Entrepreneurship as Pathways to Financial Independence

CHAIR: ILAHIANE, Hsain (U Arizona)

JUNG, Yuson (Wayne State U), BATTS, Dawn (Milestone Capital Growth Inst), THOMAS, Frankee, REIMUELLER, Kayleigh, UNDERWOOD, Ricky, EDMOND, Nakim, and WALTER, Morgan (Wayne State U), GONZALEZ, Yoel (Independent) Beyond Hustling and the Individual Entrepreneur: Building a Black Tech Ecosystem in Detroit

MINGEE, Jess (UIUC) Compatibility of the Entrepreneurial Mindset With Development Projects in Non-Industrialized Communities: A Case of Zambia

ILAHIANE, Hsain (U Arizona) and MILLER, Shane (MS State U) Agent-Based Reality (ABR) in Real Life (IRL): Modelling Financial Uncertainties in the Slums of Greater Casablanca, Morocco

BRAZELTON, Elizabeth “Lisa” (UA) Hemp for Hope: Agency Among Alabama Minority Hemp Farmers

 

JUNG, Yuson (Wayne State U), BATTS, Dawn (Milestone Capital Growth Inst), THOMAS, Frankee, REIMUELLER, Kayleigh, UNDERWOOD, Ricky, EDMOND, Nakim, and WALTER, Morgan (Wayne State U), GONZALEZ, Yoel (Independent) Beyond Hustling and the Individual Entrepreneur: Building a Black Tech Ecosystem in Detroit. While various efforts and initiatives attempt to close the racial wealth gap through economic growth in the US, little is known about underrepresented founders’ distinct experiences in tech ecosystems. The unique aspect of scalability in tech ventures presents both opportunities and challenges, especially for building an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. Based on a qualitative study with the stakeholders of Detroit’s emerging Black tech ecosystem, this paper discusses their values and practices rooted in Detroit’s deep history and culture of entrepreneurship to demonstrate the importance of reframing entrepreneurship and wealth generation beyond the individual.

 

MINGEE, Jess (UIUC) Compatibility of the Entrepreneurial Mindset With Development Projects in Non-Industrialized Communities: A Case of Zambia. Within international development work, Western organizations have the difficult task of meeting their own objectives and process requirements while designing a solution that supports community needs. This presentation discusses an autoethnographic investigation of a for-profit startup organization implementing a project in rural Zambia, focusing on how decision-making is driven by the organization’s needs. Despite a profit model centered around community impact, the organization has displayed limited bandwidth to thoughtfully assess local conditions. Instead, they utilize cookie-cutter techniques, prioritizing prompt results to please the funding entities which support the organization – even if those results do not reflect local perception of impact

 

ILAHIANE, Hsain (U Arizona) and MILLER, Shane (MS State U) Agent-Based Reality (ABR) in Real Life (IRL): Modelling Financial Uncertainties in the Slums of Greater Casablanca, Morocco. In this paper, we challenge conventional assumptions about how low-income Moroccan households earn, spend, borrow and save money and we provide novel ways of “seeing” financial instability flows in real life. Based on ethnographic interviews, financial diaries, and the use of principle component analysis and Sankey diagrams, we graphically categorize and visualize flows of money between households of different socio-economic levels in a world marked by casual labor. We also underscore the utility of financial diaries in revealing the continuous upswings and downswings of household budgets as well as the coping strategies mobilized by various households against precariousness.

 

BRAZELTON, Elizabeth “Lisa” (UA) Hemp for Hope: Agency Among Alabama Minority Hemp Farmers. Hemp farming is risky business. The 2023 USDA Hemp Report showed a 71% decrease in hemp farming from 2022, and Alabama’s permitted hemp farmers decreased by 90% from 2019-2024. Newly legalized in 2014/2018, hemp was touted as a replacement crop for tobacco. Historically, Southern Black farmers were the p