2019 Impact Report
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What is the future we are building in the new decade? What do you hope for our city?
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A future where youth voices are celebrated, amplified, and engaged in moving our city forward.”
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I want a city in which every person who was born and raised in Baltimore and who has come to live in Baltimore has access to opportunity to live with thriving successful lives.”
Impact Hub builds a stronger, more connected community. My grand vision: I’d love to see a city that can a peaceful, breathe with each other. The end welcoming & of violence and a continuation of livable city.” uplifting, festivities.”
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Something I want to see in Baltimore City in 2020 and in this decade is a concerted effort from leaders and stakeholders to include voices of those who are typically marginalized.”
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A thriving community: more equitable, housing accessible, and interconnected.”
CONTENTS 4
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Foreword
Origins & Avenues Our Story Equity in Practice
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Co-Creating Impact
Investing in Success
2019 Member Snapshot Member Background + Growth Culture + Collaboration Our Role in the Ecosystem
Ways to Plug In Key Happenings Improving Access
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Sustaining the Work
Acknowledgements
How We Operate What’s Next? Global Network 3
Foreword If the past ten years have taught us anything, it’s that creating social movements for the people by the people doesn’t happen overnight. It requires real commitment and visionary leaders dedicated to changing the narratives and realities for a better future for everyone. The last decade was marked by powerful movements on the local, national and global stage. Cities took a stand against police brutality, women spoke out against sexual violence, and young people stood up for climate change and gun control. In all movements big and small, we witnessed individuals from diverse walks of life unite over a common cause and inspire action across the globe. At Impact Hub Baltimore, we’re proud that our members are at the center of driving social change across the city. Our membership community of 245+ social change leaders are working to improve education, social justice, economic opportunity, health, community development, and the arts across all sectors and geographies. We’re part of a strengthening fabric of community-based organizations, small businesses, and institutions in Baltimore working towards a stronger, more collaborative, and equitable city. As an organization, we strive to do our part by creating platforms so that our members can scale their impact to reach more neighborhoods, systems, and communities. The 2019 Impact Report that you’re about to
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explore reassured us that we’re on the right track. We found that our community has strengthened over the past year, with members developing a greater sense of trust and collaborating more on projects. Member stories weaved throughout the next few pages bring our learnings to life and highlight how these leaders have created impact in distinct and complementary ways. Our team remains committed to supporting our members in going further and faster than ever with a high level of excitement for what the next decade will bring. Our Impact Hub team takes great pride in the growth we achieve year-to-year and are honored to take on 2020 by your side. Equipped with new insights and opportunities, we hope that this Impact Report encourages you to celebrate every challenge and milestone. If there’s only one message you take away from our 2019 Impact Report, we hope it’s this:
You Belong Here. Our community is made stronger with social change leaders like you.
ORIGINS & AVENUES Our Story At Impact Hub, our community’s commitment to grassroots leadership stems from our own experiences. In 2012, co-founders Rodney Foxworth and Pres Adams launched the Baltimore Social Enterprise Network (“SocEnt”) to weave together a community working toward a shared vision of a Better Baltimore. In its first year, the SocEnt Breakfast attracted and engaged over 1,500 of Baltimore’s most dynamic and diverse social entrepreneurs, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, businesses, funders, and city agencies. As the SocEnt community grew, so did the need to find the expanding network a home.
globally-connected to 100+ other missiondriven spaces worldwide, Impact Hub Baltimore remains locally-rooted at its core. Building and supporting a thriving community remains our foundation and continues to drive our mission to support our members in growing their impact in Baltimore and beyond.
Convinced that complex challenges demand collaborative solutions, the SocEnt network rebranded and joined the global Impact Hub network in 2014. In December 2015, Impact Hub Baltimore opened in a beautiful space on the ground floor of the historic Centre Theater in the Station North Arts & Entertainment District — previously vacant for 30+ years. While we’re 5
Equity in Practice We place equity in every decision we make, however ordinary or extraordinary: People | We draw from our team’s collective wealth of lived experiences, professional backgrounds and networks to guide decisions and set policies. We follow transparent hiring practices and promote from within. We know that no one person or organization has all the answers, so we draw on the talents of our members and partners when designing futurefacing strategies.
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Practices | We invest our time and resources in people and issues that need it most. Every policy, system, price point, and partnership centers on advancing opportunity and access. Our physical space serves as a platform for a diverse community to build relationships and test ideas. We intentionally elevate their stories to 24,000+ followers and supporters. Programs | We believe that diverse and distributed leadership will produce the most relevant and resilient initiatives. Our programming comes from a place of understanding and dialogue with our members and larger community. By operating alongside community leaders and social entrepreneurs, we learn about what drives them forward and where they get stuck.
