This article was originally published on innopowerindy.com. ​

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Innopower, an Indianapolis-based social enterprise accelerating economic development and wealth generation in Black communities, announced on Monday the next phase of a social impact partnership with Metaimpact and Sagamore Institute at the 2023 Minority Business Week.

In September 2022, JPMorgan Chase Foundation committed $140,000 in philanthropic capital to Innopower to develop a tech-enabled ecosystem to connect Black businesses to resources and enhance collaboration among minority business support organizations (BSOs), entrepreneur-support organizations (ESOs), and local stakeholders in Central Indiana. A collaboration between Innopower, Sagamore Institute, and Metaimpact was formed to create the ecosystem infrastructure and digital operating model needed to support the initiative.

The grant was preceded by work JPMorgan Chase conducted with Next Street and Common Future to assess the Indianapolis Small Business ecosystem. The report found, “There are disparities in small business ownership and revenue in Indianapolis for entrepreneurs of color. Business owners of color in Indianapolis need more awareness and access to services to start up, sustain, and scale their businesses. Only 27% of small businesses are at least moderately familiar with more than half of Indianapolis’s business support organizations (BSOs). Moreover, business owners of color lack access to networks facilitating access to business services. Given the city’s growing Black, Latino(a), and immigrant communities, there is a heightened need for culturally and linguistically competent services to serve them best.” MetaImpact seeks to deliver the awareness and access that the report identified.

“Ensuring small businesses have what they need to succeed is imperative to their growth and continued success,” said Phylicia Manley, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy. “As diverse-owned businesses continue to start, scale, and grow, we’re committed to expanding access to capital and strengthening the network of support for small business owners throughout Indianapolis.”

The digital impact network, aptly named Central Indiana’s Black Business Impact Network, is built on Metaimpact. Metaimpact is a multi-stakeholder platform purpose-built to align multiple organizations on shared initiatives and measure progress toward desired outcomes. By joining the digital network, community organizations, BSOs, ESOs and state agencies that provide support for Black and Brown business owners are able to work together on strategic initiatives, make services accessible to businesses in the community, connect to funding organizations, and more.

“The world’s biggest problems will be solved by building systems or networks that confront root causes by strengthening the collective power of individual organizations through active collaboration on shared goals,” stated Scott McCorkle, CEO of Metaimpact. “We are proud to enable systems change with Innopower and Sagamore to advance Black and Brown-owned businesses.”

The next phase of the project involves onboarding supporting organizations into the impact network—organizations that provide Black and Brown-owned business owners with the resources and support they need to be successful long-term. These organizations will have the opportunity to learn more and get involved during this week’s 2023 Minority Business Week.