Coworking - The Cure For Isolated Entrepreneurs | Ashley G Scott | TEDxLafayette

Ashley Scott serves as Operations Manager & Community Curator for MatchBOX Coworking Studio where she works to cultivate an environment that supports budding entrepreneurs as they launch small businesses in Greater Lafayette.

Ashley Scott is passionate about building communities and serving as a resource for individuals interested in launching a career in tech. Scott serves as Operations Manager & Community Curator for MatchBOX Coworking Studio where she works to cultivate an environment that supports budding entrepreneurs as they launch small businesses in Greater Lafayette. She also worked to expand the tech pipeline through her role as Program Associate with digitalundivided (DID), a New York based social enterprise where her job was to manage and develop programs that increased the number of urban entrepreneurs, especially women, in the digital space. Scott embraced her own entrepreneurial spirit early on by launching Purdue's first black think tank, called the “Black Thought Collective“, an intellectual ensemble that was adopted and funded by the Black Cultural Center in fall 2008. After a number of other experiences, Scott was inducted into the 84th Class of the Barbara Cook Chapter of Mortar Board – a national senior honors society. After graduation she continued to focus on helping others as she worked to make young dreams a reality through her role as an Assistant Director in the Office of Admissions at Purdue University. As an alumna, Scott has enjoyed supporting the efforts of the Purdue Black Alumni Organization, volunteering as a board member for the Greater Lafayette chapter of the Indiana Black Expo, volunteering in the Domestic Violence shelter at her local YWCA, and networking with young professionals via her local Chamber of Commerce. Scott was recently selected as one of Tippy Connect's Top 10 Under 40 and as Volunteer of the Year for the local chapter of the Indiana Black Expo. In 2011, she was chosen as one of Northeast Indiana's 101 Connectors, and as the Purdue Alumni Associations Outstanding Young Alumni award recipient. In 2012 she started a group called the Black Professionals of Greater Lafayette hosted on meetup.com. Now almost two years old, the group connects and celebrates over 100 black professionals living in and around the area. One of her all-time favorite activities is hosting the pop-up workshop series she co-created with friend and former colleague Dr. Natasha Watkins, called "Bloom: Where Girls Go to Grow." The workshop series builds goal setting and goal achieving behaviors by helping young girls articulate their personal strengths and plans for the future - participants spend time identifying the individuals and resources they can use to reach and exceed their goals. Scott truly believes that when working together we are better.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx