Together We Build, Clarkston

Designed and led Together We Build, a small-business support initiative in Clarkston, Georgia. The initiative brought together entrepreneur learning, partner engagement, business-readiness assessment, and ecosystem intelligence. I shaped the programme design and led its development, using readiness insights, participant data, dashboards, and partner reporting to strengthen entrepreneur support and inform ecosystem learning.

The initiative was developed in collaboration with local and ecosystem partners including the City of Clarkston, Truist, Send Relief Atlanta, Thrive Community Lending, and Economic Security Solutions.

The initiative reached 383 outreach contacts, with 11 active participants moving into the business series. Among those who RSVP’d, attendance conversion was approximately 65%.

Participants moved beyond information-sharing into concrete next steps: meeting directly with banking and lending partners, gathering financial documentation, exploring lending pathways with Thrive Community Lending, and forming peer collaborations.

Dashboard and participant evidence identified a key implementation insight: access to financial institutions and financial readiness are separate barriers. That finding shifted the programme toward more structured documentation-readiness support and clearer tracking of progress toward capital access.