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Impact Hub has a culture that’s open and accessible, equitable, and it holds a place that’s unique in Baltimore. We need more places like this.” relaunched in Baltimore in 2018. “A lot of my work is about making sure resources flow back and forth between those two groups,” he says. A lot of the time, communities try to go at it alone and institutions try to go at it alone. And when you go at it alone, you’re never as successful as when you go together,” he says.
MEMBER STORY
PICKETT SLATER-HARRINGTON Throughout his career, Pickett has worked closely with a mix of nonprofits, governmental and forprofit entities. When it comes to community development, he’s noticed a disheartening pattern. “The thing that I kept seeing…was this disconnect between community and [anchor] institutions,” Pickett says. “They never developed mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships.” That’s why he founded Joltage in 2010, a social change design firm that aims to bridge this disconnect which he found especially prevalent between communities of color and institutions. Originally founded in Cincinnati, OH, Joltage
Having moved to Baltimore just over a year ago, Pickett credits Impact Hub for helping him better understand the city he now calls home. When asked about Impact Hub’s role in promoting Joltage’s mission, Pickett says, “the thing that has helped us to grow and scale is connecting to places like Impact Hub,” he says. “It’s deeply connected to both communities and institutions…it’s one of those natural places in communities where different people collide and feel comfortable being in that space.” Leading Skillshares provided a platform for Pickett to advance conversations on the importance of bridging community and institutional perspectives. He’s since moderated the third event in Impact Hub’s SOCAP365 series focused on co-creating with local communities. Nowadays, you can find Pickett taking his commitment to the next level, leading community engagement efforts connected to the redevelopment of Baltimore’s historic Lexington Market. 7
CO-CREATING IMPACT MEMBER STORY
BRITTANY YOUNG As a Native Baltimorean, Brittany knows firsthand the importance of dirt bikes within the city. That’s why in 2017, she founded the social enterprise B-360 to fuse this important part of Baltimore’s culture with STEM-focused educational opportunities. B-360 has served nearly 3,000 students and recruits former dirt bike riders and formerly incarcerated adults. Fixing dirt bikes requires engineering skills, and Brittany saw that as a natural entry point for local youth to get interested in STEM fields. By equipping her riders with employable skills and giving them an outlet for expression, Brittany hopes that she can reduce poverty and violence in the city.
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Brittany joined Impact Hub in 2016 after winning an Elevation Award from Baltimore Corps. She has since grown her initiative through fellowships with Open Society Institute, Echoing Green, TED, and more. Impact Hub offered a residency to Brittany to provide a homebase to work and host meetings as B-360 expands.
“We don’t have money for a space,” she says. “Having community support is helpful. Impact Hub is a good place to work and network.”
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I’m very passionate about teaching people how to unlock their full potential and changing perceptions of Baltimore City as a whole”
2019 Member Snapshot Our membership community continues to set itself apart as one of the most diverse in Baltimore’s innovation landscape and by national standards. By increasingly reflecting the city’s demographics, we strongly believe that we improve our chances of building relevant and successful solutions to the city’s greatest challenges:
Age
Gender
74%
66%
Female
26 to 45 yrs old
30%
15%
Male
Over 45
4%
11%
Under 26
Race
53% 34%
Black, African or African American White
6%
Hispanic or Latinx
4%
Two or more Races
3%
Asian
Nonbinary/ Transgender
Our community steps up to lead transformative change – often focusing on more than one initiative at a time:
2.4 69% 22%
Average Professional IDs
Sole-Founder
Co-Founder 9
Member Organizational Background + Growth Our community is showing signs of growth. Our members are attracting more investment from a wider range of sources. They not only sustain their work, but advance to later stages of business. In 2018, our members raised 1.5 times greater philanthropic capital and 4 times as much from private investors than the prior year. By attracting new supporters and sources of capital, members have expanded their organizational capacity to positively impact more communities across the city.
