Being a small business owner or social entrepreneur right now is . . . a lot. If you aren’t worried about how tariffs will impact your business, then you are probably worried about how federal small business programs will impact…
“The most successful networks and movements are defined not by their strategies for action, but by a common purpose informed by shared values and principles. By a process of collective sensemaking and discovery, informed by work happening on the ground,…
We are well into the December holiday shopping season and it’s time to talk about supporting locally owned independent businesses – again. I know, I know . . . I’m a little late this year and probably should have mentioned…
Resources and Reflections after the Election We are a woman immigrant owned, and queer, woman, and disabled led company and the outcome of the recent election was, well, the worst. Leaders are now empowered to create a world centered on…
It’s only a few weeks into 2024 and we’ve been seeing a lot of organizations and foundations looking to community engagement as a way to renew their impact efforts. So, what is community engagement and how do we do it…
Twice in my professional life I have been asked if I was the real deal. The first time was over lunch with a theatrical colleague who I pitched a social justice theater project to, back in my theater directing and…
Social entrepreneur, author, current chair of the Social Enterprise Alliance board, and long time friend and colleague of Vicki’s, David Gaines visits the Impact Out Loud podcast this month for a lively talk about all things social enterprise. In part…
We know this time of year is one that is full of lists, and ... well ... we're giving you one more! Here's a short and sweet gift guide featuring a few small and social enterprise businesses we've worked with…
Economic development consultant, home baker, and winner of the Great American Baking Show, Martin Sorge says it wasn’t that long ago that he wasn’t very good at baking. “I had always cooked and I was known for being the person…
Tudor Montague's small business journey is a social impact success story. Montague had been working for tribes in the environmental field, and while it was a rewarding career, he had always dreamed of starting his own business. In 2015, after…
The other day we were scrolling through one of our social media feeds and saw this: “What if I told you there is a secret club working on changing the New Mexico economy for the better through encouraging social enterprise?”…
This is a humble brag blog. $6,210,000. That’s how much we’ve helped our clients access in capital for their social enterprises and nonprofit organizations. It sounds easy. Sometimes it is, most of the time it’s not. This funding has allowed…
To change a system is to continue to tend to that system, and to constantly be asking what it needs and how you might serve to support its change. Let’s use the local food economy as a prime example. Here…
Right now we are all feeling the squeeze of global supply chain constraints and uncertainty. However, we also know that through purchasing awareness and ethical consumption, we can be less affected by these external forces (and more prepared to deal…
Have you heard about Bookshop.org? Launched in 2020, it is a startup that provides a new model to support indie bookstores. The Chicago Tribune said “Bookshop.org hopes to play Rebel Alliance to Amazon’s Empire.” But ... how? Stores that are…
Have we forgotten everything that just happened in the last year and a half? We experienced a massive halt of life as we knew it. Facing the realities of the pandemic, we stopped the hustle out in the world, but…
Amara Nash Amara Nash is an alumna of several of Prospera Partner’s BIG events. She has participated in the Emerging Leaders, BIG: How to Stand Up When You’re Figuring Out What You Stand For and BIG: Dismantling Systemic Racism in…
Christen Collins We asked Christen Collins, former BIG workshop participant and future BIG co-facilitator, about what she thought about her "BIG" experience and why she thinks others should take the plunge, too. Where have you felt supported in the structure…
We are Prospera Partners, and we’ve been around for awhile. Over the last 9 years we’ve amassed quite a library of resources for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. And, even if you’re just curious about what all this social impact…
The summer of 2006 I made a leap into a new career from a railroad marketing director to executive director of a nonprofit focused on growing community local economies through the support of locally owned independent businesses. I knew next…
This time of year is full of lists for things to buy and people to buy for: the co-worker party, the relatives, the kids, the neighbors, the wife, the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the dog... And all of this while trying to…
Signs you might be a localist: You get stuck in the produce section of the grocery store looking at the signage to find out where the fruit came from and what day it arrived. Turns out you know the farmer.…
The Food Justice Residency Program at Santa Fe Art Institute has been going on for nearly a year bringing “together nearly 40 artists from more than 25 countries as well as across the United States to work with local individuals…
At the turning of the light between the days of 2011 and 2012 I sat perched on the edge of the world, very literally, nestled on the lava rock cliffs of the Hilo coast of Hawaii. I was deep in…
So this is happening . . . https://makingchangeatwalmart.org/ I was going to write a long blog post about supporting locally-owned indie businesses on Black Friday and why that’s important for community and the economy but it seems more important right…