Ascend Cities Social Media Kit

This workshop is by invitation only to Ascend Ecosystem City Program Managers and marcom (marketing and communications) professionals involved in the management of each city’s social media. We are at the point of accelerated growth, for which we need a concentrated method in how Ascend presents itself to the public. Social media has many platforms, each with it’s type of audience, during this workshop we’ll explore ways in which to engage the public and our target audiences. We’ll share templates and campaign calendar. The goal is to bring cohesion to the Ascend ecosystem messaging, not forgetting each city’s uniqueness, but with the intent of providing full support to each other’s initiatives- all of which back the Ascend North Star.

*Martha will be sending out invites via email.

Nyasha Tunduwani

CEO - Real Impact Technology Consulting

Mr. Tunduwani is the CEO of Real Impact Technology Consulting, a Seattle-based firm that helps businesses and non-profits adopt and maximize their impact through technology. For over 20 years, Real Impact has assisted organizations with strategy, deployments, security, and support. Nyasha is an avid technologist, passionate about expanding access to technology careers for non-traditional entrants. Working with organizations as diverse as the City of Seattle, YWCA, and glassybaby, Nyasha brings a security-first approach to IT. Through Rotary and Women in Cloud affiliations, Nyasha has been a mentor working with students and entrepreneurs. Nyasha was a board member of the Seattle Rotary and EO Accelerator. Nyasha is a Leadership Tomorrow 2011 graduate and the founder of the Black Channel Partner Alliance, an organization committed to growing black-owned technology firms and digitally transforming community organizations.

Deep Dive: Anchor Partner Engagement Playbook

Ascend Cities now counts 15 cities, each with its own culture and set of businesses they cater their programs and services. However, the connecting thread is the M3 Model During October, Candace Mitchell Harris will be going over one of the Ms- Market access. She’ll present the most updated Market Access Playbook and go over in detail the different parts and provide templates and examples of successful approaches.

Session Goals

Externally: Ascend is the bridge to contract-ready BIPOC-owned businesses for corporations, public institutions, and government agencies to provide new contracting opportunities on a rolling basis.

Internally: Ascend’s 3-M model of management education, market access, and money (access to capital) aims to generate $1 billion in new business growth by 2025 by collaborating with our local partners, anchor partners, and Ascend national community of over 600 companies.

Technology Innovation From Across the Network

• Learn about Technology & Innovations our businesses owners can implement to run and grow their businesses effectively and efficiently

• Relevant tools and best practices related to technology & innovation for small businesses (and small business support organizations like Ascend)

• Provide next steps (resources for best practice and tools)

Bradford-Osborne Research Award

The Bradford-Osborne Research Award is the first national award recognizing research published in peer-reviewed journals that contributes to advancing the growth of businesses owned by people of color. Named for its founders, Bill Bradford, Dean Emeritus of the University of Washington Foster School of Business and Al Osborne, Professor and Faculty Director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management who together have published more than 60 research articles focused on entrepreneurs of color and the dynamics of their businesses.

This year, we will recognize Robert Fairlie’s important and timely research “The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Owners: The First Three Months after Social-Distancing Restrictions,” published in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy. Fairlie’s research is one of the first papers published in academic journals to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses. 

Following a presentation of his work, Professor Fairlie will join Bill Bradford,  Al Osborne  and Rachel Atkins  , Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow at NYU Stern for a panel discussion to explore on fertile areas for future academic research on race and entrepreneurship.

• When: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
  6:00-7:30 pm Eastern | 3:00-4:30 pm Pacific

• Where: Online Awards Ceremony and Panel Discussion via Zoom

Please contact Michael Verchot (mverchot@uw.edu) if you have questions.

Management Education Intensive

This Ascend Intensive will focus on the management skills development area with the goal to ensure that the management education curriculum prepares businesses with the knowledge they need to be successful supplier firms. Each city will leave the Intensive with clearly defined educational plan to support the success of businesses in becoming Tier I suppliers to anchor institutions and large corporations.