A local organization is working to help small businesses and entrepreneurs build their “social capital.” 

Grace Findley, the Indianapolis Foundation’s Chief Development and Partnerships Officer, says her team wants to show small business owners that there’s more to growing than financial capital. The foundation is working to make Indianapolis “the best community.”  

Findley says the first step is “understanding our community.” The Indianapolis Foundation has been working with InnoPower to find opportunities for investments in Indy. She says she wants to know where philanthropy can step in and help.

Another step in turning Indy into a thriving community for Findley is opening the door for entrepreneurs and investors of color. She says it’s about social capital, not just money, and that includes building up the city’s social capital.    

Findley wants entrepreneurs to understand the current ecosystem and find pathways to enter the innovation economy. But, she says, those pathways aren’t always clear, and that’s where the Indianapolis Foundation is stepping in.  

One of the most important tasks of the Indianapolis Foundation is stepping in and taking investment risks when market-based investors can’t or won’t. Findley says those investments can lead to finding solutions for big problems.