State Policy Network’s vision is built on a future where all people can flourish because collaborative, entrepreneurial leaders have secured lasting social change, personal freedom, and economic opportunity at the state and local levels.
The reality of poverty in the United States defies that vision. As long as tens of millions of Americans live in poverty, they cannot fully support one another in creating and maintaining the strong communities that have made America a beacon of hope around the world.
To combat this challenge, State Policy Network invites promising entrepreneurs to bring their projects to our LaunchPad Acceleration Workshops. These workshops connect innovative project leaders with policy experts in our Network, operational advisors, and business savants who can help fledgling projects soar. These connections ensure that solutions in poverty don’t remain isolated successes but become blueprints for nationwide change.
In late May, a LaunchPad Acceleration Workshop was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, bringing together four initiatives that address critical gaps in America’s poverty landscape:
- Ca$h Academy works to address financial illiteracy in youth and young adults by gamifying money-related education. Led by Arianne Craig Jolla, Ca$h Academy first attended a LaunchPad workshop in 2023 back when it was nothing more than a promising idea. Now, with a successful pilot program under her belt, Arianne is looking to expand Ca$h Academy to a wider market.
- Fathers on a Mission, under the leadership of Levar Robinson, is tackling the fatherhood crisis in America that contributes to generational cycles of poverty. Through education, community building, and assistance with economic opportunities, the organization is working to help fathers become the best versions of themselves to build a resilient next generation of young Americans.
- True Charity equips a national network of over 230 nonprofits with more effective ways to serve people in poverty as a part of a broader mission to champion the resurgence of civil society in the fight against poverty.
- unCommon Construction is a 2024 Pathways to Prosperity Prize winner led by Aaron Frumin. The organization helps students build life skills and a future through hands-on learning of trades. While learning trades, they gain soft skills and valuable job experience that position them to succeed after high school.
The workshop connected project leaders with advisors from a variety of fields, including several representatives from SPN and our Network of state-based partners. Advisors provided project owners with targeted, actionable feedback, allowing them to leave the workshop equipped with tangible plans for the next 30, 60 and 90 days.
These workshops are designed not just to equip project owners with next steps, but also to connect entrepreneurs with leaders from our Network to help them better understand and craft better policy around poverty. Leaders from organizations like Illinois Policy Institute, the Sutherland Institute, and Center for the American Experiment attended as advisors, and were able to take lessons learned from projects to inform policy back home.
“My biggest takeaway from this workshop is clarity,” shared Arianne Craig Jolla during final presentations. “Clarity of purpose, clarity of mission, clarity of vision, and a clear path forward. I have a roadmap, and I know what I need to be doing tomorrow to accomplish that vision.”
“I have a lot of gratitude to SPN and for their supporters who facilitated such an awesome program over the last couple of days,” said Aaron Frumin. “Sometimes we talk about that big, hairy goal, and thinking about how to break it down into achievable chunks is really energizing.”