Year Established 2015 or earlier 34% 2016 14% 2017 26% 2018 24%
Business Stage Idea Development or Intention 4%
Startup 29%
Running Operations 46%
“Which of the following best describes the primary focus of the work?�
Scaling 19% Other 2%
Legal Form Non-profit 33%
27%
22%
20%
14% 10% 4%
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3%
Education + Youth Workforce + Economic Opportunity
For-profit 40% Hybrid 8% Self-employed 15%
Social Justice Health + Wellness Community Development + Housing City Planning + Transit Green + Sustainability
Impact | Measure success by: Impact First 78% Finance First 14% Both 8%
MEMBER STORY
SAM FRANK At first, the construction business that Sam cofounded in Greenmount West was small — “not really a business,” he says. Up to a little over a year ago, Sam and his business partner, Shea Frederick, were working 80 hours a week, with the occasional help of a few neighbors. Small as Four Twelve was, Sam and Shea had a clear vision: to do real estate development and construction that would serve the Baltimore community. They hired locals to help them restore old and damaged buildings. Since joining Impact Hub in March 2018, Four Twelve’s growth has been reflected in its team’s expansion, employing 30-40 individuals who work on a daily basis. This means that Sam and Shea only have to work for half as long as they used to, while also dramatically increasing job opportunities in the city. Sam shares that the ability to form connections at Impact Hub was key. Executive Director Michelle Geiss directly referred the company to as many as 10 new clients. Being at Impact Hub also means physical proximity to NHS Baltimore, Jubilee Baltimore, and Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP), which means access to even more partnership opportunities. As Four Twelve grows, it’s been able to take on more ambitious projects, like repairing roofs for low-income seniors at discounted rates
and more recently, launching their inaugural Roof Trust. With this new initiative, they aim to give back to the city by donating a free roof
replacement annually. Looking forward, their next big step is to relocate to the industrial property where it runs construction activities.
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Since joining Impact Hub in March 2018, Four Twelve’s growth has been reflected in its team’s expansion, employing 30-40 individuals who work on a daily basis.” 11
As their organizations grow, some of the ways our members are making a difference include creating new jobs and expanding their reach:
185 Full Time jobs created*
62% 33%
Increasing business stage Increasing in revenue
33,572
Reach / People Informed / Influenced*
Investment by Source Over the past year, members accessed greater financial support from foundations, private investors, and awards. While people continue to invest their own funds, they are less reliant on going it alone. Not only are members gaining access to outside investment, but the average size of investment is also on the rise:
33%
FOUNDATIONS Average: $82,583 52% increase from prior year ($54,000)
17% FAMILY + FRIENDS
Average: $2,833 15% increase from prior year ($2,500)
Member Success in Numbers
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82% 82%
Satisfied clients and beneficiaries Successful in meeting organizational goals
* estimated across total membership based on per member data
39% OWN FUNDS
Average: $32,500 14 times greater than prior year ($2,260)
17%
PRIVATE INVESTORS Average: $155,833 4 times greater than prior year ($31,620)
84% 80%
28% AWARDS
Average: $72,000 41 times greater than prior year ($1,700)
Improved quality of services Increased products and services
Member Culture & Collaboration Our members work together now more than ever--dedicating more time and trust in one another as their work evolves. We know firsthand that trust lies at the very core of building community and inspiring powerful social movements in Baltimore and beyond. As a team, we’re especially proud to learn that 79% of members trust most people at Impact Hub and 72% agree that peer-to-peer support is reinvested back to them over time. These insights speak to our community’s strong collaborative culture and a deeply rooted belief that we are stronger together: IHB was helpful in providing this type of support…
82% 71%
86% 76%
Partnering and collaborating with other members
Strengthening personal motivation Feeling part of a larger community/ network
Member Culture + Collaboration Footprint TRUST MOST PEOPLE AT IHB
63%
2017 COMPARISON
FEEL LIKE THEY BELONG TO THE IHB COMMUNITY
On average, members also reported receiving 19.3 hours of support per month from other members--representing nearly $1.35M in volunteer hours across the membership community. This is almost ten times greater than the average of 2 hours of monthly support cited in 2017. Collaboration builds huge efficiencies into the social sector and opportunities to do our work in new and stronger ways.
76%
61%
2017 COMPARISON
FEEL COMFORTABLE DISCUSSING NEW IDEAS WITH MEMBERS
56%
2017 COMPARISON
Accessing better working infrastructure
79%
73%
FEEL TIME & SUPPORT INVESTED COMES BACK TO THEM OVER TIME
49%
2017 COMPARISON
FEEL WORKING AT IHB HELPS TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE AND PROCRASTINATE LESS
72%
65%
WORKED JOINTLY ON A PROJECT OR ACTIVITY
24%
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MEMBER STORY
KIETA AMIN Straight after getting her master’s degree in nonprofit management, Kieta was managing grants full-time at Baltimore City Public Schools. Five years in, she found herself wanting to jumpstart a new initiative called Mpolo Business Solutions. Kieta’s company provides business management, technical assistance, and financial administration support for nonprofits. Kieta initially joined Impact Hub as a Community Lead six months after the space opened in 2015. She saw Impact Hub as an opportunity to gain visibility for her new initiative and grow her network. Little did Kieta know that
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The space forces me to be that person who’s the face of the organization, who’s able to start a conversation.” she’d also grow a support system who would encourage her to get out of her comfort zone. “I joined a family,” she says. “Everybody here is so encouraging of you, they want to see how you’re doing, they support you.” “The space forces me to be that person who’s the face of the organization, who’s able to start a conversation,” Kieta says. “Just practicing that everyday made me comfortable talking with people. There are a number of people here who I’ve met and I’ve worked with that I still work with to this day, years later.” Looking forward, Kieta’s channeling her background in business and finance management into new directions. She’s growing her network with other women and minorityowned businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Through her new initiative BMore Empowered, Kieta works with co-founder, Nazaahah Amin, a yoga therapist and former Impact Hub member, to teach girls of color business management and the importance of self-care. “If I’m not taking time for myself and doing self-care, there’s no way I can think about my business,” she says.
