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Meet CeeCee Evans of Mission/Bridges

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Today we’d like to introduce you to CeeCee Evans.

Thanks for sharing your story with us CeeCee. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Mission/Bridges is a 501c3 non-profit agency. We were established in 2016 with a mission to bridge the entrepreneur gap with the minority community. Mission/Bridges was founded by CeeCee Evans after seeing the disparities between the minority community and its counterpart. I began working for larger nonprofits such as Goodwill Industries and the American Cancer Society, I would volunteer at smaller nonprofits as a grant writer, in an effort to help them raise need funds to afford to hire a staff fundraiser. While volunteering, I realized the majority of the small nonprofits I was helping were either black or female-founded, but both with the same struggles.

I then left my job and started a consulting agency to assist small businesses and nonprofits with affordable assistance to start or grow their business. Again I noticed that the majority of the people that sought me for assistance were black or female. Again, with the same struggles, lack of knowledge, lack or support, lack of resources, and lack of funding. This revelation leads me to research the stats of this problem and soon after Mission/Bridges was formed.

I began with the assistance of my cousins, who all were educators, one a college professor and two that were grade school teachers. With their teaching background and my business background, we developed the initial curriculum based on what issues I had previously addressed as a consultant. In March 2017, we taught our first class. The first year we had 15 go through our 18 week classroom training.

Mission/Bridges provides free or low-cost training, coaching, mentoring and access to connections and resources needed to start and grow a small business. We are a network of entrepreneurs that come together to support, educate and empower women, minority, veteran and ex-offenders that aspire entrepreneurship.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has not been a smooth road. In the beginning, there was so much that I did alone. It takes a little while to build credibility to gain community support to sit on your board and act as volunteers. The first year I was the sole facilitator and I would be in Dallas in the morning training, in the afternoon in Fort Worth training, and in Arlington that night training. I never complained as it just reinforced my theory of there is a need and it has to be addressed.

Raising funds has been and still is a struggle, particularly for a small startup agency. We have been fortunate to have the support of Woodforest Bank, which sits on our board. This has helped tremendously, though we still need so much more support. We have recently partnered with ex-NFL player David Howard and his company Urban Village Family Services to bring our programs to Stop Six in Fort Worth. This partnership should help us build awareness and support to help continue our programs and services.

Mission/Bridges – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Many individuals in low-income neighborhoods have enormous dreams; however, no real way to put them in action. Those in underserved neighborhoods regularly experience issues getting start-up financing for business due in some extent to restricted training, poor credit, absence of capital, and constrained access to bank services.

Mission/Bridges, a 501(c) 3 business accelerator, in Arlington, Texas, formed to help aspiring entrepreneurs start a nonprofit or small business, regardless of net worth or education level, achieve business ownership dreams, through education, mentoring and access to capital. Through our Micro-Business Accelerator Program, Mission/Bridges’ goal is to increase the success rate of micro-business owners, thereby improving lives and boosting the DFW economy through business growth and job creation.

Mission Bridges Micro-Business Accelerator Program is intended for people from low-income neighborhoods in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex aspiring entrepreneurship. We combine business training, time management training, along with financial counseling to ensure that our clients receive all the tools and resources needed to make their dreams a reality.

Mission/Bridges goes beyond the small business help a micropreneur would receive from a free business consulting program like SCORE, the local Small Business Development Center, or online classes or resources. Through in-depth training with a seasoned business professional and the development of a network within their class and with other MISSION/BRIDGES alumni, DFW Metroplex clients stand a better chance at launching their endeavor, supplementing their income, and even moving to work full-time on their new business.

Rather than focusing on those with the best chances of success in entrepreneurship as decided through traditional methods (good connections, good education, and high amount of capital), MISSION/BRIDGES chooses clients who do not have these characteristics in their favor, yet have the drive and creativity to make micropreneurship work for them.

MISSION/BRIDGES stands out both because of the specific market niche it chooses and the unique services it offers to members in that market niche. The market niche it serves is an underserved population that lacks the basic prerequisites which other small-business trainings and mentoring services believe necessary.

MISSION/BRIDGES clients do NOT have to start out with:
• A cohesive business idea
• Finished secondary or postsecondary education
• Capital
• Connections in the business world

MISSION/BRIDGES clients do need to be members of an underserved population and demonstrate their creativity and drive. Our program inspires underserved neighborhoods by advancing our clients’ success and energizing the creation of jobs in the community. Through associations with direct lenders, we hope to give access to an extensive variety of small business loan alternatives along with critical business services, training and resources we provide; that are needed for a successful business.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success for me is when someone calls to tell me they have received their 501c3, or they made their first sale on their new E-Commerce site. Our mission is to create minority entrepreneurs; people who would have normally thought owning their own business is just a dream. We are not just a class; we are an ongoing support system for them to have when they need it. We don’t want to just teach a person to be an entrepreneur; we want to help them become an entrepreneur. I think of the movie. It’s a beautiful life, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. Well, for me, when the bell rings, one of my students got their entrepreneur wings.

Pricing:

  • Free to persons whose income is below $25,000
  • $20 per class for persons whose income is above $25,000
  • Free coaching and mentoring

Contact Info:

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