Opportunity for All: Building Opportunities for Entrepreneurs E50
In this episode of AZ Good Business, Thomas Barr is joined by Whitney Yang, and Andrew Wong, co-founders of the Bambi Fund. They discuss the nonprofit’s mission to support historically excluded communities, including LGBTQ individuals and the formerly incarcerated, by providing them with opportunities and resources to start a successful business. They share their motivations, with Whitney focusing on the importance of understanding racial justice and the impact of mass incarceration in Arizona. Andrew is inspired to utilize his design background to help individuals succeed through the Bambi Fund’s Hustle House program, which provides entrepreneurship training for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Join this conversation to hear about the importance of the much needed community support for new business owners, and the opportunity for public engagement through mentorship, hiring returning community members, and supporting inclusive efforts through entrepreneurship.
The Bambi Fund’s vision is a world where people from historically excluded communities have the resources to fully realize their dreams and determine their own life paths. Their mission is to provide funded opportunities for learning, growing, and exploration. The Bambi Fund supports current and budding projects, social enterprises, and nonprofit groups led by people from historically excluded communities.
The Bambi Fund believes that social change should blossom from the communities that are directly impacted by oppression and injustice. They create space for people and groups that have been historically excluded from decision-making to experiment with new ideas and approaches, such as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and people impacted by the criminal legal system.
The Hustle House is a newly launched program of The Bambi Fund, dedicated to providing support, services, and funding for justice-involved entrepreneurs as they reintegrate into their communities. The Hustle House recognizes the systemic barriers and discrimination that formerly incarcerated individuals often face, and is committed to making a positive impact on their lives.
The mission of The Hustle House is to establish a safe and supportive environment where returning community members can access economic opportunities through a cooperative of member-owned businesses, each operated by individuals who have been previously incarcerated.
Andrew Wong is a self-proclaimed international Aussie who has lived among cultures and continents including Australia, Germany, China, and the United States. He is a designer and dreamer with a dedication to fostering imagination, believing in peoples’ visions, and bringing them to reality.
Andrew attended Swinburne School of Technology and HAWK University where he studied Product Design and Industrial Design. He worked as a Principal Designer for Frog Design in Germany, a leading global creative consultancy, and founded his own design consultancy business in Shanghai, China called Beach Creative. At Beach, Andrew utilized his expertise in design research and design strategy to direct his team of engineers in developing various consumer products, medical devices, and household goods.
He is excited to bring his “idea first” approach to The Bambi Fund and apply design thinking toward community development and improving peoples’ lives. Andrew spends his downtime building out the family campervan for nature adventures.
Whitney Meilan Yang is a traveler, entrepreneur, dog mom, and noodle-enthusiast. She is a mixed race, Asian-American woman born in Hong Kong and raised primarily in Shanghai, China.
In 2020 Whitney founded Mixed Change, a communications consulting business serving social justice organizations and nonprofits, to amplify the voices of people directly impacted by human rights abuses and to challenge normative narratives that further oppression and injustice.
Whitney has worked with individuals and groups fighting for migrant justice, abolition, racial justice, international human rights, Indigenous self-determination, trans rights, and more. She earned her MA Social Justice & Human Rights from Arizona State University, and her BA Sociology & Cultural Studies from University of London.
She is determined to help fill the funding gap for people of color and LGBTQ+ people looking to make change in their communities.
Follow The Bambi Fund on LinkedIn and Instagram.
About Arizona Good Business
What is good business? What are local businesses doing to build a better Arizona?
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- Centering purpose at the forefront of business
- Creating social well-being for the community
- Prioritizing sustainability and positive environmental practices
- Growing strong company cultures through building authentic teams
- Ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion are involved in all business decisions
Arizona Good Business features local business leaders that are redefining what it means to do good business.
About Your Host
Thomas Barr is the Vice President of Business Development for Local First Arizona, the largest coalition of local businesses in North America. He advocates for a strong local business community that contributes to building vibrancy, equity, and prosperity across the state.
A proud Arizona native and graduate of Arizona State University, Thomas leads the strategic partnerships and business development at Local First through advancing the organization’s statewide business coalition and technical assistance resources deployed to entrepreneurs.
As the Vice President of Business Development, Thomas guides the direction and execution of Local First’s key initiatives and partnerships, as well as the collaboration of 60+ staff implementing work in entrepreneurship programs and access to capital, rural and tribal community development, and local food economic development. He speaks to groups both locally and nationally, presenting the impact of Local First through demonstrating the organization’s effectiveness in building economic opportunity for more than 20 years.
Outside of Local First Arizona, Thomas has contributed his time throughout his career to many causes and organizations including the American Independent Business Alliance, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Equality Arizona, Heritage Square Foundation, Phoenix Legal Action Network, and Young Nonprofit Professionals. He currently serves on the small business advisory council for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, as a member of the multicultural advisory board for ONE Community, and as a member of the board for Tempe Tourism.
Thomas is a 2018 Phoenix Magazine and 2020 Phoenix Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, alumni of Arizona Leading for Change, and alumni of Valley Leadership Institute’s 40th cohort.
Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.
