INNOPOWER, LLC and Recorder Media Group will host the 2021 edition of their annual conference on June 14-18. The expanded INNOPOWER Minority Business Week will feature five days of in-person and virtual programming that aim to address the societal and economic gaps COVID-19 amplified.
INNOPOWER MISSION
Accelerating Economic Development and Wealth Generation in Black Communities in the USA and Nigeria
WHAT: Introduces participants to paradigm-shifting knowledge of the landscape of regional economic Competitiveness and the framework that establishes conditions for success and prosperity in a region. In other words, the IMBW delivers an understanding of how the economic game is played at the regional level and how to compete and win at each level of the game successfully: i.e., education and training, and entrepreneurial startup, existing small business owner, growth-stage business.
WHY: From the 1970s to the present day, Black entrepreneurship has skyrocketed exponentially, yet the productivity outcomes of such high activity have been meager. Today, Census data show that all Black-owned businesses nationwide produce less than 1 percent GDP. The IMBW is designed to benefit Black entrepreneurs and business owners through unprecedented exposure to contextual knowledge of their regional innovation ecosystem, a critical missing ingredient in the educational infrastructure cultivating Black entrepreneurial talent.
BENEFIT: The week will offer new insights and connections to people, organizations, and institutional drivers within the regional economic infrastructure and across the nation who support and champion the development and growth of the Black business productivity.
Going Global
InnoPower is developing a more robust pipeline of awareness and access to Africa’s talent and solutions, especially in the Nigeria and West Africa regions. Partnerships with The Funding Space, Afrigrants, and Ugwumba Leadership Center provide development opportunities for African and American entrepreneurs.
- Doing Business in Africa and opportunities Post covid
- How can African companies do Business in Indiana?
- Pitch School Africa – Pitch Competition
- Ugwumba Leadership Development – A pitch competition
CONFERENCE TEAM
SPEAKERS | CONFERENCE 2021
- Kristian Andersen, Partner High Alpha
- Rona Asuncion. Co-Founder and Director of Product Design MetaCX
- Ted Baker, Regional Director - Great Lakes VMware
- Tiffany Benjamin, Sr. Director, Social Impact, Eli Lilly and Company
- Stephanie Bothun, Vice President and Co-Founder Ascend Indiana
- Leslie Bowles, Senior Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement, Women's Fund of Indiana at Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF)
- Oseye Boyd, Editor, Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper
- Dr. Jamie Bracey-Green, CEO, National Institute for Inclusive Competitiveness
- Mark Caswell, Chief Executive Officer, KSM Consulting
- Rod Cotton, Chief of Staff & Senior Vice President, Strategy & Transformation, Roche Diagnostics
- Claudia Cummings, President & CEO, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance
- Brandi Davis-Handy, Chief Public Relations Officer, US Utilities, The AES Corporation
- Emil Ekiyor, Founder & CEO, InnoPower LLC
- Dr. Lorenzo Esters, Chancellor, Indianapolis campus, Ivy Tech Community College
- Angela Freeman, Partner and Intellectual Property/Patent Attorney, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
- Mike Green. Chief Strategist, National Institute for Inclusive Competitiveness
- De'Niece Harrison-Hudson, Program Director, OneAmerica
- Karrah Herring, Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer, State of Indiana
- Kamaria Hill, Government Sales Executive, LinkedIn
- Andrea Hutchins, Vice President, Thomas P. Miller & Associates
- Aleesia Johnson, Superintendent, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS)
- Scott Jones, President & Founder, Eleven Fifty Academy
- Todd Khozein, Co-CEO, SecondMuse
- John Kuykendall, Dean, School of Education, University of Indianapolis
- Joy Mason, President, Senior Business Strategist, Optimist Business Solutions LLC
- Blake Nathan, CEO, Educate ME Foundation, Inc.
- Kimberly Neal, Executive Director, BELIEVE Schools
- Mathew Palakal Ph.D., Senior Executive Associate Dean, School of Informatics and Computing, IUPUI
- Amar Patel, Executive Director, Teach for America
- Earl Martin Phalen, Founder & CEO, Phalen Leadership Academies
- Dana Pittard, Vice President, Defense Programs, Allison Transmission
- Ellen Quigley, Vice President of Programs, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation
- Rebecca Rahschulte Ph.D., Vice President of K-14 Initiatives & Statewide Partnerships, Ivy Tech Community College
- Dr. Ronald S. Rochon, President, University of Southern Indiana
- Joyce Q. Rogers Esq., Interim Executive Vice President for Development, Indiana University Foundation
- Emily Scott, Senior Program Manager, LISC Indianapolis
- Robin Shackleford, Indiana House District 98, Indiana House of Representatives
- Mariama Shaheed, CEO / Head of School, Global Preparatory Academy
- Jamal Smith, Owner, The FLOWens Group
- Geneva Taylor, President - Managing Director, Tellis Executive Search
- Rupal Thanawala, Managing Director, Trident Systems
- John Thompson, President, Thompson Distribution Co.
- Dr. LaTonya Turner, Dean, Fred S. Klipsch Educators College, Marian University
- Bill Turner, Executive Director, Skillful Indiana and National Alliance Delivery, Markle Foundation, Skillful Indiana
- Sunny Lu Williams, President, TechServ Corporation
- Shannon Williams, Senior Vice President, The Mind Trust
- Marshawn Wolley, President and CEO, Black Onyx Management
- The Honorable Todd Young, U.S. Senator, State of Indiana
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
INNOPOWER Indy is an Indianapolis, Indiana Social Enterprise that works with communities and stakeholders to create capacity-building opportunities for underrepresented ecosystems in businesses, education, workforce development, and entrepreneurship.
See how we’re making an impact through these initiatives below.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Tech was supposed to be the great equalizer. So where are all the black people? According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, African-Americans make up less than five percent of the technology industry’s workforce in Silicon Valley. According to the commission, the percentage of African-Americans that
occupy executive positions in the industry may be as low as one percent — and independent entrepreneurs have it just as bad as those already established in the tech sector.
According to Dell Gines, a senior community development advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City - Talent development is the foundation of a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy. It consists of exposure, education, and essential skills development into career pathways that have a high demand for tech talent. Community partnerships are critical to creating high-growth entrepreneurs and the workforce funnel that supports them.
Our partnership with Eleven Fifty Academy and Ivy Tech Community College will cultivate, train, and equip MVPs (Most Vulnerable Populations) with skilled tech talent to engage, compete, and contribute to the overall economy,