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About Us | History
| People | Partnerships
| Contact Us
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| MicroMentor's Origin: |
| MicroMentor is the brainchild of a group of small business
development experts housed at the Washington D.C.-based Aspen Institute.
Those experts are part of an Aspen project called FIELD - the Microenterprise
Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination. |
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| Between 1998 and 2001, FIELD conducted a national research
project to learn more about the best ways to help small business owners
in disadvantaged communities grow and stabilize their enterprises.
The project concluded that emerging business owners need in-depth,
industry specific business assistance. Moreover, the research confirmed
the value of one-on-one technical assistance and underscored that
national coordination of industry expertise was needed to create options
for more efficient and lower-cost service delivery. Thus, the MicroMentor
concept began to take shape. |
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| To take MicroMentor from concept to reality, funding
was obtained in fall 2001 from the Technology Opportunities Program
at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
(In 2002, the Friedman Family Foundation also became a MicroMentor
supporter.) |
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| At the same time, a partnership involving four California-based
nonprofits was created to oversee implementation of a pilot phase
and a National Advisory Board was established to guide overall development
of the project. |
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