Lauren may be new to ecosystem building but she has certainly hit the ground running in her first 8 months with NexusLA. Previously a conference planner, she moved from DC and returned home to Louisiana to become the Programs and Events Coordinator. Her first experience with SCN was the San Antonio Summit, the last time she traveled for business before quarantine.
“I absolutely loved my first summit experience! The network of SCN members were so welcoming and open to sharing their experiences. As a newbie in ecosystem building I learned so many fundamentals and best practices to incorporate and bring home!” - Lauren Castine
Imagine being a new ecosystem builder in a new role in a new city when COVID hits, and not being able to run the tried and true programs that were already established before you entered your role. This challenge didn’t stop her from making sure they delivered on what the organization was founded to do. Lauren and her team got to work designing programs for the virtual world we are all living in now.
NexusLA is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana which aims to help entrepreneurs grow their ventures by providing coaching, capital, and connections. Traditionally, they do this through their incubator program, where cohorts live on location at their building. That program was put on hold. One of the opportunities Lauren identified was the need for guidance and advice from entrepreneurs who have had to be resilient. Who better to offer advice than entrepreneurs in Baton Rouge who recovered after the flooding in 2016 and entrepreneurs who went through Hurricane Katrina and came out on the other side?
“Between the Hurricane Katrina and Baton Rouge flooding, entrepreneurs in Louisiana have had to have incredible resilience. During COVID, the businesses are being impacted in the same ways,” says Lauren.
During the month of May, they hosted a mini series called “Resiliency” to offer advice to businesses who have been hit hard by COVID. After the murder of George Floyd, and social justice movements began, the organization saw another opportunity to help urge people towards DEI work.
“Earlier this summer we issued a statement on equity and entrepreneurship that listed specific actions to help expand efforts to level the playing field for Black entrepreneurs. When organizations were putting out their BLM statements, we wanted to do more than performative activism.”
One of the action items in their statement was the creation of “new virtual interactive events to discuss Equity in Entrepreneurship topics and collaborate on new ideas to improve the diversity of our entrepreneurial ecosystem in Louisiana.” That event is called RESOLVE and registration will launch on August 28. The virtual event series will provide a platform and open dialogue discussion space for the local Baton Rouge and South Louisiana community to create Equity in Entrepreneurship.