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I don’t know whether those types of interactions would have been as easily accessible had I not been connected to Impact Hub.”
MEMBER STORY
ANA RODNEY Motivated by a desire to support mothers in navigating challenges with their pregnancies, Ana built MOMCares -- a postpartum doula program that offers self-care workshops to mothers of color, with a focus on Black mothers. This cause is very personal for Ana, who witnessed these complications firsthand within her family and her own pregnancy. Statistically, African American women are about three times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related complications. All too often, these deaths are preventable.
Before Ana became a member at Impact Hub in 2017, MOMCares was a one-woman operation. Through Impact Hub, Ana made many of her most transformative connections. She’s hosted healing circles for mothers all over the city and continues to support some of her earliest participants to this day. While hosting a Skillshare, she made an important connection which eventually led to her involvement in the Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition, introducing her to other medical professionals and birthworkers across the state. Now Ana has a small but growing team and has a lot of supporters in her corner. In 2019, Ana took part in the inaugural Courageous cohort and widened her circle of creative and innovative entrepreneurs. She has since attracted more funding and accolades from the Social Innovation Lab at Johns Hopkins University, Open Society Institute, Baltimore Homecoming, and more. Reflecting on Impact Hub’s role in her journey, Ana shares “I don’t know whether those types of interactions would have been as easily accessible had I not been connected to Impact Hub.” 15
Our Role in the Ecosystem
Betamo
Impact Hub is part of a growing system of entrepreneurial supports in the city, which is far more robust now than when we held our first SocEnt breakfast in 2012. For many people, our community and space serve as the first entry point into navigating this increasingly flourishing yet complex landscape. We often meet people just as they set out to test new models of business, ownership, and sustainability. We work alongside them throughout their evolution. Members are empowered to build confidence in themselves and their initiatives, which is further strengthened as they move onto growth opportunities with Innovation Works, BCAN, Social Innovation Lab, OSI, Echoing Green, and our many other partners locally and nationally. We believe our community is highly capable of driving positive impact in Baltimore and beyond, so we leverage our global network to attract national partnerships into the city. This fuels a positive feedback loop as it not only grows the landscape of opportunity for our members, but for the broader community too. In building long-term relationships with our members, we’re able to gain trust and collaborate which only expands our capacity to
support them and other like-minded entrepreneurs. When our members move on to bigger things, we’re always left feeling proud that we were able to play a significant part of their journeys.
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Coworking Spark
Entreprenurial Ecosystem
Startup Nest
Impact Hu Strategy School
Create U ICCC Conscious Venture Lab
Programs
Innovation Works School of Food
Moms as Entrepreneu
ore
SNTL
VC Firms
The Cube
Shift Ventures
Open Works
Universities
Capital
BRED
SBRC
Kiva
TEDCO
CLLCTIVLY
BDC Accelerate Made in Baltimore
Institutions
Social Innovation Lab
urs
Startup Maryland
Elevation Awards
GS 10kSB BCAN
CDFIs
Philanthropy
ETC
ub
Credit Unions
Baltimore Angels
Bmore Kitchen
Spaces
Banks
OSI Fellowship Pratt Library
Warnock Fellows
Fellowships
Venture for America Echoing Green
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Poetry for the People is the parent organization of DewMore, the local literary nonprofit that has also taken the Youth Poetry Team under its wing. Much of DewMore’s service is oriented towards young people. Every April it organizes one of Maryland’s largest youth poetry festivals for National Poetry Month. The nonprofit also hosts workshops throughout the city and holds a monthly open mic at Impact Hub run by teenage poets.
MEMBER STORY
OLU BUTTERFLY WOODS Many think of writing as an individualistic experience. But for Olu, it’s very much communal. Joining Baltimore’s underground hip hop scene in her early adult years, she constantly ran into and collaborated with other writers. Ten years ago, Olu co-founded the Baltimore Citywide Youth Poetry Team using personal funds and meeting with community members in living rooms. She also co-founded Poetry for the People Baltimore, an organization that intersects poetry and civic engagement. “There was no specific agenda so much as…how can we get our art to be more useful to people?” she says. 18
Impact Hub has been an important communal space for Olu and her team since 2018. She credits Impact Hub with providing a space to collaborate and build new relationships in an effort to expand DewMore’s impact across the city. ”There’s other people who are doing parallel and intersecting work. Who knows what those relationships may result in in the future?” Olu says. “It’s encouraging to see other people doing work that affirms the work that you do.”
