Concentrated poverty requires concentrated opportunity
The Build from Within Alliance is a national network of community development organizations supporting local entrepreneurship in neighborhoods across the country.
We work in communities that have experienced both visible and invisible signs of systemic disinvestment resulting from centuries of racist practices and policies.
Build from Within Alliance members work to reverse this systemic disinvestment by expanding the community resources and opportunities required to support low-income resident entrepreneurs as drivers of economic and social change.
16 members | 50 neighborhoods | One Model
local entrepreneurship is the key to equitable Community development
Launched in 1993, Mihailo Temali founded The Neighborhood Development Center, a non-profit addressing St. Paul’s most urgent community needs by harnessing the power of residents.
Now 16 members strong, Build from Within Alliance combines business training, high-risk lending, one-on-one technical assistance and real estate opportunities to support local entrepreneurship in neighborhoods all over the country. These support systems are not à la carte. They are used together to address the needs of each entrepreneur and to build neighborhoods from within.
Connecting Resident entrepreneurs to Networks of support and opportunity
We know that place-based, intentional support of local entrepreneurs has ripple effects that are felt across the community. Our model for economic development works to reshape the opportunity structure of disinvested communities and neighborhood so that power is returned to residents.
The Build from Within model is about ensuring the success of the individual entrepreneur so that they can become leaders, change-makers, and participants in the revitalization of their neighborhood.
