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Video (3:39): Take a sneak peek inside the Flikshop School of Business' cohort #106, sponsored by Boeing.
Flikshop School of Business confronts the barriers to success for entrepreneurs from underserved communities. FSB serves as an entry point for entrepreneurs that have the vision for success, but lack the resources or network to help drive their innovation forward. We add investors, workforce development partners, and industry-specific instructors to a class of students who advance equity and breaks a systemic cycle of poverty.
Let's face it, the technology gap is widening for so many of our returning citizens and amazingly brilliant people in our communities that typically do not have access to start-up founders. Flikshop CEO, Marcus Bullock, grew up in Prince George's County Maryland, and spent his elementary school years in Washington, DC in the 90's and often speaks about his bumpy journey into tech. "I love some of the circles I'm in today. I feel blessed to be able to learn so much, and then take it back to my friends and family members who have never heard of an API or invested in an ETF.", says Bullock. "We bring a dope curriculum into a classroom that's palatable for our students, and I'm grateful to Boeing for investing in our community this way."
The Flikshop School of Business started from an idea Marcus, and his long-time friend and 1996 co-defendant Reginald Dwayne Betts, pitched at Aspen Ideas Festival in 2016. Marcus and Dwayne had a vision to bring their journey's of "prison-to-entrepreneurship" and "prison-to-attorney" back into some of the same cells where they were once housed. Today, Dwayne is currently working to bring libraries inside of prisons, with the hope to expose the men and women that are currently incarcerated to literature and poetry. In fact, Dwayne's idea has received grants that total $5 million for the project, as well as a being named a 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Flikshop continues to support Dwayne's latest project, Freedom Reads, by helping to keep the library building team connected with their most important supporters...the men and women that are living in the cells. Flikshop will ship postcards from Freedom Reads, directly to some of the people who visit their library, in hopes to gain feedback about the library, books, and even correctional staff that monitor their amazing spaces.
These are the types of partnerships that Marcus envisions exposing the scholars to at the Flikshop School of Business. "You can't be what you can't see.", says Marcus during one of the sessions at FSB.
FSB's 3-week bootcamp style, Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Future of Work in the Gig Economy, is designed to walk the scholars through the gig economy. The “gig” economy has become a new buzz word, and we want to ensure that our scholars are prepared to enter a new world of work. The impact of this new way of working will affect all of us in our careers - whether you are applying for work, seeking additional income that works around your schedule, or hiring new people to help you grow your business, contractors are here to stay.
And although this course was designed for returning citizen's, our latest cohort #106 were not all justice-system involved. Our classroom included men and women from around the Washington, DC area, and they were determined to win. The FSB Introduction to Entrepreneurship courses are for all adult learners. The course covers the elements of supplemental income, how to use basic tech skills to create opportunities from anywhere, and how to leverage a team of other freelancers to help build your personal portfolio of work.
Our instructors will apply their collective 32 years of experience in building successful businesses as contractors, as well as hiring others like them. They will bring their charisma and systems that they used to build their businesses, along with clear principles and strategies to help launch your career as a gigger.
During week #1 of the program the instructors introduce the gig economy, how to manage your mental health as a new entrepreneur, and how to build a portfolio. On week #2 the classroom turns up and the scholars will learn about building a personal brand, how to leverage gig platforms, and how to build a mock business. The program finishes with how to understand your personal talent, participating in a class hackathon, and a celebratory graduation.
We believe that every person should have an opportunity to participate in the growth economy, despite their background or their zip code. Our cohort #106 was sponsored by The Boeing Company, and we hope to see more socially responsible companies invest in our communities in such meaningful ways.
For more information about Flikshop School of Business, visit us at https://www.flikshop.com/fsb.
Video Information:
Video features scholars: Janese DeVeaux, Correy Ray, and Timothy Thomas.
Guest Lecturers include: Dr. LaNail Plummer-Marcano (Onyx Therapy), Silas Grant (DC Government), Angel Gregorio (The Spice Suite), Ronnie Coleman (Meaningful Gigs), Damola Omotosho (Swyft Studios/Microsoft), and Tony Lewis Jr. (Author/Entrepreneur).
Instructors Include: Marcus Bullock, BJ Paige, Anthony Belton, and Pascal Lomparte
Sponsored by: The Boeing Company
In partnership with: ByteBackDC
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