Word of Hope Ministries, Inc., hosts ‘2nd Annual Diverse Business Summit and Graduation’
Photo by Martinez Milton, Jr.
On Saturday, March 11, 2023, Word of Hope Ministries, Inc., held its “2nd Annual Diverse Business Summit and Graduation” at Green Tree Preparatory Academy, 6850 N. 58th Street. The event was the culmination of the 8-week Cohort for the Diverse Business Development Program. There were various speakers who provided resources and information to small businesses. It was also an opportunity for the small businesses to practice networking and to become comfortable talking about their business.
This program was funded by a federal grant awarded to Word of Hope Ministries, Inc., via the Wisconsin Department of Administration by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
This program focuses on providing technical assistance in the form of education, resources and access to black indigenous people of color (BIPOC), veteran- and women owned businesses. The program pushes them past the idea, the service or the product to understanding the “business of business.” Using the Vision Strategy and Implementation (VSI) model and, the small businesses is taken on an eight week journey through courses, such as What are You Chasing; Cultural Intelligence; Books are Not Just for Reading; and Business Structure and Marketing.
There were 48 graduates in this year’s cohort, making this the largest class since the inspection of the program.
Workshop presenters included MPS Principal Dr. Katrina Fisher; Word Of Hope Ministries Inc. Founder and President Bishop C. H. McClelland; Word Of Hope Ministries Inc. Vice President, Prentiss McClelland, Joshua Webb Business Coach Howard Green; Event Coordinator Constance Alberts; Dr. Loretta Howard; Lee Ellis; Gene Liddel; event director Liz Luckett; and Darlene Brown, Asst. Director.
