Programs focusing on entrepreneurship help underscore the impact of international exchange around the world. The multiregional project Women in Entrepreneurship was no exception and highlighted entrepreneurial efforts in the U.S., particularly those initiated or managed by women. This project for the International Visitor Leadership Program also examined strategies for job creation.
On the group’s first day in Pensacola, they attended a community coffee with locals and a welcome orientation at Pensacola City Hall with Council Executive Don Kraher. They also squeezed in a stop to meet Joyce Black of Visit Pensacola.
At Community Enterprise Investments Inc. (CEII), they discussed financial assistance programs tailored to assisting minority and women entrepreneurs and small business owners. Director of Lending Percy Goodman, Technical Assistant William Day, and Chairman of the Board Samuel A. Horton answered a multitude of questions. This group of 17 then divided in to three groups and visited CEII loan beneficiaries Georgia Blackmon, Asif Akbar, and Chelsea Murphy.
The group also held a roundtable discussion with members of the Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast that included President Kolleen Edwards Chesley and entrepreneurs Christina Powers, Christine Briggs, and Michelle Salzman. Several international visitors then spoke to the community at large at a luncheon and networking event where they shared information about their own work.
University of West Florida student Basil Kuloba hosted the group’s final appointment in Pensacola. Basil is the founder and director of INERTIA, a mentoring program that encourages children in underserved communities to engage in STEAM with hands on workshops and afterschool activities.
The schedule also included a service activity with Sharon Gincauskas, the founder and co-director of Ocean Hour, and time with the Youth Diplomats of the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council.
To round out their experience, they dined in the households of Leigh and Kent DeSantis, Julie Tippins Parker, Terry and Jim Crowe, Liz and Basil Yelverton, Karen and Mike Jurkowich, Jennifer McCarthy and Philip Roosen, and Kasey Jones and Thomas Brown.
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council thanks everyone who worked on this U.S. Department of State project. We could not have done it without you.
