Entrepreneurship as an Empowering Option for Disadvantaged Groups

The short description that follows should encourage readers to understand that this project can be replicated using the same basic building blocks anywhere in any city or country. The purpose of the description is to provide an “Open Source” framework for anyone to adopt and improve upon.

This project is built on the principle that Entrepreneurship is an appropriate means of achieving self-sufficiency for disadvantaged populations. The majority of employment programs for economically disadvantaged populations such as new immigrants or recently unemployed are built around the assumption that the clients should be trained or prepared for employment in a non-employee owned organization. Employment and working in organizations that are not employee owned should not be the only option for disadvantaged populations, and this project suggests that entrepreneurship is definitely a viable economically empowering option for some people.

The proverbial “three legs of a stool” required to make the project viable as a long term program are:

1. A Business School willing to teach a Small Business Course pro bono.
2. A community group willing to invest resources to support the program.
3. A sufficient number of Entrepreneurship Ready Participants.

A business school, in this case the Rotman School of Management, provides the following resources:

1.1) Lectures on entrepreneurship subjects from qualified faculty and instructors.

1.2) Coaching from business school alumni.

1.3) Ongoing administrative support.

Community groups, such as the Regent Park Neighborhood Initiative and more recently, the United Way of Greater Toronto, provides the following resources:

2.1) Identifies clients who would benefit from a Small Business course.

2.2) Provides resources such as a space or classroom in the community.

2.3) Provides support including day care services or bus services to enable participants to attend the course

The entrepreneurship ready participants involved in the Rotman Regent Park Small Business Program have been part of three groups:

3.1) New immigrants with past entrepreneurial experience, and people who may have immigrated to Canada a number of years ago, but have not been able to realize their full economic potential.

3.1) Recently unemployed or long term unemployed individuals, who have not been able to secure long term stable employment.

3.3) Community leaders in the city who are starting up, or increasing the capacities for their non-profit and social enterprise organizations.