Session Description
This invite-only session convenes leaders from the United States’ most prominent National Ecosystem Building Resource Providers (NRPs)—organizations that support entrepreneurial ecosystem building practitioners through training, services, programs, or funding across at least three states, though often nationwide.
Co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the ESHIP Alliance (formerly the Ecosystem Building Leadership Network), a national alliance born out of the Kauffman Foundation’s ESHIP Summits, this session is designed to strengthen the U.S. ecosystem building field and deepen connections among the organizations that serve it.
This highly interactive session will feature small-group discussions to foster relationships, surface shared challenges and opportunities, and explore ways to align efforts and increase collective impact in a shifting political and economic landscape.
It will also spotlight several new initiatives aimed at advancing the practice of entrepreneurial ecosystem building in the U.S. and offer opportunities for participants to learn more about GEN, the ESHIP Alliance, and engage with a broader network of their national and global peers.
Who Should Attend: This session is for the leaders of nonprofit and for-profit National Ecosystem Building Resource Providers (we call them NRPs) serving ecosystem building practitioners in at least three U.S. states. Here are some examples of organizations that qualify as NRPs.
Session Recap
Building the Field Together
Dive into a dynamic session focused on strengthening the national entrepreneurial ecosystem building field through collaboration and shared vision. This recap highlights key discussions, insights, and calls to action from the event. To get the full experience, be sure to listen to the complete session recording!
Brief Summary
This interactive session brought together national resource providers and entrepreneurial ecosystem builders to explore opportunities for collective action and field advancement. Participants engaged in activities designed to foster new connections, map existing relationships and desired collaborations, and identify shared challenges and potential solutions. The session introduced the ESHIP Alliance as a critical platform for uniting organizations and individuals dedicated to advancing entrepreneurial ecosystem building as a recognized profession, emphasizing the need for mass collaboration to expand entrepreneurial opportunity for all across the United States. Discussions also covered key initiatives like Global Entrepreneurship Week and the "America the Entrepreneurial" campaign, highlighting the potential for widespread impact when the field works together.
Outline
• Interactive Icebreaker & Networking: Attendees were encouraged to sit with people they didn't know and make new friends.
• "Connect the Dots" Activity: Participants mapped personal relationships (blue dots), existing partnerships (green dots), and desired collaborations (yellow dots) with organizations represented in the room. This revealed 156 existing organizations, 179 existing partnerships, and 170 potential collaborations in the room.
• Introduction to ESHIP Alliance and Co-Hosts: Andy Stole, Founding Executive Director of the ESHIP Alliance, and Fay Horwit, Chief Program Officer at Forward Cities and ESHIP Alliance Field Building Fellow, welcomed attendees and explained their roles.
• Understanding Ecosystem Building: A video defined entrepreneurial ecosystems and ecosystem building, highlighting it as a systems view approach to supporting entrepreneurs.
• Global Perspective: Jonathan Orbins, founder and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), discussed the international community, the need for leadership in the field, and Global Entrepreneurship Week.
• National Resource Providers (NRPs): Introduction to the concept of NRPs – organizations providing programs, services, or tools for local ecosystem builders – and their importance.
• Experimental AI Collaboration Activity: Using a tool from Collaboration.AI, participants responded to questions about the shared vision for the field, their organization's activities, needs, and offers to contribute. The AI provided a summary of the collective input.
• Showcase: Right to Start: Kim Lane, COO of Right to Start, previewed their upcoming "America the Entrepreneurial" national campaign and discussed their work in policy advocacy for entrepreneurs.
• Group Activity: Identifying Challenges & Solutions: Attendees at tables discussed and documented their organizations' most outstanding internal and external challenges (other than money). They then brainstormed potential solutions, resources, or tools to address these challenges.
• Discussion of Findings: Challenges identified included organizational capacity, partner collaboration/lack thereof, staying on mission/value proposition clarity, communication challenges, and navigating political changes.
