Cultivating Young Entrepreneurs through Capital, Coaching, and Community

Youth economic advancement

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Entrepreneurship is a courageous, challenging, and often necessary endeavor to achieve economic stability. Amongst Gen-Z, entrepreneurship is on the rise. However, in the US and worldwide, young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities face extreme barriers to accessing vital funding and the support they need to invest in their ideas and start or grow a business. The young adults from our first cohort faced challenges like fraudulent credit histories, being deemed “unbankable,” lack of savings and access to healthy credit, or feeling overwhelmed by all they had to juggle. They faced challenges stemming from their gender preferences, involvement in foster systems or juvenile justice, lack of stable housing, and immigration status. Young entrepreneurs need a dedicated space to pursue their business dreams, connect with like-minded peers, and invest time, money, and resources into their ideas.

The Cultivate program provides funding, business coaching, and wraparound services to young adults ages 18 - 30 who face systemic barriers to securing economic stability. Whether someone wants to incubate a new idea, grow their business, or explore industry opportunities, Cultivate provides space, support, and resources for young entrepreneurs to create and thrive.
Cultivate provides each entrepreneur with low-interest loans and “supportive” capital. Small business loans at 1% interest help participants establish or improve credit while investing in their business needs, while one-time grants and stipends help them complete their training.
The heart of the Cultivate program is its cohort-based entrepreneurship training. Over the course of 10-12 workshops and ongoing one-on-one coaching, participants build entrepreneurship, financial, and wellness skills and work on developing their business ideas and goals. In addition to workshops, the training program allows young entrepreneurs to build peer and mentorship networks and receive wrap-around support from local youth-serving partners.
The program culminates in an annual pitch event where participants showcase their businesses and seek community collaborations. From our inaugural cohort, one participant with industry experience in production successfully launched their own production company, which has since become a substantial income generator through work with RCA and other prominent clients.

We envision a future where Los Angeles youth can pursue entrepreneurial dreams, build generational wealth, and shape their own futures. Cultivate provides a real pathway to economic stability for young adults by making access to affordable capital and entrepreneurial support a reality. In the short term, Cultivate supports youth with impactful services. In the long term, it aims to model fair lending and coaching. We envision collaborating with LA County’s Department of Youth Development, akin to Oakland's 'Emerging 100' program for young adults. We have witnessed how investments in time, capital, and resources transform lives: in 2023, Cultivate’s 13 program graduates launched streetwear lines, created art, attended and created major events, obtained new jobs, and began college. Many are eager to mentor and run future cohorts, allowing us to scale. Partners continue to connect us with young adults from their programs and seek training to build their programs.

Cultivate launched in 2022 with 15 entrepreneurs, 12 of whom continue working on their businesses and are engaged with IAC more than a year after program completion. In the short-term, Cultivate measures its impact through a set of outcomes, including: # of entrepreneurs served;
Amount of capital provided;
# of workshops and business coaching hours provided;
# of businesses created or improved; and
# of business development outcomes achieved (such as permits obtained, businesses registered, etc);
Long-term success will be measured through outcomes including:
Credit score increases over time;
# of businesses sustained; and
# of jobs created by Cultivate businesses.
Lastly, we also collect qualitative and quantitative data related to the emotional and financial well-being of participants, including:
# of clients who established credit for the first time, # of clients who reduced total debt; and
# of clients who received wellness support from local youth-serving organizations.