Interise

🔥 It’s time! Applications are now open for Interise’s 4th Annual Pitch for Strategic Growth Competition, sponsored by Citizens.

If you're a Massachusetts-based alum or current participant in Interise’s program, this is your moment to shine. your next big strategic move — and compete for $10,000 to make it happen!

📅 Apply by August 8
🎤 Pitch live in Boston on October 14
🏆 Walk away with funding and visibility for your business
👉 Get the full details and apply now: https://connect.interise.org/page/pitch

As we close out our AAC member spotlights, meet the final group of change-makers helping us build stronger alumni connections!

📲 An executive coach and tech entrepreneur, Kenya Dunn champions equity in leadership through her work with LifeTagger. She’s deeply committed to lifting others as she climbs—and bringing more Black women to the table.

📈 Through his work at Rende Progress Capital, Cuong Quy ("CQ") Huynh, JD, MPP is rewriting the narrative around who gets access to capital. A proud Interise alum, he brings deep knowledge of impact finance and racial equity in lending.

🌴 With global perspective and local heart, Dale Jackson, AINS, CAMS helps entrepreneurs in Bermuda build lasting businesses. A longtime champion of inclusive economic development, Dale believes, “Every small business has the power to transform a community.”

🎯 As a coach, connector, and instructor of Interise’s StreetWise MBA, Marty Shea works with BIPOC and women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses with confidence—and on their own terms.

From to to , these leaders bring deep experience in coaching, capital access, entrepreneurship, and community building. They’re helping shape Interise’s next chapter — and we’re lucky to have them.

Join us in celebrating this council and all it stands for: community, inclusion, and growth 👏

Learn about the full council: https://connect.interise.org/page/aac

A new Interise survey reveals how entrepreneurs are navigating shifting federal procurement policies, what’s at stake for jobs and growth, and why some are pivoting away from federal contracts.

📰 Read the latest on what we heard—and what comes next: https://interise.org/news-and-notes/small-businesses-pivot-and-persevere-amid-policy-shifts/

Small Businesses Pivot and Persevere Amid Policy Shifts | Interise Small business owners across the country are no strangers to change. But when federal policy shifts, especially those impacting government procurement, the ripple effects can shake the very foundation of their business plans—and the communities they serve.