Going forward, Olu wants to be more robust in engaging the community. “If you’re going to be sustainable you’re looking to diversify how you sustain yourselves,” she says. “I’d like to be a point of continuity for people. When they think of Baltimore, they know that DewMore is there.”
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It’s encouraging to see other people doing work that affirms the work that you do.”
MEMBER STORY
REBECCA YENAWINE
and a block away from the BCPS District Office, Impact Hub is accessible for teachers and parents across the city.
Rebecca has always been passionate about uplifting young voices. Years ago she founded the youth-oriented social justice organization New Lens. Now, as Executive Director of Teachers Democracy Project (TDP), she helps organize Baltimore City Public School teachers and parents so that they have more power in shaping school policy and practice. Most recently, TDP was a part of incubating a union caucus. Through this convening effort, they’ve since been able to introduce new initiatives such as the creation of more supportive spaces for students. These spaces are also especially important for the retention of Black teachers. One initiative of which Rebecca is especially proud is the Black Teachers Recruitment and Retention Working Group, which analyzed the decline of black teachers in the district. “There’s a particular way that Black teachers are hit hard by the lack of supports because of the way that the District has structured some of the entryways into teaching,” Rebecca says.
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It’s made us more visible,” Rebecca shares on Impact Hub’s central location.
Rebecca has been a member at Impact Hub since 2017. Impact Hub has been a critical space since teachers cannot organize inside their school buildings. Located in Central Baltimore
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INVESTING IN SUCCESS Improving Access Everyone starts somewhere. We believe in opening our doors to people at all stages of their entrepreneurial journey. Affordable offerings enable people aligned with our mission to direct their resources to the costs of starting up and delivering impact. We offer many ways to plug into to our community, space, and programming, including Worktrade, Skillshares, Space Donations, and Workshops:
Worktrade Our Worktrade program welcomes incredible members who truly make the space tick. The 35+ person team consists of emerging leaders who provide vital support with daily operations, member connections, and event bookings in exchange for our Grow membership. Worktraders extend the reach and capacity of our core team-often staying for many months or years. Community Leads are the face of Impact Hub. They greet guests, engage members, brew coffee, answer questions, give tours, and keep the 20
space beautiful, reliable, and welcoming. They bring their own projects, ideas, and networks to the space every day. Event Leads keep our event bookings running smoothly. They walk through event logistics, equipment, set-up, and rules with each and every external booking. They are cool under pressure and enable our team to be many places at once. 4 out of every 5 Grow members at Impact Hub access membership via our Worktrade Program. This aligns with our mission to direct tailored support to the entrepreneurs who need it most. It also enables us to invest our time in people who invest in our community.
Space Donations Bringing people together to discuss, celebrate, or organize drives progress towards a Better Baltimore. Impact Hub regularly provides donated and discounted space for missionaligned events. Events that value Baltimore’s culture and context and work towards a stronger, more equitable, and collaborative city get considered first and foremost.
In 2019, Impact Hub offered over $85,000 in discounts and donations to events advancing the work of grassroots leaders across the city.
Membership Breakdown (July 2019)
Skillshares
OFFICE MEMBERS
Skillshares offer peer-to-peer learning every week, entirely free and open to the public. Presenters share valuable skills in business and personal development with other entrepreneurs and community leaders. The platform has played an indispensable role in expanding our community and exchanging vital know-how across the city. In 2019, Impact Hub hosted 193 Skillshares by 90+ local experts, drawing a total of 6,163 registrations. Over 70% of presenters and attendees come from outside of our membership. People gained visibility, new clients, new collaborators, expanded networks, and of course, new skills.
Strategy School In 2018, Impact Hub paired up with member organization Twilight Quest to create our first social enterprise accelerator program, Strategy School. The program features online learning modules in business development, marketing, operations, and positive mindset, and offline learning sessions with peers. Within six months, participants tripled their clients, earned an average of $2,300 additional monthly revenue, and created six new jobs. In 2020, we will reboot this program to support neighborhood businesses.
The Courage.Us In October 2018 and February 2019, a select cohort of promising social entrepreneurs came together to hone their messages, deepen their support networks, and think BIG with longtime advisor and serial entrepreneur, Jamie McDonald. This intensive workshop draws on lessons from movement building and the generosity economy to remind social change leaders that we are stronger together.
