Latest Past Events

2022 Empowerment and Policy Conference

Registration is now open for the 2022 Empowerment and Policy Conference! The conference is virtual and FREE to attend, but space will be limited. Join us on March 16 & 17 as we explore this year's theme: Equitable Sustainability: Building Louisiana's Infrastructure Beyond Roads and Bridges. The annual Empowerment and Policy Conference is a statewide convening designed to examine systems, influence policy decisions and enact changes that will positively impact the African American and other communities. Register here. For more information, visit urbanleaguela.org/polcon2022

Building a Scalable, Agile, and Resilient Small Business

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on small, minority-owned firms in our most vulnerable communities. While businesses seek to obtain critical resources such as emergency funding to survive during these crises, the need for minority-owned businesses to reconsider “what” business they should be doing and “how” they should be doing business is of the utmost importance. Now, more than ever, small businesses have an opportunity to re-imagine, re-position, and re-charge their business models and operations towards becoming more scalable, agile, and resilient. During this session, entrepreneurs will gain insights on how to develop a strategy and plan of action to build operational leverage, flexibility, and sustainability. Participants will learn: - What scalability means related to growth and operational capacity - Best practices for evaluating new business models and revenue streams that are responsive to changing market needs - Considerations for new and improved processes and technology - Insights on how to reorganize one’s business support model, including employees, suppliers, consultants, mentors, accountability partners, etc. - How to best integrate risk management and continuous improvement strategies to increase organizational resilience The session is funded by Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Facilitator: Desiree Young, Founder, VentureWalk […]