Uniting for Entrepreneurship(U4EM) is a non-partisan program that will bring together immigrants and non-immigrants across ideological, racial, generational, and geographic lines of difference to advance entrepreneurship in Baltimore Metro (County and City), Prince George's County + Montgomery County, and Talbot County. U4EM will kick off in Baltimore on April 15, 2023 and run through November 2023.
U4EM Program Goals:
Build relationships between immigrant and non-immigrant communities across ideological, racial, generational, and geographic differences
Take action to support local businesses and entrepreneurs
Raise awareness of the positive economic contributions of immigrants.
Program Leadership U4EM is led by a team of six people who live and/or work in Maryland. The program will be implemented by Urban Rural Action, a national grassroots movement that brings Americans together across divides to tackle our country's most urgent challenges, in collaboration with three local partner organizations:
Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center empowers people from different cultures to become successful and engaged members of our community.
Latino Economic Development Center drives the economic and social advancement of low- to moderate-income Latinos and other underserved communities.
Pro Bono Resource Center provides civil legal assistance for free to low-income families.
Program Overview U4EM has four phases. During each phase, the cohort gathers in person for relationship-building, skill-building, dialogue, analysis, project design, and/or project implementation.
Entrepreneurship Projects with Community Partners Uniters will work on teams, each with a community partner, to implement an entrepreneurship project that (1) addresses a problem identified by the group, and (2) advances a goal of the partner organization. Thanks to generous sponsorship from AT&T, a budget of $5,000 will support each of the three projects.
Below are possible starting points for projects that each Uniters team will design with their community partner: ● Chesapeake Multicultural Center: support immigrant entrepreneurs in Talbot County to grow their businesses. ● Latino Economic Development Center: expand microloan options to start-ups and existing businesses in Prince George's and Montgomery County that have difficulty obtaining credit from mainstream financial institutions. ● Pro Bono Resource Center: expand pro bono civil legal assistance services to low-income families in Baltimore Metro (County and City).
Interested in Joining Us? If you are interested in working across divides to advance entrepreneurship, then this program is for you! Space will be very limited, and participants must apply through our two-step process: