Advisory Board

Our INC Advisory Board members, Larry Lee, Teresa Bishop, and Skitch Holland have recommended you as a person 

of local community influence to join our newly formed group, "Land A Whale". 

Please review the information provided here as well as our website and respond to this email ASAP of your interest

and availability for participation. Additional information will soon follow regarding our organizational meeting to be held

at the offices of INC and a tour of our facilities.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Advisory Board

Larry Lee

Teresa Bishop

Skitch Holland

Insufficient access to capital, knowledge, and support ultimately leaves many Black entrepreneurs less economically mobile and limits the potential of entrepreneurship to grow wealth for Black families and communities. We are seeking like-minded individuals like yourself to join us as we create more equitable outcomes in addition to assuring access to capital specifically to minority-owned businesses. As part of the Incubate Neighborhood Center’s (INC), Commerce, Entrepreneurship, and Operations (CEO) program, a new group is being formed called “Land a Whale” to be made up of those successful minority-owned businesses owners like yourself who have accomplished what many others can only dream.  In the “Land A Whale” competition, which is our version of Shark Tank, we seek investors to get involved to connect these up-and-coming business owners to the capital they need to catapult their business. We want and would like your participation as an INC Whale. 

 The Incubate Neighborhood Center is a non-profit organization designed to revitalize distressed communities of color. Historically, the Lincoln Park Community is one of the poorest areas in the State of Florida, where nearly 80% of its resident's struggle to make ends meet. Statistically, the best way to create wealth in an economically deprived community is through entrepreneurship, and INC will utilize its Commerce, Entrepreneurship, and Operations (CEO) program to revitalize the Lincoln Park Community. It is a national business model, that is being implemented in 50 communities across our Nation, it was developed 30 years ago by Neighborhood Development Center and has proven to be effective. 

 Black entrepreneurs struggle more to secure capital and access to credit. Despite strong personal credit, Black business owners and other entrepreneurs from marginalized groups are about half as likely as their white counterparts to receive full financing.  

Start-up capital is associated with better business performance, but Black entrepreneurs have less of it. Black entrepreneurs start their businesses with about $35,000 of capital, white entrepreneurs with $107,000. 

Since President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, our country has made minimal progress in eliminating these crippling conditions. While most organizations with good intentions address the symptoms of poverty by providing handouts that may help people “get by”, these efforts are often not effective in the long term, and at times do more harm than good.  

Join us as we revitalize the Lincoln Park Community, one entrepreneur at a time.  

Please contact Canieria Gardner at cgardner@incbiz.org or any advisory board member with any questions to join us.

To learn more about INC's mission or the CEO, please visit our website at www.incbiz.org.