Making A Difference - Q2 2021 Newsletter
PACT and Venture Suite is Making the Difference
A message from our President
Venture Suite (VS) is a shared technology-focused workspace located in the historic King-Lincoln Bronzeville area of the Near East Side. PACT is proud to have been a funding partner in the development of Venture Suite, bringing this opportunity for wealth building into our community.
The goal of the VS offerings is to address some of the systemic challenges that diverse groups often face in technology startups and ventures. More than 80% of venture firms do not have a single black investor, and of the 20% that do have black investors, only 2% of partners – individuals that make investment decisions – are Black. Only 1% of venture-funded startup founders are black,” according to BLCK VC, a nonprofit organization. The number of venture-funded startups for women is even more distressing. Statistically, it amounts to zero. According to the publication Wired, this disparity comes even as black women today comprise the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the US, with over 1.5 million businesses—a 322 percent increase since 1997. These businesses generate over $44 billion a year in revenue. Yet, in the tech world, investors aren’t taking a risk on startups run by black women.
The primary mission of Venture Suite is to connect professionals, entrepreneurs, innovators, and resources with a broader community of experts, collaborators, mentors, and investors. Amenities include access to small business support from CSCC and CUL, industry events, TEDx programs, corporate training, startup workshops, health and wellness activities, boot camps, and more.
Venture Suite offers a selection of membership-based packages to suit various utilization needs. On the first floor, the physical space includes a 1,500 square foot flexible common area with moveable tables and chairs. The perimeter of the commons includes several lounge chairs and coffee tables, high-top tables with chairs, and multiple televisions/LED screens for presentations or other viewing desires. There are private phone booths and a large conference room. There is a special nook in the southwest corner where two lounge chairs are positioned within a slightly elevated bay window that can be used for fireside chats. Outside of the commons is a kitchenette where there is unlimited coffee and tea for members and guests. The second floor contains a 1,000 square foot educational lab for classes, workshops, and other usages. The first and second floors, including the conference room, are available for rental as event space.
The VS community feels like a collaborative family of diverse and energized talent! Our goal is to engage 300 individual members and 50 startups during the first year. Venture Suite was made possible by support from PACT and Columbus City Council. You can sign up to learn more about this black-owned and operated business on their website: venturesuite.co. Venture Suite is accessible for everyone. The “for all by us” expression speaks to the immense value of inclusive collaboration and innovation. The primary value, “Everybody Eats” embodies the culture that members will experience at Venture Suite.
Autumn Glover,
President
PACT Partners with Growing Growth Collective
The Growing and Growth Collective was founded in June 2020 by a group of individuals who are passionate about the Near East Side, which the Scioto Analysis policy research organization mapped as a neighborhood of concentrated poverty. The initial goal was to leverage one community garden on Greenway Avenue to help amplify the number of local Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in urban agriculture, but just weeks after forming, GGC grew organically into a network of five greenspaces and a team of volunteers that is now part of PACT Columbus.
Overall, our mission is to leverage urban agriculture as a means of social action to help improve health outcomes, deepen community engagement and foster economic empowerment in high-BIPOC neighborhoods. We are striving to accomplish this by facilitating responsive, culturally-relevant and evidence-based programming around our four impact pillars: Agricultural Education in Cities; Food Access & Affordability; Comprehensive Health & Wellness; and Equitable Community Development.
Our 2021 plans included developing the Hildreth garden, hosting a joint arts and agriculture program for youth at the King Arts Complex, building a learning garden also at the King Arts Complex, securing a hoop house for the Mamie Mack community garden and leading introduction to gardening lessons for the community, among other activities.
Also, we produce a monthly newsletter to keep community members informed about the progress on our goals and to highlight other urban agriculture entities in the city. We also host quarterly book chats and programming centered around discussing agriculture as a means of activism, how disenfranchisement within BIPOC communities leads to inequalities with land acquisition and access to healthy foods and the history of BIPOC’s engagement with agriculture. We truly value getting our hands in soil, but also understand that education is an integral part of BIPOC’s role within agriculture.
Acknowledgements
PACT is proud to acknowledges Fred Ransier
Congratulations to Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Fred Ransier for being recognized for their hard work and dedication to the community at OSU's Commencement. The team here at PACT are very proud of you both. Read More about the Distinguished Service Award
Honoring the Late Otto Beatty
The PACT community celebrates and honors the legacy of the late Otto Beatty Jr., who transitioned to glory on May 14, 2021. Mr. Beatty Jr. was a pioneer, a statesman and known for his civil rights advocacy, for supporting Black businesses, and leading change to make conditions better for Black and Brown people in our community. The former state legislator was father of local business leader Otto Beatty, III and Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt, and the husband of Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.
Mr. Beatty Jr. was born and raised in what is now known as the PACT geography – from birth to his college years he lived with his family on Monroe Avenue. He and his family were long-time Columbus business leaders and civil rights activists in Central Ohio. His father, Otto Sr., was the first Black deputy registrar for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and, along with his mother, Myrna, opened the Novelty Food Bar, which operated from 1942 to 1976, and was the city’s first 24-hour family eating facility open to Black people that was located right here in the PACT community.
His grandmother, Mayme Moore, was a civil-rights activist who stood alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a founder of the Columbus NAACP and the nation’s oldest black women’s organization, the Colored Women’s Club. Mayme Moore Park is a tribute to his grandmother.
Otto Beatty Jr. served 18 years in the state legislature, representing the Near East Side during his entire legislative tenure. Beatty served as president of the Franklin County Trial Lawyers Association and attorney for Black Elected Democrats of Ohio. He also served as special counsel to the Ohio attorney general, counsel to what would become the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and chair of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.
A host of loved ones, current and former central Ohio leaders, local, state and federal legislators attended the May 21, 2021, funeral services. In addition, representatives from the Office of the United States President, including the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia Fudge as well as members of Congress, including Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn Rep. Maxine Waters and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus gathered to honor the life of Otto Beatty Jr.
(Excerpts shared from AP News)
Listen to the WCMH-TV story highlighting his service to the community here https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/former-state-rep-otto-beatty-dies-at-81/
Congratulations Graduates
PACT would like to off our warmest congratulations to all 2021 graduates, and especially those of East High School! Your success is well deserved, and we are delighted that such bright young minds from our community are stepping forward into the world.
We hope that you take time to celebrate this important milestone in your life because you truly earned it. PACT is so proud of your achievements, and we are excited to see where your next adventure takes you.
Updates
Bronzeville Growers Market
Bronzeville Growers Market supports the goal of building a sustainable local food system.
Our theme: Sharing the Wealth refers to the wealth of the land and the community. The Market reserves space for Ohio farmers/growers, as well as cottage food operations and small processors that source ingredients locally and local craft artisans.
The Market encourages the following: developing and niche farmers; farmers/urban gardeners practicing organic farming methods and season extension; producers that source locally; community gardens and producers eager to educate consumers about their products.
Grow with us.
925 Mt Vernon Ave, Columbus, OH 43203, United States
Community Care Coach is Back
Did you know that The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center Community Care Coach has s a state-of-the-art health unit on wheels that brings our health care team to you?
The Community Care Coach will see primary care patients on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. — 3 p.m. at the Columbus Metropolitan Library–Shepard Branch, 850 N. Nelson Rd.
Visit the website to learn more: Community Care Coach | Ohio State Medical Center (osu.edu)