19%
48 employees
CONNECT
41%
103
GROW
18%
46 Total: 39 Worktrade, 7 direct enrollment
SUPPORT 22
9%
STUDENTS & FELLOWS 18
7%
SCHOLARSHIPS & RESIDENCIES 12
5%
TOTAL: 249 MEMBERS
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2019 Key Happenings
SOCAP365 | Building Community Wealth
The Courage.us | BIG Workshop Baltimore Women United: “Why I March” Organizers came together to make signs, share plans, and build excitement for the Baltimore Women’s March.
JAN
Promising social entrepreneurs honed their messages, deepened their support network, and learned to think BIG in this two-day intensive training developed by longtime advisor, Jamie McDonald.
FEB Creative Mornings (CM)
We proudly hosted the re-launch of Creative Mornings Baltimore featuring Robyn Stegman on being the voice of Mr. Trash Wheel, joining passion and community service, and cleaning the bay with googly eyes!
Touching Young Lives I Portable Alternative Crib Packing Party Volunteers gathered on MLK Day to pack baby boxes with diapers, clothes, and love.
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MAR
APR
Teacher’s Democracy Project | Teachers Union Organizing
Backed by an education policy platform developed by parents and teachers, TDP organized a slate of candidates to bring fresh leadership the Baltimore Teachers Union.
We explored strategies and barriers to scale economic opportunity through cooperatives, small businesses, and communityled development in this threepart breakfast series with SOCAP.
MAY
JUN
Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) | MdFF 2019
Impact Hub proudly served as headquarters for Maryland’s annual five-day film festival, housing the MdFF box office, volunteer operations, and panel discussions.
Innovation Works | IW Boost
Dozens of growing nonprofits and social businesses honed their mission statements, business models, and elevator pitches during this three-day intensive workshop with seasoned mentors and instructors lending support.
The Lines Between Us | Housing Policy Panel:
Enterprise Development Group | Small Business Development Program Launch
Author and journalist Lawrence Lanahan hosted a panel on affordable housing policies, emerging housing innovations, and strategies to mend racial divides.
Partners celebrated the launch of EDG’s Small Business Development Program designed to support African American and Hispanic entrepreneurs to grow their business ventures, build self-sufficiency, and gain financial freedom.
Baltimore City Department of Social Services | Ready by 21 Open Mic Night
Stronger Than My Struggles | Writing for My Sanity Workshop
Young people transitioning out of
foster care came together for free
expression of their thoughts, feelings, and dreams through spoken word.
JUL
AUG
SEP
Echoing Green | UpStart Series
Brittany Young shared her experience as a national Echoing Green Fellow and B-360 Founder, using dirt bike culture to end cycles of poverty, disrupt the prison pipeline, and build bridges in communities across the city.
A supportive community comes together to write, connect, and meditate at this weekly therapeutic workshop.
OCT
NOV
Circles of Voices | Discussion with Daryl Davis
Circles of Voices convenes people each month to build relationships across differences and diminish inequities related to isms and phobias. Conversations free participants to think broadly and bring new ideas to life.
DEC
Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED) | Worker Co-op Jumpstart
Students, worker-owners, and early-stage initiatives assembled for one day of workshops on establishing and running worker-owned cooperatives. BRED attracted over 70 participants from across the state for this annual learning exchange, now in its third year.
MIRRORS | Film Screening
Filmmaker Greg Lewis screened his film about a young boy’s journey through Baltimore neighborhoods in search of hope for a brighter future.
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Ways to Plug In We build our community by meeting people where they are and providing ways to plug in based on personal goals and expectations. At Impact Hub, there are three key offerings that sustain our work and provide platforms to engage:
Coworking Our coworking membership invites a diverse range of likeminded doers, thinkers, and dreamers to be part of a supportive network testing new ideas, growing their initiatives or seeking new collaborations. Our Support membership fuels our scholarship and space donations which helps to advance emerging, early-stage leaders in Baltimore.
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Our popular Connect membership plugs people into a supportive community, and provides access to a professional work space, meeting rooms, and other amenities to help initiatives flourish. Our Grow membership provides tailored support to emerging leaders, dynamic entrepreneurs, new businesses, and young organizations. Our team, partners, and peers provide direct backing and advice to fuel success.
Event Bookings Event bookings at Impact Hub enrich our offerings and ensure that our space serves as an accessible resource to social change leaders from all across the city. Our team, network, and neighbors activate the space day and night with events that bring people together: See the prior page for some key happenings.
Offices Our office members serve as valuable anchors to our community. Offices house more established initiatives with larger teams and operations whose work mirrors the wide reach of our members across the city. As we enter the new decade, here are the companies and organizations rooted in our space:
TEACHERS’ DEMOCRACY PROJECT Social Justice
SCHREIBER BROTHERS DEVELOPMENT Community Development + Housing
Education + Youth
SAGE FUND Social Justice
DEWMORE BALTIMORE Social Justice Education + Youth
WRITERS IN BALTIMORE SCHOOLS Arts + Design Education + Youth
BALTIMORE CHILDREN AND YOUTH FUND (BCYF) Education + Youth Social Justice
LYDIA’S HOUSE Workforce + Economic Opportunity Education + Youth
RAILS-TO-TRAILS CONSERVANCY City Planning + Transit
ACHIEVEMENT NETWORK Education + Youth
CENTRO DE LOS DERECHOS DEL MIGRANTE Social Justice
Green + Sustainability
RESERVOIR HILL IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL
MOVEMENT LAW LAB Social Justice
Community Development + Housing
MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVE (MARMIA) Arts + Design Education + Youth
JFL ENTERPRISES Community Development + Housing
FOUR TWELVE ROOFING Community Housing + Development Workforce + Economic Opportunity
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SUSTAINING THE WORK How We Operate Impact Hub Baltimore is a nonprofit social enterprise sustained by community contributions. We operate with earned revenue from memberships, offices, and space bookings, as well as grants and contracts. Each membership, office, and space booking represents a direct investment from the entrepreneurial community we serve, creating a positive feedback loop for the quality and value of our programs and operations. Contributions from our community itself covers 100% of our core operations. In 2019, earned revenue represented 56% of our annual budget:
Grants and contracts covered the remaining 44% of our operating budget. At Impact Hub, grants and contracts advance our core values of equity and accessibility by funding our team to develop and offer free and low cost programming for members and the public. Investments from local foundations and national partners help us to champion the work of hundreds of committed, visionary leaders in Baltimore and beyond:
Earned Revenue
54% Offices
27%
Coworking
15%
Event Bookings
4%
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Other
Grants & Contracts
93%
Grants: Goldseker Fdn, Straus Fdn, T. Rowe Price Fdn, Deutsch Fdn, Baltimore DHCD
7%
Contracts
What’s Next? No one could have predicted the vast social movements which unfolded worldwide over the last decade. Issues that previously took a backseat came to the fore, and visionary leaders across the globe stepped up to respond. They reframed challenges as opportunities to do and live better. Whether that meant disrupting systems and policies or developing new platforms for more voices to be heard, each and every committed individual played a vital role in inspiring local action worldwide.
The same holds true for the growing movement for equity and opportunity taking place in our city. When we organized our first SocEnt breakfast nearly eight years ago, we didn’t intend on founding a space. We couldn’t know exactly how our entrepreneurial landscape would evolve. We simply worked with what we knew at the time, which was that building a strong, trusted community was key to achieving our shared vision of a Better Baltimore. We locked arms and took a leap. Improving the city’s collective wellbeing was well worth the risk. While we know that we can never fully prepare for what is to come, we know that trust, collaboration, and courage form the foundation for success. Our community will draw on its collective strength to advance positive change in the neighborhoods, networks, and systems where they work. Our team keeps our fingers on the pulse of this community and our eyes on the horizon for what comes next. Over the next three years, we will invest in strategies for entrepreneurs to scale their impact. We will improve access to capital and mentorship; help entrepreneurs navigate a growing landscape of resources; build robust program offerings for any stage of growth; and unite across our network to advocate for inclusive economic growth. No matter what challenges come, we are confident that we can take them on. Over the next decade, our community will drive magnitudes of change even greater than we could imagine today.
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Global Network Impact Hub Baltimore is part of a global network of 100+ spaces in 50+ countries striving to Inspire, Connect, and Enable the work of 16,000+ impact entrepreneurs worldwide. Each Impact Hub is locally rooted and globally connected. This allows teams to adapt to the local context while learning from a robust global network of community builders and social entrepreneurs.
SEATTLE Through a connection via Impact Hub Seattle, Baltimore became one of the 80+ cities nationwide with affordable coding and web development workshops offered by Nucamp.
OAKLAND Our outgoing Director of Community Engagement, Michelle Antionette Nelson relocated to Impact Hub Oakland this summer to support their strategic restructuring efforts. She remains connected to Baltimore as a longtime friend and the latest addition to our Advisory Board.
FLORIANAPOLIS Impact Hub Baltimore has long been considered a center of excellence for the network. In 2019, outgoing Director of Operations & Partnership, Pres Adams traveled to Brazil to share our innovations and insights at the annual Impact Hub Global Gathering.
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DONASTIA As we continually seek to improve our value to members, we have looked to Impact Hub Donostia to explore and learn from their cooperative business model.
