UMKC, Kauffman launch $100K resiliency grant fund for minority-owned businesses hit by COVID

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial sponsor of Startland News. This report was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. [divide] A new $100,000 fund is expected to help minority-owned Kansas City businesses — left out of initial rounds of COVID-19 relief — to build resiliency and come back stronger as…

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Right to Start: Economic justice, entrepreneurship aren’t privileges for a select few, Victor Hwang says

Everyone deserves an equal start, said Victor Hwang, launching an initiative to level the playing field for early stage entrepreneurs. “We’re a campaign to rebuild the American economy by fighting for entrepreneurial opportunity for all of us — regardless of background, race, place, genders, disabilities, or circumstances. We call them ‘starters,’” said Hwang, founder and…

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Kauffman leader at pitch contest: Listen to young people’s ideas, vision for the future

Editor’s note: The following is a student-written article written by one of 357 interns in CommunityAmerica Credit Union’s recent virtual innovation internship program. Lucia Umbreit is an incoming junior at Liberty High School. CommunityAmerica is a financial partner of STARTLAND, the parent organization of Startland News. [divide] Student teams made three-minute pitches to five Kansas…

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$26K in prizes: Sidelined students pitch entrepreneurial empathy in COVID-19 virtual competition

Editor’s note: STARTLAND is the parent organization of Startland News, though this report was produced independently by Startland News’ non-profit newsroom. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News [divide] A month ago, few students could’ve imagined pitching real-world solutions to COVID-19 challenges in front of a panel of Kansas City celebrity…

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