A Message from Our Team
Despite the challenges inherent in doing economic justice work, this year we stuck to our mantra: Keep Moving Forward. For the past ten years, we’ve remained committed to this work because we believe deeply in the power of founders to drive meaningful change. Too often, world-changing ideas are stalled by a lack of capital, trusted advising, or access to catalytic networks.
Founder Forward exists to remove barriers and champion bold, community-centered founders. As we enter our tenth year, we are just getting started.
Today is the day to get involved by:
Donating to our End-of-Year Giving Campaign - every dollar multiplies direct support for founders
Get your Keep Moving Forward tote - show your support to founders year-round with an original tote, 40% of proceeds go to Founder Forward
Follow us on LinkedIn - for timely updates on our work
Keep Moving Forward,
The Founder Forward Team
"The future is not a destination, but a journey, and we must choose to walk it with purpose, resilience, and unwavering hope."
Quarter Highlights
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Workshop: Cybersecurity Essentials for Founders
In October, for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we partnered with New Harbor to host a free virtual workshop for founders. New Harbor works to make cybersecurity simple to understand, easy to deploy, and feel human for organizations of all sizes. The workshop was designed to introduce business owners with no technical background to data protection fundamentals that will increase customer trust and investor confidence.
We look forward to hosting more essential workshops to assist founders in avoiding business pitfalls.
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PitchProv: Amplifying the Next Generation
In early November we hosted our original programming, PitchProv, adapted for the next generation. We partnered with BUILD NYC to host students from Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy (BELA) for an immersive confidence building workshop supported by fast-paced improv, small-group practice rounds, and a fun professional pitch competition. 93% of youth participants reported feeling a boost in confidence! We concluded with a guided tour of LIU Brooklyn, led by the LIU Business Department to give students the opportunity to envision the possibilities ahead.
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UglyTalk: Build A Team that Scales Beyond $500k+
Also, in November we gathered at The Yard Coworking in Herald Square in partnership with Ugly Talk, for a panel discussion uncovering the true challenges of entrepreneurship. For many founders the journey begins with just them delivering the product, operations, and marketing before they can hire a team, and when it’s time to source talent, many don’t know where to start. We heard from Jie Feng (2024 cohort), and Tinia Pina (2017 cohort) who shared what supported them to scale their business , build a strong team, and implement the right systems. The panel gave attendees an honest reflection on how to scale for longevity.
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