JOHANNESBURG Red Bull worked with our team for 2.5 years as it adapted its Amaphiko Academy for social entrepreneurs to the Baltimore context. After partnering with Impact Hub Johannesburg for its launch in South Africa--�Amaphiko� is Zulu for wings--Red Bull trusted our team to connect them with local entrepreneurs, artists, and partners to roll out their Academy and Festival for the first time in the US.
The Impact Hub Global Network has been recognized as a key partner to deliver the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here is a breakdown of how our members in Baltimore align to the SDGs and contribute to meaningful impact worldwide:
44%
32%
34%
19%
Core Team Our small and mighty team serves as the backbone of Impact Hub’s programming and daily operations. In 2019, we reimagined our team’s organizational structure to reflect emerging strategic priorities for 2020 and beyond. This restructuring presented an opportunity to invite new perspectives and skillsets to the team. As Pres Adams and Michelle Antoinette Nelson transitioned to great opportunities within the Impact Hub global network, we welcomed three new team members from within our local network who each contribute distinct skills and talent: Michelle Geiss | Executive Director Co-Founder and Former SocEnt Baltimore Organizer Eric Lin | Managing Director Former Office Member with the Latino Economic Development Center Sam Novak | Community Manager Former Impact Hub Community Lead and Skillshare Presenter Irene Bantigue | Events & Communications Manager Former Intern with the JHU Community Impact Internship Program
18%
18%
Alanah Nichole Davis | Marketing & Outreach Manager Founding Impact Hub Event Lead
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Acknowledgements Our community is fueled by the generosity of many people who work towards a Better Baltimore everyday. We’d like to thank our partners and sustaining contributors who help Impact Hub remain affordable, accessible and mission-centered. In FY19, our work was fueled by generous grants from the Goldseker, Straus, Deutsch, and T. Rowe Price Foundations; sponsorships from Innovation Works, John Cammack, and University of Maryland; and earned revenue from our incredible members, clients, and partners. Thank you to our founding members, funders, and partners for your early and ongoing investments. Your investments continue to advance the work of hundreds of committed, visionary leaders in Baltimore every year. To every current and past member, office tenant, event host, and workshop presenter, your unwavering commitment is the foundation for important social movements across the city and we’re honored to play a small part in your work. You can always find a home in our space. To our driven team, dedicated worktraders, brilliant advisory board, and collaborative partners, thank you. You make this place tick. Every effort you make to pour your talents and insights into championing our city’s leaders makes an impact.
Finally, a very special thank you to Kate Purcell and Irene Bantigue for creating this Impact Report and bringing our community’s story to life. 30
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What I’d like to see in Baltimore is a city that feels truly empowered by the people that live here.”
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Life in Baltimore isn’t always easy, but a lot of people are organizing clothes drives, teaching music to kids, investing in neighborhoods, counseling people in crisis, creating music and art, tending community gardens, fighting blight and much more. If we look closely, people are trying to help Baltimore in small yet meaningful ways.”
My hope would be to see a Baltimore that is happy in the process of healing and a city that cares to serve each other.”
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Greater prosperity for everyone in Baltimore and more unity of the different neighborhoods and the different people who live here.”
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I want Baltimore to be thriving, to be more community centered, to be friendlier and closer with immigrant communities.”
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I hope that power shifts back into the hands of the people.” 31
Impact Hub Baltimore would not be the thriving community it is today without the dynamic individuals who put great ideas to work everyday. As we look toward the future, we invite you to get involved: Join Our Network
Activate Our Space
Partner With Us
Whether you’re an earlystage entrepreneur or part of an established mission-driven organization, we welcome you to join our vibrant community through coworking or office membership. Learn more about our membership options through our website or visit us Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm, for a tour with anyone from our team. Coffee, wifi, and community are included!
There are two main ways for you to activate our space. The first is through our Skillshare platform, offering peer-to-peer learning every week, entirely free and open to the public. You can also book the space for your own event. Hosting a paid event at Impact Hub means that you are directly supporting emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to build community and share resources to larger audiences.
We aim to create conditions for entrepreneurs to grow and thrive in the years to come. Since opening in December 2015, we’ve seen firsthand how entrepreneurs move further and faster with access to a wide range of support. Be part of a growing movement to co-create opportunities for entrepreneurs in Baltimore and beyond.
Visit Us
Contact Us
Impact Hub Baltimore 10 E North Ave, Suite 5 Baltimore, MD 21202
443-821-7482 hello@baltimore.impacthub.net baltimore.impacthub.net
Stay Connected @impacthub_baltimore @impacthubbalt @impacthubbalt
Engaged with the space lately? Tag #YouBelongHere in your posts on social media! 32