Nonprofit Personal Development Programs Support Business Success

By Glenn Manigault

There are many people today who do not want to go to college, but they still need to make a living. The Minority Entrepreneurs Training Association, Inc., doesn’t just provide for people who want to be entrepreneurs but anyone in the community who is seeking personal development skills who wants to excel in their own careers.

Marcia Fountain started the nonprofit in 1998 working in her parents’ basement with only a hundred dollars. Nearly 750 people have participated in her program. Marcia a long-time entrepreneur, is a gospel recording artist, a realtor and a pastor for 16 years in Bridgeport. Marcia says she has a broad outreach in many different areas and industries that forged a lot of great relationships. “The program teaches basic life skills that people need,” Marcia says. “It will help your exposure and networking to not only have the possibility of being employed by other businesses but, becoming an entrepreneur yourself,” she says.

The organization has three main goals. The first is to expand access to high-impact training resources. This focuses on their signature training, introducing specialized workshops, mentorships and opportunities to equip every member with cutting edge knowledge for practical skills. The second is to strengthen strategic partnerships and community engagement. Marcia says the organization has many great partners and collaborations they work with, such as agencies and businesses. Her goal, she says, is to keep expanding those relationships. Third, to foster dynamic networks for collaboration growth by keeping in touch with past participants and providing them with resources like monthly newsletters.

Marcia says back-to-basics boot camps is one of the organization’s signature training programs. It is a six-week intensive training course that works on participants’ weaknesses and turns them into strengths. She recalled a participant that came to the program with difficulty and a fear of public speaking that was hurting her business and risking its closure. Marcia says she understood that she needed to help her participant build confidence and have higher self-esteem. Six weeks of the back-to-basics program provided not only work on her public speaking but also creating a plan for her business. Marcia says she left able to do pitches and market her business more effectively to her clients. Six months later Marcia received a letter of appreciation.

“We create successes because we help people to realize what they have in them and to help tap into it and bring it out,” Marcia says.

She says she is planning to launch an Arts for Entrepreneurship Program that will showcase personal performance development for artists and sponsor showcase events. Another offering in the works is the Launchpad Program, a business startup training program for aspiring entrepreneurs or existing business owners who need mentorship from business leaders and professionals. Finally, Marcia says watch for S.I.S -- Sustainable Infrastructure Sisterhood. It is billed as a vital steppingstone for women who want to undergo transformational training to uncover and recognize their value.

Entrepreneurship is very important in today's world as it is changing into a new direction where people need to sustain necessary skills to become creators to provide for themselves and others, Marcia says.

Learn more about the Minority Entrepreneurs Training Association at metainc1.org.

Glenn Manigault is a student at the University of Bridgeport.