COMMUNITY CARROT
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Mission Statement
Community Carrot breaks the cycle of poverty, one entrepreneur at a time. We transform opportunity youth into entrepreneurs who advocate for themselves and others seeking to start businesses as means to financial independence. Through lifting individuals out of the cycle of poverty, we hope to lift their families, their children and grandchildren, and their entire community.
About This Cause
Community Carrot began with an observation that many young adults have strong entrepreneurial instincts and ambitions, but lack the training, mentoring and support to bring those dreams to life. Founded in Washington, D.C. as a community response to violence in a neighborhood with multigenerational poverty, we listened to input from over 200 community members (most of whom come from multi-generational poverty). They told us how an entrepreneurship school or program would give entrepreneurial youth an alternative to selling drugs. We learned from our Board and community leaders that participants from this demographic must be provided social and emotional supports in order to stabilize and succeed. Outstanding business education would not be enough. We learned that the “carrot” of entrepreneurship has the ability to transform lives. By creating a personal mission - to build a successful business of their own - participants could find a path to self-sustainability, with demonstrable incremental steps to bring them into the middle class. To achieve that dream, participants need the wind at their backs to compete with those who have grown up with privileges that many business owners take for granted: business-minded role models, education, life stability, financial safety nets to support risk taking, mentors and much more. The Carrot model is based around providing these supports to level the playing field. We have found many small business owners and leaders are eager to give back to their community, and supporting these young entrepreneurs as teachers, mentors and coaches, as well as sponsoring their participation in the Community Carrot program, is a powerful, personal and impactful way to support individuals, communities and the small business ecosystem of our city. After founder David Sheon moved from DC to Seattle in 2018, he formed a partnership with the YMCA of Greater Seattle and its Accelerator branch, which provided relationships with qualified prospect Carrot students, and the wrap around services to support their journey. David then set out to identify funding partners and launch the model in Seattle, connecting successful entrepreneurs with each program participant. Today, Community Carrot is an independent 501c3 non-profit. You can learn more about the small businesses and partners that support Carrot at www.communitycarrot.org.