Dr Kate Golebiowska - Institutional Support in Action: How Start:ME Micro-Business Accelerator...

Kate Golebiowska - Charles Darwin University / University of Florida - Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship (Affiliate) - AU

In this presentation, I share findings from research I conducted in 2023 with Start:ME, an accelerator program for micro-entrepreneurs from diverse and low-income areas in Atlanta delivered by Emory University and its community-based partners. Most participants in Start:ME are women with migrant and minority backgrounds. Through an analysis of formal and informal relationships within Start:ME, involving participants, volunteer business mentors, program management, and other supporters, I highlight how these connections complement the program’s content. I discuss the pivotal role of these relationships in fostering micro-entrepreneurship among migrant and minority women and explain their enduring (though evolving) nature beyond the program’s completion. Additionally, I delve into the meanings participants ascribe to institutional actions, the evaluation of these actions, and how they are positioned both as recipients of institutional support and agents in their own right. Through this analysis, I shed light on the expanded economic opportunities, enriched social capital and greater resilience experienced by women of migrant and minority backgrounds participating in Start:ME.