ALLIANCE
The BAE Alliance is brought to you by the ALLIANCE for Community Development. BAE Alliance members are entrepreneurs, business support providers, financial support providers, personal support providers, and environmental support providers who are committed to the following IDEALS: Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Access, Local leadership, and Sustainability. For more information visit: http://alliancecd.org/membership/

SOURCE Alliance For Community Development