Professor’s project aims to grow equity, opportunity for entrepreneurs in former ‘Black Wall Street of the South’

Telisha Woodfin (left) is one of several Richmond-based business owners working with Elsie Harper-Anderson, Ph.D., an associate professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, (right) on how to address the challenges she faces as a business owner. (Photo by David Slipher, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU) Elsie Harper-Anderson, an associate professor in the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU, is advancing Richmond as a national model for entrepreneurial study and investment. L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs When Elsie Harper-Anderson , Ph.D., thinks about the economics of equitable entrepreneurship, her focus extends beyond economic statistics on equality in urban labor markets.She’s recognized a growing need to reach beyond the numbers and uplift voices by capturing a new type of data — the intersection of the everyday lived experience and the journey of entrepreneurship. What are their day-to-day lives like? What are the unique factors impacting their success? What are their perceptions and concerns within the local business environment? These questions are leading Harper-Anderson, an associate professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU, down an uncharted […]

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