Fire Awards: Finalist - Fire starters/community builders
Since its launch in 2021, the Harris-Stowe State University Minority Entrepreneurship Collaborative Center for Advancement, or MECCA, has moved fast to be a resource for minority entrepreneurs. It’s secured more than $2 million in funding to offer programs for entrepreneurs and to build a Center of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. MECCA provides entrepreneurs with educational programming, pitch competition training, events and scholarships. Earlier this year, it launched a new incubator program for entrepreneurs who have been through the justice system. The program’s first cohort had seven graduates.
What was your organization’s biggest achievement in the past year? MECCA’s top achievement is securing over $2M in funding for both the Minority Entrepreneurship Collaborative Center for Advancement (MECCA) and the upcoming Harris-Stowe State University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. MECCA also graduated its inaugural cohort of justice involved individuals, which are often overlooked as valued contributors to society.
What is your organization’s top goal for the next year? To complete the construction of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and have a ribbon cutting ceremony welcoming many Black and Brown entrepreneurs to our new collaborative space with new programming focused on the community.
For links to profiles of winners and finalists in the 2022 Fire Awards and Startup Exit Awards, go here:
