IMPACT REPORT 2018
Origins + Avenues
Foreword
2
Message from the Team Our journey at Impact Hub Baltimore (IHB) grew from a core belief that when you give resources to people to thrive, good things will happen. It’s a theory that we continue to place at the center of our mission, and we now have strong evidence to show that it’s working. This simple idea has led to many exciting learning opportunities over our first 2.5 years in operation, and we are thrilled to finally share the details of our journey throughout the pages of our very first impact report! Luckily for us, we quickly found out that social changemakers and thought leaders in Baltimore also strongly believed that there’s infinite value behind connecting individuals and gathering resources to broaden social impact in the city. In fact, this cultivation of social capital was cited by our members as the primary way that Impact Hub contributed to the growth and success of their projects and organizations. As of July 2017, we had a community of 210+ members using our space to put great ideas to work everyday, and we continue to grow. Further insights from our 2017 Member Survey show that over a third of members doubled their revenue in the past year and surveyed members reached over 9,000 customers, clients, and beneficiaries.
The wealth of collective knowledge from our members, advisors, and neighbors over the years has produced vital lessons learned for the Impact Hub team. As our community has grown, we’ve reworked operations to ensure that we’re maximizing our support for individuals and organizations to go further with their mission — We’ve even gone as far as entirely rethinking what coworking membership and accessibility means at Impact Hub Baltimore. Feedback from our community continually inspires our activities and future ventures. In turn, this creates many avenues to get involved at Impact Hub through programming, and expand through new initiatives like the Grow Program that we piloted during 2017. With more exciting opportunities ahead, we thought it was about time we filled you in on our progress so far. We hope that the next few pages encourage you to celebrate (as much as it did for our team!) and learn alongside us so that we can strengthen meaningful collaborations in Baltimore and beyond. – Your Impact Hub Baltimore Team
Table of Contents
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I. Building Our Infrastructure
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
III. Connecting Charm City Creating a Welcoming Space
18
Beyond Coworking
19
Offices
21
Envisioning a Better Baltimore
5
Meet Our Members
10
Our Story
6
How Our Members Create Change
12
Finding a Home in Station North
7
How We Champion Success
15
Place Matters
8
IV. Baltimore & Beyond: What’s Next
A Thriving Community
22
Sustaining the Work
25
Expanding Impact:
27
Our Global Network
28
Global Values
29
Thank You
30
I. Building Our Infrastructure
I. Building Our Infrastructure
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Envisioning a Better Baltimore Baltimore is home to visionary leaders who are strongly committed to shifting both the city’s narrative and realities. They care deeply about their communities and are driven by a vision of a Better Baltimore. People across the city work to address complex challenges through collaborative action. Lived experience in Baltimore gives the city’s social changemakers and thought leaders a unique lens to these challenges. At Impact Hub Baltimore, we believe this deeper understanding means that they are also closest to the solutions. Some of the widest health and wealth gaps in the US exist within Baltimore City. These disparities are driven by uneven distribution of opportunity and access that ultimately impact education, housing, safety, transit, commerce, and health. Underlying those challenges are deeply rooted issues of poverty and race that span generations and permeate many of our structures, systems, and policies. The end result is that children born in Druid Heights will live twenty years less than children born in Roland Park, a mere 5 miles away. Citywide, a staggering 40% of Baltimore City residents are unemployed or not in the labor force, and 19%
of households live below the poverty line. A handful of thriving neighborhoods earn median household incomes above $90,000 per year, while dozens of neighborhoods earn below the citywide median of $42,000 and thousands of residents live on less than half that amount. These wealth disparities affect African American residents the most, with poverty rates nearly double that of white residents. While African Americans own nearly half of the firms in the city, they employ only 2% of Baltimore’s total workforce. In a city with 64% African American residents, these wealth gaps curb the economic potential of the entire city. The Impact Hub team believes that true innovation in the social sector will arise from having more voices at the table and measurable shifts in access to opportunity and resources. When resources are invested in Baltimore’s entrepreneurs, they organically contribute to a virtuous cycle of positive community growth. This begins by connecting to each other.
I. Building Our Infrastructure
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Our Story We believe opportunities for growth and positive change arise when people are brought together to become more connected to each other and the right resources. This core belief lay the foundation for what began as the Baltimore Social Enterprise Network (“SocEnt”) in 2012. By facilitating programming such as SocEnt Breakfasts, SocEnt engaged over 1,500 of Baltimore’s most dynamic and diverse social entrepreneurs, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, businesses, funders, and city agencies across the city. This community building process formed the basis of what would ultimately become Impact Hub Baltimore. Founding a space and establishing a business model represented the next step to scale and sustain these efforts by providing workspace, event space, and expanded programming to support the city’s changemakers on a day to day basis. Convinced that complex challenges demand collaborative solutions, we joined the global Impact Hub network in 2014. In late 2015, Impact Hub Baltimore opened its doors creating a place for the city’s creative changemakers to grow, connect, and thrive.
We see Impact Hub Baltimore as a community of people working to improve the city, connected through coworking and inspired programming.
We advance innovation, equity and economic opportunity in Baltimore City We believe in social innovators and entrepreneurs to design fresh solutions to complex challenges We create welcoming, accessible space for people from any neighborhood, network, or sectors to come together We are united by our drive to build a Better Baltimore
I. Building Our Infrastructure
Finding a Home in Station North When searching for a home for Impact Hub, we knew that a central location, access to public transit, and inspiring space were essential to attracting and engaging Baltimore’s changemakers. We ultimately chose the Station North Arts & Entertainment District to house Impact Hub Baltimore — located in the geographic center of the city, and aligned with our commitment to accessibility. In December 2015, Impact Hub opened in a beautiful space on the ground floor of the historic Centre Theater-previously vacant for 30+ years. Since opening, many member businesses and organizations have experienced growth in their staff, scale, and impact. Our members frequently cite Impact Hub Baltimore’s central location as part of the appeal that prompted them to join our community, and ultimately grow alongside changemakers in our space.
Photo: Karl Connolly Photography Building Design: Ziger/Snead Architects Interior Design: Gensler Baltimore Development: Jubilee Baltimore
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I. Building Our Infrastructure
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PLACE MATTERS Advancing racial equity and economic opportunity is a key part of our mission. We believe efforts to address health and wealth disparities in Baltimore must include a better understanding of not only race, but place too. We see Impact Hub’s physical space as a crucial asset to advance our mission, and promote a deeper understanding of Baltimore’s historical and economic context. Increasingly, Impact Hub programming focuses on events and exhibitions that strengthen leadership at the neighborhood and city level by advancing a deeper awareness of the history and context of our communities. Better Baltimore Data Exhibit (Mar/Apr 2017) IHB developed a data exhibit with the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) and MICA Center for Social Design (MASD) showing maps of growing and declining neighborhoods and the three key drivers of neighborhood growth--vacant properties, housing diversity, and travel time to work. Its aim was to make neighborhood data relatable and actionable for a broad audience.
Station North Now (July 2017) IHB convened stakeholders from surrounding neighborhoods for a collaborative brainstorm on community leadership, ownership, and grassroots solutions to community development with 60+ participants and 9 neighborhood leaders from across Station North. The objective was to support neighborhood initiatives, deepen relationships, and develop a shared vision for making the neighborhood stronger.
Better Baltimore Data Exhibit
Undesign the Redline (July 2018) IHB partnered with Designing the We to bring deep historic and systemic awareness to the forefront of our community’s daily interactions. A long-term installation of the Undesign the Redline exhibit in our space provides a timeline of past policies and practices that have actively created division and discrimination, as well as a vision for building ecosystems designed to reverse those structures. Designing the We will conduct local workshops and trainings around the exhibit via their WeLab curriculum.
Station North Now
Undesign the Redline
II. Strengthening Social Innovation We take great pride accompanying our members in the process of ideas transforming into action, and forging new collaborations along the way. Our community is comprised of passionate, missiondriven individuals and organizations, each equipped with unique skills and networks that reach all corners of Baltimore. In the next few pages, you’ll get a snapshot of important insights, successes, and stories from our 210+ member community. Results from our 2017 Member Survey show that membership is diverse, growing, and creating positive impact: • Our community sets itself apart as one of the most diverse in Baltimore’s innovation landscape and by national standards. As of February 2018, over 50% of our members are women or people of color.
• Members work across a range of sectors and fields from Education to Health to Transit. Members wear many hats in their organizations and projects, with an average of 2.8 professional identities. • Importantly, members are seeing real growth in their work. Last year, 61% of members advanced their businesses to the next stage of development and 75% increased their revenue. • Surveyed members directly reached 9,139 customers, clients, and beneficiaries, and influenced 600,000 people through city-wide policy and advocacy.
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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Meet Our Members Demographics
Member Organizational Statistics
59% Woman 39% Man 2% Trans / Binary / Gender Queer
48% Established in 2017 1.3 New Full Time Employees per Org or Company 50% of organizations earned over $30,000 in 2017
46% Black, African or African American / 42% White / 5% Hispanic/Latino / 5% Asian or Pacific Islander / 1% Native American / 1% Other / 1% Prefer not to answer
30% of organizations earned over $73,000 in 2017
Organizational Growth in 2017
75%
75% 26 to 45 years old
Increased Revenue
Members report having more than 1 professional identity 52% Sole Founder 32% Co-Founder 94% CEO or Director
2.8
Avg. # of Professional Identities
35%
More Than Doubled Revenue
61%
Increased Business Stage
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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MEMBER STORIES
Charlotte James Director of Outreach at Common Curriculum, and Co-Owner/Founder of Power Decals
Hub is the “ Impact only values-driven coworking space in Baltimore
Charlotte has many talents: With ed-tech startup Common Curriculum, she charges outreach to promote its digital lesson planning tools for teachers in Baltimore City Public Schools and beyond. She also co-founded her own company called Power Decals which creates fly nail wraps celebrating black and brown women. In both of these roles, Charlotte uses her background in digital communication, branding, and event strategies for these distinctly different audiences. During the last academic year, over 12,000 teachers planned 750,000 lessons using Common Curriculum. Alongside her Power Decals business partner, Valentina, she creates positive impact by providing a product that “black and brown women feel represented in.” Their company was part of the inaugural Founder Fellowship with the Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) this year. Through Impact Hub, she met community lead, Anastasia, who operates the Sweet + Savory pop-up at IHB that sells healthy snacks and of course, Charlotte and Valentina’s fly nail wraps!
Femi Gbangbalasa CEO/Co-Founder at Bigability, and Marketing and Development at Taharka Brothers
is “ Community something that helps us grow and build
Femi places an unwavering commitment to place community at the center of all of his work. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Bigability he provides full-service marketing and brand building support for small businesses and enterprises to grow. Femi has joined Taharka Brothers because of the social impact of their movement, potential for growth, and of course, high-quality ice cream. He describes Taharka Brothers as “a social enterprise first, and an ice cream company second.” The company aims to catalyze dialogue on important social issues in Baltimore by creatively bringing people together. For Femi, Impact Hub helps to advance this mission by offering a geographically significant space to promote important dialogue. He loves to create mutually-beneficial relationships to share Taharka Brothers ice cream, and will be working with Impact Hub this coming fall to host their first ever Taharka Fest in partnership with global ice cream giants, Ben & Jerry’s.
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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How Our Members Create Change Which of the following best describes the primary focus of your work?
Which of the following sectors do you work in? Nonprofit
45%
Education + Youth
23%
Entrepreneur
12%
Workforce + Economic Opportunity
19%
Independent Consultant
22%
Social Justice
12%
For Profit
14%
Health + Wellness
17%
University / Institution
5%
Community Development + Housing
8%
Government
2%
Arts + Design
13%
Green + Sustainability
5%
City Planning + Transit
3%
What business stage are you in right now? Idea Development
3%
Intention Formation
4%
Start-up
30%
Running Operations
42%
Impact Scaling
15%
Other
6%
Innovation + Differentiation
50% unique org or activity “in my community” / 25% unique org or activity “in my country” or “the entire world”
48% unique service for people “in my community” 17% unique service for people “in my country” or “the entire world”
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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Our Members are Focused on Impact
Our Members are Meeting Their Goals
96% Satisfied clients and beneficiaries 72% Measure success by impact first / 17% financial first / 11% equal importance 95% Improved quality of services
People Reached
9,139
87% Successful in meeting organizational goals
Customers, Clients & Beneficiaries
600,000 People Influenced
86% Increased products or services
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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MEMBER STORIES
Q Ragsdale Visionary, Orange Moon Media and Twilight Quest
love this place so “ Imuch. You get to know the avenues or people you need.
Q moved to Baltimore from Texas in late 2015, around the same time that Impact Hub was preparing to open its doors. Q describes Impact Hub as her “entryway into Baltimore,” where she built supportive relationships, grew her network,and connected to her earliest local clients. Q credits Impact Hub with helping her marketing and branding company Orange Moon Media to evolve, and ultimately increase the accessibility of her services to social changemakers in the city. One of her earliest clients, Walker Marsh of Tha Flower Factory was selected as one of six Baltimore entrepreneurs for the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy, and most recently, headlined the cover of Innovator Magazine. Walker attributes his initial readiness to Q’s services. As a founding member at Impact Hub, Q says she feels most grateful that she’s been able to “see the evolution of the Hub” as her company also grew. Q has served on the Impact Hub Member Advisory Board, and co-created the Strategy School for Service Providers--Impact Hub’s first cohort-based accelerator program, built around Q’s unique business development curriculum.
Eean Thomas Manager, Mile 22 Associates
place to meet “ Apeople from different backgrounds
Eean joined Mile 22 Associates in 2017 as Baltimore Corps Fellow in order to “lift up the efforts of local organizations and institutions to build a better democracy in Baltimore.” The small company supports a national network of community leaders to modernizing our democracy and engage first-time voters. Eean cofounded the #BaltimoreVotes Program that centers on making elections more fun and engaging for voters in the city. Eean spearheads the design of leadership trainings, information sessions, and events represent towards the bigger mission of democracy-building. He recently helped to pilot a program for high school students to teach voter education--equipping students with the tools to promote civic engagement amongst their peers. Although Eean says his recent focus has been on youth organizing, he wants to engage firsttime voters of all ages. In this spirit, Eean shares that Impact Hub has helped to expose him to other dynamic individuals from diverse backgrounds to exchange thoughts and ideas on social justice and beyond.
II. Strengthening Social Innovation
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How We Champion Success How We Support Our Members Insights from our 2017 Member Survey helped us identify the top five types of support our members gained from joining our community. Percentages represent the number of members rating our support as “Rather Supportive” (4) or “Supportive” (5) on a scale of 1 to 5. Members report we were especially helpful in:
Recommendation
85%
Would recommend Impact Hub Baltimore to a colleague or friend
Member Culture & Collaboration 77% Regularly engage with people from other fields or industries
Inspiring 77% Strengthening personal motivation 70% Learning about new issues and trends Connecting 80% Feeling part of a larger community and network
68% Feel working here helps to be more productive and procrastinate less 56% Feel comfortable discussing new ideas with members 19% Worked jointly on a project or activity 2 Hours per month of support from other members (average)
Enabling 86% Accessing better working infrastructure 72% Gaining visibility and credibility
Over the past year, my membership has...
63% 61%
Helped me discover new opportunities to create positive impact in my career Helped me better understand the social and environmental challenges our world faces
16 MEMBER STORIES
Brendan Schreiber President/Founder, Schreiber Brothers Development, Inc
Hub is a place “ Impact to explore disruptive and transformative ideas
Brendan combines his background in diplomacy with his passion for economic development to advance affordable housing development in Baltimore. Primarily focusing on central West Baltimore, Schreiber Brothers takes a community-focused approach by grounding initiatives in feedback from neighborhood residents. Brendan describes this approach as core to achieving his mission. At Impact Hub, he “feels at home because of the environment Impact Hub fosters.” As a start-up, Brendan says Impact Hub has provided his company a space where he can explore disruptive ideas and prototype the creative side of what he aims to promote in the city. Brendan gained a deeper sense of community through involvement in the Communities for Change program (C4C). Talking about his C4C experience, he says “I came to a realization that there is a mutually supportive network that can not only take my vision to reality, but jumpstart it.”
Shantell Roberts Founder/Executive Director, Touching Young Lives
strong sense of “ Acommunity
Shantell founded Touching Young Lives in 2012 to promote public education on best sleeping practices in infant care. Her solution to distribute Portable Alternative Cribs (PACs), first surfaced while she was a 2016 Social Innovation Lab (SIL) Fellow working from Impact Hub. Shantell recalls giving a five minute pitch on her initiative at a SocEnt Breakfast, where she received an overwhelming level of interest that made her witness firsthand the power of Impact Hub’s supportive community. In fact, she sparked a partnership with one breakfast participant to make blankets for her PACs--a collaboration that continues to this today. As an SIL Fellow, Shantell was the winning recipient of $25K to advance her initiative in Baltimore. Nowadays, you can find Shantell traveling to Cuba and Scotland to research best sleeping practices amongst other global leaders. She uses her platform as a 2017 Open Society Institute Fellow to distribute PACs and educate families citywide.
III. Connecting Charm City At Impact Hub Baltimore, we want our community to succeed. There are many ways to get involved and grow in our space, whether it’s through membership, offices, or a wide variety of exciting events: We invite changemakers and thought leaders across Baltimore to join as Support, Connect, and Grow members. In July 2017, we changed our membership model to dramatically lower prices and increase accessibility and business support. In this section, you will learn more about our membership types and how the Grow Program has taken shape in the past year. Within six months of introducing the new membership structure, our community grew by 32%, and increased
the resources available to sustain great work. Yes -- that means our community expanded while basic coworking costs became 5 times more affordable. In addition to membership, cross-sector partnerships and programming at Impact Hub create diverse opportunities for people to get connected and contribute their unique voices and skills. In 2017, our space hosted 100+ events spearheaded by a wide range of leaders and partners in the city. The combination of membership, programming, and events hosted at Impact Hub activate our space and sustain our operations, so that we can continue to grow.
III. Connecting Charm City
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Creating a Welcoming Space We build our community by meeting people where they are and providing memberships based on personal goals and expectations. We offer three types of memberships for Baltimore changemakers to get involved. Which one sounds like you?
SUPPORT
$30 / MO
Our Support memberships fuel our scholarships and space donations. These members need less day-to-day access, and join to lend vital resources that advance the work of emerging, early-stage leaders.
CONNECT
$50 / MO
Our Connect memberships are designed for freelancers, remote workers, and creatives that need access to a professional work space, meeting rooms, and other amenities. These individuals and organizations join to be part of an inspiring entrepreneurial community.
GROW
$150 / MO
Our Grow memberships provide tailored support to emerging leaders, dynamic entrepreneurs, new businesses, and young organizations. These members set six month goals to advance their work to the next level with direct backing from peers, partners, and our team. Members in our offices, work trade programs, and scholarships automatically qualify for Grow benefits, outlined later in this report.
III. Connecting Charm City
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Membership Breakdown
Office Members 20%
Grow 22%
Connect 31%
Support 11%
Student/Fellow 16%
Includes enrolled members, Scholarships, and Worktrade
UTILIZATION With 210+ coworkers, between 30 and 50 members utilize our space and amenities on any given day. WORK TRADE Our core team gets vital daily support from our Community Leads and Event Leads via these two work trade programs. Impact Hub provides Grow membership in exchange for people’s time. Work trade programs enable our space to be accessible and affordable at any stage of growth, and draws incredible members who truly make the space tick: Community Leads are the face of Impact Hub. They greet guests, engage members, brew coffee, answer questions, give tours, and keep the 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.
Meet Tafadzwa Gwitira, affectionately known as “Taffy”. Taffy’s work focuses on community engagement, human rights, sustainable development and public policy. She joined Impact Hub as a Community Lead in February 2016 and has been the heart of the community ever since. Taffy believes that Impact Hub can “provide the access for different communities and sectors to work for intersectional change both locally and globally.” For Taffy, Impact Hub has allowed her to convene and lead different people in a neutral and affirming space to work together to improve transportation and land use policies.
III. Connecting Charm City
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Offices Impact Hub Baltimore has 14 private offices, each housing one nonprofit organization or mission-driven company. As established initiatives with larger staff and operations, our offices serve as valuable anchors to our community. Their
presence contributes to our daily rhythms and community culture. Meet our current office members below and learn more about how they create change in Baltimore and beyond:
Community Development + Housing
New Creatures Independent consultant or service provider Running operations
Education + Youth Green + Sustainability City Planning + Transit
The SAGE Fund Foundation Running Operations
Arts + Design
Social Justice Workforce + Economic Opportunity
Changing Media Independent consultant or service provider Impact scaling
Since opening in 2015, Impact Hub offices have housed a number of extraordinary companies and organizations, including Sisu Global Health, Fusiform, Invested Impact, Mission:Launch, Cure Violence, Social Innovation Lab, Improving Education, BMe, Good News Baltimore, and Root Branch Productions. Each has contributed in unique and important ways to the growth of this community.
III. Connecting Charm City
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MEMBER STORIES
Alex Riehm Director, The Social Innovation Lab (SIL) at Johns Hopkins University
go-to spot for “ The learning about teams working on social enterprise
Assuming his current role of SIL Director less than a year ago, Alex recalls needing to learn about the city’s resources very quickly. For Alex, Impact Hub Baltimore was the “go-to spot for learning about teams working on social enterprise.” He says Impact Hub opened a door in his professional journey to cultivate stronger, personal connections that were more difficult to establish in his previous role working with a federal development agency supporting social innovation ventures abroad. Besides enhancing his personal growth, Alex also credits Impact Hub for helping the Social Innovation Lab cohort teams establish meaningful relationships and support positive social change in Baltimore. Since 2011, SIL has accelerated 72 missiondriven ventures,including many changemakers who have been part of the IHB community.
Kristen Jeffers Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Black Urbanist (theblackurbanist.com)
Hub is a “ Impact centering space for me
Being the mastermind blogger behind The Black Urbanist means that Kristen is always on the move! Her blog is an outlet to share her experiences as a young African-American woman who likes “all things built environment and cities.” She has lived in major cities across North Carolina, Kansas City, Washington DC, and now Baltimore. When she arrived, Impact Hub served as a place where she could settle into her new home and make connections with people with diverse thoughts and ideas. The party atmosphere of the Red Bull Amaphiko Festival first drew her into the space to find out more. Transit advocate and Community Lead Taffy Gwitira convinced her to stay. Kristen has since shared her expertise with the community by hosting Lunch and Learns.
III. Connecting Charm City
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A Thriving Community As a central space with a diverse community, Impact Hub often serves as a neutral convener, skilled facilitator, and network strengthener. Local entrepreneurs and thought leaders come together in our space to share their knowledge, strategies, tools, projects, and products. Impact Hub programming brings life and fresh ideas to the space and typically fall into one of three categories:
CONNECTING PEOPLE
GROWING OPPORTUNITY
To build a supportive community of diverse changemakers, we bring people together by hosting public events and by donating our space to mission-aligned organizers. Connecting people through events generates vital social capital and advances innovative ideas.
To strengthen the work of individuals and initiatives,we host workshops and trainings that build skills and resources. These events cultivate the next generation of social innovators and entrepreneurs.
Lunch and Learns organized by IHB create an informal venue for learning and dialogue across a range of topics. Since our first week, thought leaders from across Baltimore have shared their experience and facilitated important discussions. We organize 30+ Lunch & Learns every year, each of them are free and open to the public. Below are a few favorites: - City Council Members on Civic Engagement (Mar/Apr 2017) - Self-Care for Artists and Organizers | Mia Musa (Mar 2017) - Muslim Social Services | Karim Amin (Apr 2017) Black Techies Meet-Up is a weekly meet-up for coders of color to socialize and learn code. Organized by Baltimore Black Techies. Writing For My Sanity Workshops Writing For My Sanity Workshops are weekly workshops that aim to promote healing through the written and spoken word. Organized by | Stronger Than My Struggles.
Story Telling : A Communications Workshop - A Communications Workshop (launched Mar 2016). Leading up to the launch of their Amaphiko Academy, Red Bull partnered with London-based company Livity, IHB, and local storytellers and entrepreneurs to teach the art of creating and sharing stories that bring social enterprises to life for new audiences. Impact Hub Marketplace (Monthly) - IHB hosts a monthly daytime market featuring local vendors for apparel, food, and homegoods. These events create opportunity for vendors to network, test products, and build visibility with new customers. Strategy School for Service Providers (launched Jul 2018) - IHB paired up with member organization Twilight Quest to launch a five-month cohort program for specialists who support the growth and development of social entrepreneurs and local businesses. The program guides early-stage service providers to build a strategy for business development, marketing, operations, and self-care.
III. Connecting Charm City Each of these programming categories generates a different type of value for participants and creates the conditions for social innovation to emerge. For the Impact Hub Baltimore community, programming extends the value of the space beyond coworking to actively engage in advancing social impact in the city.
23 Visitor at Impact Hub in a typical month:
800
Member and guest visits per month
INNOVATING ECOSYSTEMS To advance new solutions to local challenges, we convene people around specific issues in ways that focus the collective insights and energy of a group. Connecting around a shared vision or cause helps people to build awareness of their own role in the social innovation ecosystem and take collective action to fill gaps. Co-Creating Economic Opportunity (Sep 2016) - IHB invited leaders of 11 economic opportunity initiatives to share their work with 80+ event participants. Through a facilitated small group discussions, leaders engaged in collaborative brainstorming to make progress on current challenges.
30-50 Member check-ins per day
40-60
Guest check-ins per month
Investing in Urban Innovators (Feb 2017) - In partnership with the Aspen Institute, Invested Impact, and Art in Praxis, IHB co-hosted a high-caliber, curated discussion on investing in nonprofits, small businesses, and high-growth companies led by entrepreneurs of color. Speakers from New Orleans, Cincinnati, Oakland, Detroit, and other cities shared successful models and thought leadership in a full-day event with 100+ people.
1,000
Communities for Change (Feb/Mar 2018) - IHB organized an 8-week collective learning process around housing stability and neighborhood development. Weekly sessions with a cohort 25+ diverse participants explored how to advance more community-owned and led neighborhood development initiatives. IHB coordinated with Impact Hub Boulder, Budapest, Harare, Seattle, and Shanghai, as well as the MIT Presencing Institute to adapt the Theory U framework to a specific local issue in need of transformative change.
15
Event attendees per month
External event bookings per month
III. Connecting Charm City
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MEMBER STORIES
Stephen Rice Director of Community Development, American Communities Trust (ACT)
can always plug into “ Iwhat’s happening in the city through Impact Hub
American Communities Trust helps create inclusive economic development projects that bring growth and prosperity to lowincome residents. Stephen brings a strong background in finance and economic development to optimize community benefits and increase economic opportunity in development projects that aim to uplift communities. ACT currently serves as the “convening developer” for the Baltimore Food Hub--leading on local partner collaboration, financing, and project management. The Food Hub aims to promote healthy food access and workforce development opportunities in surrounding neighborhoods in East Baltimore. As the Director of Community Development, Stephen says that Impact Hub has personally helped him “plug into what’s happening in the city,” whether that’s through opportunities to learn about other community-oriented initiatives, or events on civic innovation hosted in the space.
Omar Velasco Gomez Small Business Coach, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC)
Hub has offered “ Impact LEDC affordable infrastructure and meeting spaces
The Latino Economic Development Center provides microloans, as well as free technical assistance to Latino and non-Latino businesses and entrepreneurs living in Baltimore and DC. With headquarters in Washington DC, LEDC decided to base its Baltimore operation at Impact Hub, starting in 2016. Being based at IHB helped LEDC to expand its reach in Baltimore and identify new clients and partners. Omar appreciates that Impact Hub provided affordable space and great meeting rooms to connect with clients and other organizations, as well as many client referrals. In summer 2018, LEDC will significantly expand its staff and programs in Baltimore. Their headquarters will move to Canton, while select staff members maintain a strong base at Impact Hub.
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Sustaining the Work
OUR CORE TEAM
We would not be where we are today without the people and the vibrant ideas they bring into our space. Impact Hub Baltimore is a nonprofit social enterprise sustained by grants, contracts, and earned revenue from memberships, offices, and space bookings. In 2017, earned revenue provided 50% of income, with grants and contracts providing the remaining 50%.
Earned Revenue:
Grants + Contracts:
Offices - 54% Coworking - 23% Event Bookings - 21% Other - 2%
Local foundations and government - 90% National and global partners - 10%
The small and mighty IHB team is a driving force behind this vibrant community and inspiring space. We spend countless hours developing systems, designing solutions, and stewarding relationships to serve a growing network of stakeholders. Each team member brings an entrepreneurial mindset, creative energy, and a commitment to fuel real progress.
Michelle Geiss Executive Director
Pres Adams Director of Operations and Partnerships
Joeseph Tynes Community Manager
Alanah Nichole Davis Social Media & Space Activation Manager
Local foundations and government provide 90% of grant funding, while national and global partners have contracted with IHB for specific projects focused on social entrepreneurship or innovation. Our community serves as our stakeholders. Earned revenue from memberships and events supports Impact Hub operations, while funding from grants and contracts allow Impact Hub to offer innovative programming, and forward our mission of opportunity and accessibility. Each membership, booking, or office lease represents a direct investment from our community of innovators and entrepreneurs to the sustainability of Impact Hub. We are honored to be sustained by our community and our partners, and strive to invest those resources in ways that deliver real results.
Michelle Antoinette Nelson Director of Community Engagement
IV. Baltimore & Beyond: What’s Next? We introduced you to our Grow Program earlier in this report, and we are thrilled to share our insights and learnings to date. Formally launched in September 2017, Grow memberships represent one major new initiative designed to provide support to members who are actively expanding their business or organization and its impact. While many Baltimore changemakers and thought leaders focus on creating positive change locally, their ideas and potential impact reach far beyond. To share
local innovation on a larger platform and find inspiration in unexpected places, Impact Hub Baltimore taps into its global network, with 100+ impact communities in cities all around the world. This network of locallyfounded and globally-connected Impact Hubs has been recognized as the largest social innovation community in the world.
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Expanding Impact Growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. All successful businesses and organizations are shaped by the clients, consumers, beneficiaries and collaborators who come into contact with them each step of the way. Members enrolled in the IHB Grow Program receive the highest level of support we provide via our coworking memberships. Launched in September 2017, Grow membership provides tailored support to a diverse community of emerging leaders, entrepreneurs, and new businesses and organizations. This provides a means for early stage entrepreneurs to access tailored support, skills, and connections they need to sustain and grow a mission-driven business outside of the bounds of a cohort-based incubator or accelerator program. Grow memberships are designed to meet participants at any stage in their journey by providing customized resources and connections based on individual six-month goals.
Alongside the Grow Program, the Strategy School for Service Providers organized in partnership with member organization, Twilight Quest represents another major move to scale the impact of our social entrepreneurs. Within the Impact Hub global network, Baltimore has been recognized as a leader in civic innovation and social justice. Our team has taken an active role in organizing the regional North America Impact Hub Network, which includes 15 Hubs in cities across the US and Canada. Growth of this network and greater coordination presents opportunities to develop collaborative programming, strategies, and partnerships. Investing in regional coordination helps Impact Hub Baltimore to attract new resources to the city and to direct local leadership towards scaling positive social change around the world.
Grow Program Snapshot As of June 2018, there are 46 participants in the Grow Program, including 7 paid members, 10 scholarships, and 29 Worktrade members. This group is more diverse than many incubator programs, with 68% of participants identifying as Black/African-American, and 79% as women.
Grow members are primarily early stage, with just over than half (55%) reporting less than $500 in monthly revenue at intake, and nearly twothirds (64%) reporting less than $1000 in monthly revenue. Most identify their business stage as “Start-Up” (42%) or “Running Operations” (29%)
Grow Program participants are diverse in business structure, identifying almost equally as Independent Consultants (33%), Nonprofits (26%), or Entrepreneurs (24%).
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Our Global Network
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
At Impact Hub Baltimore, we strive to Inspire, Connect, and Enable. By joining our community, members can strengthen their network of changemakers across Baltimore, while also tapping into our global network of Impact Hubs.
Impact Hub is officially recognized by the United Nations as the key driver of mission-focused ventures addressing SDGs across the globe. Impact Hubs in 50+ countries, on five continents, are globally connected and locally-rooted. Entrepreneurial and innovative solutions across local and global networks can rally around the common language of the SDGs to understand how seemingly disparate efforts fit together. Here’s how members of Impact Hub Baltimore align to the SDGs and contribute to meaningful impact worldwide:
The Impact Hub network is a global force for the new economy. What started in 2005 as a gathering place for impact pioneers in London has grown to a community of more than 16,000 professional members in 100+ cities worldwide including New York, Oakland, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Johannesburg. This growing community utilizes the power of entrepreneurship, collaboration and networks to generate and advance innovative approaches to social and environmental challenges locally and globally. Each Hub is locally founded and operated, supported by a central team based all around the world. Impact Hubs tailor their space and programming to meet the needs of innovators and entrepreneurs in their specific local context. The network governs itself through a General Assembly model with one vote per Hub and an elected board. Local Hubs and their members represent one of the largest social innovation networks in the world. You can learn more about our Impact Hub Global at https://impacthub.net/.
37% 33% 24% 24% 20% 20% 17%
Health & Wellbeing
Equality, Equity & Social Justice
Poverty Alleviation
Education & Learning
Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment
Decent work & Sustained, Inclusive, Sustainable Economies
Sustainable Communities & Resilient Cities
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Our network’s values help inform our decisions and behavior, as well as create a culture that keeps us true to our DNA in everything we do:
Trust We trust each other to do what we say we do. We may have different approaches but share an underlying positive intention and set of values.
Courage We have the courage to walk the path less traveled. We honor the past and pioneer new solutions.
Collaboration Collaboration is the key to solving the issues of our time. We welcome diversity and partners with like-minded organizations as well as unlikely allies to make a meaningful difference.
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Thank You! We would like to give a huge shout out to all of our friends, members, and partners for believing in our vision and being part of an amazing journey so far. Changes that advanced Impact Hub Baltimore’s growth during our first 2.5 years couldn’t have happened without feedback and support from those who put great ideas to work everyday. In this spirit, our community serves as a vital source of inspiration for the Impact Hub core team. They continue to inspire the change that we need to make sure Impact Hub Baltimore stays in alignment with our commitment to racial equity and economic opportunity. We believe that our city can be a national leader in collaborative social change, and that Impact Hub Baltimore is uniquely positioned to convene and connect the city’s most talented and visionary leaders.
We also believe that the only way to create a vibrant, equitable environment for everybody is to build a supportive ecosystem where everyone plays a role in creating a stronger future. Our core team alone doesn’t have all the answers to see the Better Baltimore everyone wants to see. We certainly couldn’t have made Impact Hub Baltimore what it is today without the unique voices and skills of our network on our journey. However, what we do know is this: by gathering Baltimore’s most dynamic changemakers and connecting vital resources, we can create change greater than we could ever imagine. We invite you to join us along the way!
Acknowledgments We would like to personally acknowledge the many people who have given support and funding along the way. Thank you to the Goldseker, Straus, T. Rowe Price, Abell, France Merrick, Annie E. Casey, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, and Rouse Family Foundations; Jubilee Baltimore, Gensler, Baltimore Development Corporation, Johns Hopkins HCPI, Red Bull Amaphiko, Aspen Institute Center for Urban Innovation, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Designing the We, Baltimore Corps, Social Innovation Lab, American Communities Trust, MICA Center for Social Design, BNIA, Equity Matters, and the Impact Hub Global Network for your early and ongoing investments. Your generosity and vision have fueled our growth.
To every current and past member of Impact Hub Baltimore; to every renter of event and meeting space; to every business or organization leasing office space; to every attendee of a SocEnt Breakfast; to everyone following along and showing up for us and for our city, thank you. Your drive and commitment are the foundation of this community. To our dedicated team, Community Leads, Event Leads, advisory board, and every past team member, fellow, or intern, thank you. Your skills and insights bring Impact Hub to life every day. A very special thank you to Irene Bantigue and Bryan Connor for creating this Impact Report and telling the story of our amazing community.
References: To learn more on Baltimore and the emerging field of ecosystem building at-large, check out these great resources: Associated Black Charities & Job Opportunities Task Force, Expanding Baltimore’s Black Middle Class, 2010 Associated Black Charities, More in the Middle: An Overview of Economic Gaps in Black and White, 2008 Baltimore Integration Partnership, Collectively We Rise: The Business Case for Economic Inclusion in Baltimore, July 2018 Democracy Collaborative, Cities Building Community Wealth, November 2015 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Playbook 2.0 (Draft), 2018 Scope/Goal of Report: This impact report outlines Impact Hub Baltimore’s activities and insights (for the first time ever!) during our first 2.5 years of operation, January 2016 to June 2018 Contact Info: 10 E. North Avenue, Suite 5 Baltimore, MD 21202 baltimore.impacthub.net hello@baltimore.impacthub.net 443-821-7482
Mission Cultivate, support and connect a community of Baltimore changemakers by providing an inspiring workspace and innovative programming to scale and sustain their social impact. We are committed to building an innovative local economy that advances equity and addresses the city’s complex challenges.
Vision A vital, diverse and growing community of innovators connecting to the ideas, people, and resources they need to thrive and make a tangible impact in Baltimore and beyond.
Quick Stats Founded Dec. 2015
8,600 sq ft
We are a non-profit social enterprise Earned Income- 50% Grants & Contracts - 50%
Total Members (July 2017 - June 2018)
417 60% Women entrepreneurs
57% Entrepreneurs of color
61% Advanced to next business stage
72% Increased visibility & credibility
86% Improved client outcomes
95% Improved quality of services