Dear Fellow Ecosystem Builders:

Bridging gaps is what we do.  During 2019, Burton D. Morgan Foundation built bridges across our ecosystem as we worked to implement the expansive goals of Venture 2021, a framework designed to imbue our organization with a conscious culture of innovation.  We are reinventing how we as an entrepreneurial organization invest in the region’s ecosystem.

OUR HYPER-FOCUS ON BRIDGING...

• Addresses gaps that persist in the ecosystem among education, industry, entrepreneurs, communities, and investors
• Drives the objectives of grants we invest in the community
• Defines the aim of our ecosystem-building activities
• Enhances inclusivity, drawing together entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders from all backgrounds and disciplines
• Generates the ambition to transform the lessons we realize internally into knowledge we share externally for the benefit of all

Bridging is helping us move from where we are to where we want to go.

In this 2019 report, we will share how the Morgan Scout Fund and its growing portfolio of initiatives are braving new frontiers in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. Included in this portfolio are the Changemaker Grants awarded at the tenth anniversary of JumpStart Higher Education Collaboration Council, designed to spark fresh thinking on how higher education approaches campus-based entrepreneurship.

We will recap how our work in Akron is helping to transform a community through the strengthening of its ecosystem and the empowerment of its ecosystem builders to create bridges that support courageous entrepreneurs and their ventures.

The report will highlight the Foundation’s groundbreaking work in youth entrepreneurship through the growing Enspire educators conference and its mini-grants program, crafted to help educators infuse classroom learning with entrepreneurial thinking.

Morgan Foundation accomplishes this important work by bridging gaps best addressed through collaboration and partnership.  We appreciate our partners beyond measure and say thanks for working with our team to navigate the gaps and devise solutions that are helping to maintain momentum and shape the future of entrepreneurship in our region.

With kudos to ecosystem builders far and wide,

Deborah Hoover
President & CEO

Grantmaking: Foundation Deepens its Adaptive Capacity

In 2019, Burton D. Morgan Foundation began transitioning its grantmaking processes to employ a more innovative and adaptive approach that will better meet the evolving needs of Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are crafting new ways of working with our grantees grounded in mutual objectives, critical thinking, shared learning, and intelligent adaptation.

To bridge the gap in our understanding of the overall impact of our grant processes, Morgan Foundation conducted a comprehensive survey of grantees and applicants. We responded to the constructive feedback received by implementing a series of modifications to support our grantees and refine the grant seeking experience, including streamlining our applications, accepting signed grant agreements electronically, and eliminating deadlines for small grant applications.

To enhance our effectiveness and the impact of our grant dollars, we targeted our adult entrepreneurship funding to focus primarily on Akron’s expanding ecosystem. In collaboration with valued Akron partners, we introduced MORTAR to the community, better positioning Akron’s entrepreneurship ecosystem to serve diverse and non-tech entrepreneurs. The program represents a game-changing addition to the Akron community and Morgan Foundation is proud to be among the committed partners addressing this need.

We established the Morgan Scout Fund to encourage proactive and innovative solutions to gaps in the regional ecosystem, an experiment that is beginning to bear fruit. Under this umbrella and in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the JumpStart Higher Education Collaboration Council, the collegiate Changemaker Grant Program launched, garnering an enthusiastic response from Northeast Ohio’s colleges and universities looking to bridge gaps in collegiate entrepreneurship. We awarded funding to five diverse institutions to implement exciting, experimental approaches to entrepreneurship on their campuses.

Morgan Scout Fund also served as the launchpad for a three-year grant to Woodridge Local School System for the benefit of the Six District Educational Compact, a Career-Technical Education (CTE) collaboration that serves students in six school districts in Summit and Portage counties.  This grant will lead to the creation of a shareable guide with an embedded evaluation tool and resources for CTE educators.  The grant will also support a pioneering Entrepreneurship Academy that will integrate business education, 21st century skill development, design thinking, mentorship, community development, and networking in a mobile and flexible environment, opening the door for many more students to develop the entrepreneurial mindset. 

The Foundation also awarded a proactive Scout Fund grant to the University of Akron Research Foundation to support a pilot of the Startup Teams Rising in the Development of Entrepreneurship (STRIDE) Accelerator. This initiative provides a much-needed opportunity to nurture hard tech startups in our region through intensive training and mentoring.

Throughout 2019, Foundation staff developed closer working relationships with our stakeholders to identify needs and opportunities in the ecosystem. Morgan Foundation continues to strengthen its adaptive capacity as we now navigate significant challenges in the Northeast Ohio ecosystem.

