2024 Diversity and Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Research Symposium

In 2021, the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a large, multi-year grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation to launch a Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. The new initiative expands Berkeley undergraduate research, advocacy and internship experiences that focus on how small businesses, especially those that are POC (People of Color)- and women-owned, are faring across California and what can be done to strengthen them. IGS’s Diversity and Entrepreneurship initiative brings resources and attention to the political and economic challenges faced by diverse entrepreneurs and the need to ensure an equitable recovery in the post-COVID-19 landscape.

The Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program includes hands-on research and summer internship experiences for Cal undergraduates focused on diverse entrepreneurship and small businesses, along with academic instruction in diversity, entrepreneurship, and California policy. Read more here.

This year's Diversity and Entrepreneurship (D&E) Research Symposium features two panels of original research presentations by 2024 D&E Fellows and responses from experts in the field. Topics covered include: the role of CDFIs in addressing the racial wealth gap and responses to recent legal and political challenges; CDFI best practices and how to increase lending to entrepreneurs at the margins: the impacts of diverse small businesses on community resilience and creating “third space”; strategies for targeted outreach and expanding the range of resources needed to help diverse small business owners thrive.

This event is sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies and the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, with generous support from the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Host or Publisher Institute of Governmental Studies