Originally posted by Andrew Yang on Linkedin.
I am thrilled to announce Venture for America’s new Executive-in-Residence Program! The EIR Program will recruit top managers and leaders from Slack, LinkedIn, and other Silicon Valley companies to work with entrepreneurs around the country for at least one year. It will launch in Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia and other cities this summer.
The EIR program came about because of the passion of one person – Leslie Miley. I met Leslie when he spoke at VFA’s Training Camp in Providence this summer about his experience in the tech industry as a black man (he has worked at Apple, Twitter and now Slack). He and I had lunch together and talked about the big issues. We hit upon the idea of recruiting people like him to help local entrepreneurs succeed and grow their companies. The EIRs would move to New Orleans and other cities for at least one year to bring the resources and expertise of Silicon Valley to markets around the country. They would get a much more real sense of the issues and obstacles that impede these communities, which would influence the direction of innovation over time. Leslie has seen what is possible through his own career and wants to give others a chance to live their values.
With the election as a spur to action, Leslie made the leap. Slack generously agreed to fund Leslie’s leadership of this effort, and they were quickly joined by LinkedIn, Yelp and PayPal. We’re incredibly grateful to these companies for believing in their own people as well as the entrepreneurs in VFA’s 18 cities across the country. I’ve met many of these entrepreneurs and they are exactly the kind of builder you want to see succeed. They and the new EIRs truly embody the mission of Venture for America:
To revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship.
To enable our best and brightest to create new opportunities for themselves and others.
To restore the culture of achievement to include value-creation, risk and reward, and the common good.
We’ve worked primarily with recent college graduates over the past six years who have accomplished incredible things. I’m sure that the EIRs will move mountains and make us proud in the months to come! I can’t wait to meet the people who throw their hat in the ring and decide to do something about what’s ailing our country.
If you know someone who you think would be a good EIR candidate, please send them to www.ventureforamerica.org/eirapply Applications for the 2017 EIR Program open on March 1, 2017. For more from Leslie, click here.