Sunday, March 20, 2016

"Growing My Social Capital"

My business venture is a non-profit program that will focus on financial literacy for minorities and young people. For this assignment, I needed to get out of my own personal comfort zone, and research and contact three professionals that will aid me in the process of creating my non-profit program.
v Mr. Julio Fuentes, is the CEO and founder of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The organization focuses in promoting the economic advancement of Florida’s Hispanic business community. Aside from the chamber, Mr. Fuentes founded HCreo, which addresses the crisis in Hispanic education by providing parents with free information and resources to guide them in becoming advocates for their children. 
o   Mr. Fuentes is the domain expert in my industry. As the founder of a non-profit himself, he can become the mentor I need in order to create my own program. He has been in the industry for over 10 years, and his knowledge is fundamental for the success of my non-profit venture.
o   Two years ago, I met Mr. Fuentes through my community college, and since that moment, he has been a large influence in the educational process in my county.
v Since my venture is a non-profit, one of my contact professional fits in my expert of my market and the supplier of the industry.
o   Lydia Callender is the Program Coordinator-Financial Empowerment Center. Ms. Callender has been involved in her community since an early age, attending the City University of New York, she majored in International Criminal Justice.  
o   Ms. Callender is filling the supplier and expert of my market.
o   She currently works for the Urban League of Palm Beach County, Inc. as the coordinator of the economic empowerment. She focuses in financial literacy for minorities in Palm Beach County. Her supply is similar to the service I am planning on creating, the only difference is that her focus is the African American community, which is similar to my target market. My target market is minorities and college students.
o   As the expert of my market, she has been working in the market for over five years, and she is acquainted with the process of providing this service to the community in Palm Beach County.
o   For this particular person, I found her on the website of Urban League of Palm Beach County, Inc. Then I sent her an e-mail and shared my idea to her. And she gave me feedback on how to improve my business venture.
This experience allowed me to step out of my comfort zone. As an introvert, it is very difficult for me to network as I should be doing, but this experience led me to meet new people, as well as contact those whom I have known for some time, but lost contact since moving to Gainesville. Also, this will help me network better in the future, without feeling uncomfortable.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Ana,
    First off, this is a great post. I really liked how you introduced the topic and what your business venture is. By letting us know it is a non-profit it lets us know that your social capital may be a top priority. One thing I would suggest is to reach out to two separate people for your market expert and supplier this way you can increase your social capital by knowing more people. If interested check my blog out here: http://kevinleddysblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/growing-my-social-capital.html

    ReplyDelete