Knowledge Sharing: Foundation Sharpens Strategic Learning Goals

Burton D. Morgan Foundation’s Venture 2021 framework elevates the importance of our research arm, the Entrepreneurship Education Experiment, and its learning and knowledge sharing agenda as key strategies for the Foundation to achieve its goals as champion of the entrepreneurial spirit. Knowledge sharing is a means to an end. The Foundation is fortunate to accrue translatable knowledge from our vantage point as grantmaker and ecosystem builder. We capture and disseminate lessons gleaned from our efforts to inspire entrepreneurship educators, engage ecosystem builders, and empower communities to support entrepreneurs. By sharing our experiences and observations, we help changemakers advance innovative ideas, enabling them to work faster and smarter. Our goal is to place targeted knowledge in the hands of all who seek to change the world through entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset.

For adult entrepreneurs, Morgan Foundation supported Cohort 3 of the Scalerator NEO program, serving 14 growth-focused companies with a peer-to-peer learning opportunity facilitated by faculty from Babson College and other top universities, while connecting all three cohorts into an active and supportive learning community.

At the university level, we invested in NEOLaunchNET campuses as they experiment, learn, pivot, and evolve in the ways they serve student entrepreneurs. These campuses form a dynamic learning community, sharing resources, ideas, and events for the benefit of thousands of students across our region.

The Foundation captured significant achievements in the region’s youth entrepreneurship ecosystem through four case studies published in our second Intersections report. Through this in-depth publication, educators are able to absorb and adapt lessons learned from innovative programs offered by Western Reserve Historical Society, Junior Achievement, Young Entrepreneur Institute, and National Inventors Hall of Fame. Morgan Foundation also sponsored the Enspire conference, serving close to 600 educators as they seek to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in their students. A groundbreaking mini-grants program offered funds to Enspire educators, allowing them to pursue unique opportunities for their students to build entrepreneurial skills.

Knowledge sharing extends beyond our region. The Northeast Ohio youth entrepreneurship ecosystem serves as a national model for other regions aiming to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in young people. The Foundation’s leadership role with Deshpande Symposium provides us with a national platform for learning and sharing with other university-focused entrepreneurship champions. In 2019, the Foundation helped to shape the national Entrepreneurship Funders Network agenda seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the breadth of philanthropic activity focused on supporting our nation’s entrepreneurs.

As we apply lessons learned from this work, our Venture 2021 framework will evolve. We will share what we learn to help the Northeast Ohio ecosystem grow and entrepreneurs prosper through innovation and entrepreneurial know-how.

Ecosystem Building: Philanthropy Steps Up to Support Entrepreneurs

Ecosystem building is one of Burton D. Morgan Foundation’s core strategies for driving change and ensuring a vibrant network of supporters for the region’s entrepreneurship community. This work enhances the reach of grants we invest in the region by encouraging collaboration and sharing of resources to optimize impact and connect synergistic champions and organizations. Our efforts as a grantmaker allow Morgan Foundation to serve as a systems thinker, understanding the complexities and context for our grants and strategically making connections among results-oriented players.

Northeast Ohio’s corps of ecosystem builders includes entrepreneurs, investors, creative professionals, media, university leaders, business executives, policy makers, government officials, and many more advocates for entrepreneurs. It is this tapestry of talents and expertise woven together that positions the ecosystem and its entrepreneurs for success. These are the people on the frontlines of building bridges that connect entrepreneurs to the resources they need in the ecosystem.

Guided by our Venture 2021 strategic framework, staff focused time and attention on Akron’s growing ecosystem, conducting an extensive listening tour of entrepreneurship supporters and programs. This effort yielded observations that are advancing the goals of our framework, infusing our organization with a greater culture of innovation as a meaningful reflection of Burt Morgan’s passion for entrepreneurship and the ecosystems that energize courageous entrepreneurs to pursue their goals. Akron’s Bounce Innovation Hub officially opened its doors in May, energizing the entire ecosystem with its vibrant space and array of services. With support from Morgan Foundation for elements of the project, this spatial and programmatic transformation of an industrial landmark has set Akron’s community of entrepreneurs on a bold trajectory aimed at growth and impact.

In the K-12 arena, our Northeast Ohio youth entrepreneurship ecosystem continues to expand and strengthen through a network of educators and programs drawn together around the annual Enspire conference. In October, more than 20 university-based entrepreneurship programs marked the tenth anniversary of the JumpStart Higher Education Collaboration Council peer-to-peer learning network celebrating a decade of connectivity across the collegiate ecosystem.

Morgan Foundation will continue to celebrate and promote the role of ecosystem builder in our region and model the collaborative behavior that draws together networks of entrepreneurship champions all striving to create healthy communities brimming with opportunity.

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