Managing Director Ojala Naeem’s Letter to the Community
It was nearly a year ago that I took over reSET’s day-to-day operations, and after a extremely dedicated tenure, that our Founder Kate Emery transitioned to Chairman so she could be freed up to focus on our strategic vision. It was also at that time that we agreed our main task in 2016 needed to be an organizational audit, which would identify the core strengths and weaknesses of our rapidly growing organization. The idea being that both our Board of Directors and staff wanted to implement clearer and more manageable work plans.
As many of you know, the audit’s results had us pivot a bit last fall when we began focusing less on effecting social enterprise policy and more on building strong entrepreneurs who are solving critical problems and creating impact. I am happy to report that we have been doing just that since, and we are more committed than ever to supporting entrepreneurs who are as poised to scale as they are to solve problems.
Now there is no question that Connecticut faced many challenges in 2016–from a budget deficit to the loss of General Electric–but our economy also blossomed. This was particularly true for the state’s entrepreneurial sector. CT By The Numbers’ Bernard Kavaler wrote how improvements in “Main Street Entrepreneurship” pushed our ranking to 9th among the nation’s smaller states, up from 12th a year ago. The 2017 Connecticut Economic Review also noted how the state is “at the epicenter of the Northeast;” it explained how an array of statistics has produced a “dynamic blend of advantages that make Connecticut a great place to start or grow a business.”
Fortunately, there are a number of wonderful organizations serving our ecosystem. For the purposes of our 2016 Annual Report though, the team and I want to look back on some of the ways reSET and its network of 3,000+ people positively impacted Greater Hartford and beyond last year.
Looking ahead, we will devote the majority of our efforts to entrepreneurial support and community outreach, and to maintaining and forming mutually beneficial partner relationships. This combination will allow us to build organizational capacity and to enhance our Coworking/Incubator, Accelerator, Internship, and Mentor programs.
Like so many other non-profits, we had to reprioritize last year. And much work around our mission remains. But it is because of your unwavering support for creative, just and sustainable business that we are still here. So thank you, and here’s to another great year together!
Address:
1429 Park Street, Suite 114, Hartford, CT 06106
Phone:
(860) 560-9120
Social Enterprise Trust, Inc is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501 (c)(3). .