Projects 

Moonshot EdVentures

Empowering a new generation of education entrepreneurs

The Problem

Young people benefit from interacting with teachers and leaders they can relate to. Yet, teachers and leaders in Metro Denver, and across the country, do not reflect the students and families they serve. At the same time, pipelines to entrepreneurship aren’t typically responsive to the unique assets and needs that leaders of color face as they consider how to launch a new venture.

The Work

In 2022-2023, we ran a yearlong Residency Program to build the capacity of education entrepreneurs to lead innovative and impactful programs for children and families of color in metro Denver. Support those leaders via customized programming and coaching on topics like strategic thinking, people leadership, and continuous improvement while building a tight community of support. We took residents to NM to explore innovative programs outside their own context and supported each entrepreneur in building high-impact artifacts that would support their ventures to be successful.

The Learning

Build community.

The program residency began with a week-long “intensive” designed to support authentic and meaningful relationships that formed the backbone of a year-long experience. 

Take the lead.

Residents joined two full-day workshops each month for a combination of topic-based learning (e.g. forecasting revenue for the long term, building an agile strategic plan, etc.); peer-to-peer consultancies; coaching with Franklin Street team members, and independent work time. The mix of learning modalities and choice allowed residents to make this experience their own.

design unforgettable experiences.

We took residents to Albuquerque to visit schools and programs that model the kind of innovative, empathetic, and student-centered environments they aspire to build.

The Impact

In the summer of 2023, residents completed their yearlong program. Each of them left the experience with an agile strategic plan to guide their work over the next two to three years. They gained the tools they needed to build the foundations for strong organizational growth, teaming, and culture. In June 2023, we hosted a community showcase where residents showcased their work and heard reactions and feedback from their community members.