Spotlight: Venture for America
VFA is a two-year fellowship program for recent grads who want to work at a startup and create jobs in American cities. Fellows learn important startup skills at our month-long Training Camp, apply for jobs within our vetted company network, and work for two years as full-time, salaried employees in one of 14 cities. When Fellows are ready to start a company—be it two years after college or ten—VFA has the resources (like a crowdfunding competition, accelerator, and seed fund) to help make that dream a reality.
Meet Abby Guerin, Community Director for Venture for America Birmingham
Abby Guerin is someone that I have been fortunate to know the past two years as a Venture for America fellow and now an alum of the fellowship based in Birmingham. Her mission is to be a catalyst for growth in Birmingham’s startup and small businesses community by encouraging new fellows to serve their fellowship in Birmingham, recruiting tremendous businesses to employ those fellows, and partner with local leaders and organizations to make sure that Venture for America continues to play a key role in the development of Birmingham’s entrepreneurial community.
It’s been a privilege to know Abby during the course of my time in Birmingham. She is a constant supporter of the community of fellows here in the city and their biggest cheerleader. Founders and Venture for America fellows of Birmingham are so fortunate to have her in their corner!
Welcome to the Stage, Abby Guerin!
1. What excites you the most about Birmingham's start-up ecosystem? Who are some founders and local leaders within our startup community that fellows should get to know?
The energy and connectivity in Birmingham has only magnified in light of this pandemic. Our people and our companies have come out in droves to help and have made impressive pivots to provide support, protective equipment, or make progress on a vaccine. While many companies have been hit hard, many are finding unique ways to serve clients/customers, their industries, and their community. Case Status, for example, is helping lawyers adapt to remote work utilizing their client management system and hosting virtual happy hours for the legal community. Founder, Lauren Studivant, is a badass and an all-around amazing woman who’s story of moving to Birmingham will win over anyone! Another impressive founder who’s made a huge impact with his financial wellness platform, Immediate, is Matt Pierce. Matt is also newer to the Birmingham startup ecosystem and a testament to the growth opportunities here. Immediate has seen an unprecedented uptick in clients in healthcare and senior living industry and has been able to waive ImmediatePay fees and employee transaction fees during this period. And Shipt is a clear example and leader in our community, not only in a world-wide need for grocery delivery, but because of their leadership in the community immediately through their partnership to provide groceries to families in need and more broadly for our ecosystem through Birmingham Bound to recruit tech companies to Birmingham. Some of the companies I’m keeping an eye on and cheering for are Boulo Solutions, SmartAlto, Nourish Foods, QuantHub, and Linq, to name a few.
Birmingham has been through several waves but one of the most exciting things is to watch the push and pull of transitioning into a new era - one that harnesses our builder spirit, recognizes our roots, and pushes Birmingham to be its own uniquely emerging city.
2. What makes Birmingham such a great city for fellows to serve their fellowship?
Birmingham quickly became one of the most popular VFA cities amongst Fellows because of the incredible impact Fellows are able to have on the city as soon as they arrive and because of the strong support they receive from the community at large. Whether it’s being welcomed by the Mayor, hosted for a white tablecloth luncheon by the UAB President, being asked to mentor and judge local K-12 and university entrepreneurship programs and pitch competitions, volunteering with numerous nonprofits and growing to leadership positions, or just enjoying the amazing outdoors of Alabama and the Southeast, VFA Fellows soak it all up! Our VFA Fellow community is intentionally and integrally connected with the broader Birmingham community such that the growth of our VFA community here goes hand-in-hand with the growth of our Birmingham community and startup community. All of us in the Magic City have a sense of pride in our city (and maybe a slight chip on our shoulders) that keeps us constantly thinking about how to make Birmingham “stickier” and how we can provide young professionals opportunities for their second, even third, career moves here.
3. What can Birmingham's tech ecosystem do to best support new fellows and how can fellows return the favor?
Right now especially - HIRE THEM! We just kicked off our 2020 recruitment season and we have a unique challenge and opportunity ahead of us. This year we have over 230 Venture For America Fellows who are exceptionally talented, adaptable, passionate about entrepreneurship, and ready to make an impact. Across our 14 VFA cities, we have a much smaller number of positions available for these Fellows because of the impacts of COVID-19 on startups, small businesses, and nonprofits. The challenge is that we have many fewer roles than we normally would but the opportunity is that Birmingham is in a great position to recruit both 2020 Fellows as well as other current Fellows who might have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Birmingham has a strong presence on our job platform and companies that are in a position to hire are making every effort to. We are also making every effort to adapt our processes to better support our cities and companies who are in need of a talent pipeline. Those who are able to hire this year are going to have access to amazing talent from across the country!
4. What lays ahead for VFA Birmingham?
VFA Birmingham has grown from a small group of 4 Fellows in 2015 to a Fellowship of almost 60! We will continue to build our community here and solidify our partnership with the community as a trusted, highly skilled, talent pipeline. With the strong growth of our startup ecosystem, more startup incubator and accelerator opportunities available, and fresh leadership in many of our startup and business leadership positions, VFA Birmingham aims to continue growing the number of companies who hire Fellows and our awareness across the city. Our city and our fellowship will change with the years but we will remain strong and continue to foster the interconnectivity that is a part of our culture and our community.
For VFA nationally, VFA Birmingham hopes to become a national resource in best practices for entrepreneurs on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, we are positioned appropriately to cultivate the intersection of innovation and inclusion. As a city that’s not afraid to try new things and can come together to make it happen, we’re also a model for how the corporate, philanthropic, higher education, and nonprofit sectors can come together to support entrepreneurship and innovation. We got the opportunity to showcase all of this by bringing the VFA Innovation Trek to Birmingham last fall. Over 30 investors, philanthropists, and successful entrepreneurs from across the country came to Birmingham for a two-day trek to experience the past, present, and future of innovation here, and meet the broader community supporting our entrepreneurs.
If you’re someone that’s interested in joining Venture for America, head to www.ventureforamerica.org to learn more.
Are you a founder interested in hiring a fellow? Reach out to companypartnerships@ventureforamerica.org or click the link here.
Happy learning and I hope to see y’all in Birmingham!
-Sean