• The ESHIP Alliance Story: Andy Stole detailed the nine-year history of the ESHIP Alliance, its evolution from the ESHIP Summits, its vision, mission, strategy (ESHIP goals, ESHIP Commons, ESHIP Accelerator), and key impacts and projects.
• Introducing the ESHIP Commons: Fay Horwit presented the ESHIP Commons digital platform as a central space for connection, accessing resources, and co-creating projects, highlighting its features and benefits for NRPs.
• Invitation to Partner: Introduction of the Field Building Partnership Program as a formal way for NRPs to engage with and contribute to the alliance through time or financial resources.
• Call to Action & Closing: Encouragement to join the ESHIP Commons, follow ESHIP Alliance on LinkedIn, subscribe to the newsletter, and connect with others.
Notable Quotes
• "Talent is universal, but opportunity is not." - Spoken by Grayen Swilly Woods in the "Why Do I Do What I Do?" video.
• "Entrepreneurship is about, as you've heard many of us say, it's about dreaming. It's about building. It's about taking risks." - Jonathan Orbins, Global Entrepreneurship Network.
• "Ecosystem building is a team sport." - Andy Stole, ESHIP Alliance.
Key Takeaways
• Collaboration is Essential: Building a strong national field for entrepreneurial ecosystem building can only be achieved through mass collaboration among diverse organizations and individuals. The session's activities underscored the existing connections and significant potential for new collaborations within the community.
• NRPs as Field Builders: National Resource Providers are vital in providing the tools, resources, and expertise needed by local ecosystem builders across the country. This group constitutes a specific type of organization crucial for the field's success.
• The ESHIP Alliance as a Platform: The ESHIP Alliance serves as the necessary platform and relational infrastructure to bring together NRPs and ecosystem builders, providing shared leadership, a collaborative platform, and resources to advance the field and pursue shared goals.
• Shared Challenges and Solutions: Despite diverse focuses, NRPs face common challenges such as organizational capacity, effective partner collaboration, and maintaining mission clarity. Addressing these requires collective ideation and the co-creation of solutions and field-building projects.
• Engagement Pathways: Individuals and organizations are invited to actively participate in building the field by joining the ESHIP Commons, engaging in collaborative projects, connecting with peers, and considering formal partnership through the Field Building Partnership Program.
Resources Mentioned
• Organizations & Initiatives: Kauffman Foundation, ESHIP Alliance, Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Forward Cities, Right to Start, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), Collaboration.AI, ESHIP goals, ESHIP Accelerator, Global Entrepreneurship Research Network (GERN), IEDC (International Economic Development Council), Entrepreneurled Economic Development certification (with SourceLink), SourceLink, EDA (Economic Development Administration), National League of Cities, Startup Champions Network, Make Startups, Entrepreneurship Funders Network, Hall of Models (at GEC), Startout, MBIA (network of accelerators/incubators), Angel Capital Association, Main Street America, NSF engine builder leaders, 1 Million Cups, FastTrac (Kauffman curriculum).
• Websites & Platforms:
◦ ESHIP Alliance: eship.org (for newsletter, general info)
◦ Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN): jenglobal.org
◦ Right to Start: RighttoStart.org
◦ ESHIP Commons: Digital platform accessible via link/QR code presented
◦ ESHIP Alliance on LinkedIn
Action Items
• Connect with Others: Meet new people, introduce yourselves, and engage in conversations.
• Explore the ESHIP Commons: Join the digital platform and complete your profile to connect with peers, access resources, and find opportunities.
• Contribute to Collaboration: Consider volunteering to help build resources on the Commons. If your organization is an NRP, consider hosting your own space on the platform.
• Learn About Partnership: If you lead an NRP and want to be more formally involved in the alliance, connect with Fay Horwit about the Field Building Partnership Program.
• Stay Informed: Subscribe to the ESHIP Alliance newsletter at eship.org and follow the ESHIP Alliance on LinkedIn.
• Reflect: Consider "Why do you do what you do?" and "What can we only do together?"
