The Because Accelerator is a completely free online training and mentorship program for entrepreneurs who have product-focused ideas and businesses in areas impacted by poverty. 

Since the inception of the Because Accelerator, more than 30 entrepreneurs have completed the free, virtual program, working one-on-one with experienced advisors to develop various aspects of their product or business.

We sat down with Emily Allen, Because International’s former director of programs, and Andrew Kroes, president, to learn why the Because Accelerator is so important and where it’s headed.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT THE BECAUSE ACCELERATOR?

Emily: The ability to connect with entrepreneurs all over the world to help them create employment in their own countries—I love getting to be a part of that process.

Andrew: [The Accelerator] is more of a partnering, coming alongside, as opposed to “us helping you.” There are so many ways that [entrepreneurs] are giving back to us and giving back to their communities, people that they’re employing.

It’s a way we can provide opportunities for empowerment to exponentially grow the impact. We’re a part of enabling someone else to do great things.

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE VIRTUAL INCUBATOR PROGRAM?

Emily: Some of the things that are special about the Because Accelerator is that we are product specific. We focus on products that make an impact. 

And we have this group of advisors, really qualified people, who are meeting individually with entrepreneurs every week. That’s a pretty special part of the program.

There’s not very many incubators that are focused on products … We’ve already done this—we have a product that we’ve had some success with.

We aren’t just an incubator that says “this is how you do it,” we’re an incubator that’s done it [with The Shoe That Grows].

WHAT ARE THE KEY STRENGTHS OF THE PROGRAM’S TEAM OF ADVISORS?

Andrew: I think key strengths are listening first and foremost … Entrepreneurship can be isolating, it can be lonely sometimes. It’s a journey of ups and downs, and just having someone that you can bounce ideas off of [is helpful]. So much of the thinking that we do is out loud … just being able to sit back as a CEO advisor and allow entrepreneurs to talk and work through some of the things that are challenging them, allowing a form of accountability—[the Because Accelerator] is teaching some concepts, and that’s definitely what we do in the curriculum, but a lot of it too is setting a goal.

Emily: These advisors have experiences—they’ve been where our entrepreneurs have been before, they’ve been through this, they’ve run businesses, they’ve run into problems, they’ve done all of these things these entrepreneurs have done. They have all this experience and are able to offer it to these entrepreneurs.

WHAT IS A CHALLENGE THAT THE PROGAM IS FACING?

Andrew:  Getting the word out. We are more and more convinced that we’ve got a pretty special thing here … We have spent very few resources on external marketing—it takes funding sometimes to spread the word.

Emily: The entrepreneurs don’t fail or succeed in the length of the program. These entrepreneurs need long-term support and we need to build up this post-cohort support program to help entrepreneurs for the years that it takes to really become successful.

It might look like additional training opportunities, helping with funding in some way, networking with other professionals, but having some kind of system for connecting these entrepreneurs and staying connected, post-cohort, so that they can communicate what they need and we can respond with some resources for our entrepreneurs who have graduated.

WHY SHOULD SOMEONE SUPPORT THE BECAUSE ACCELERATOR?

Andrew: There are people who have immediate needs and are facing challenges, especially children. And we need to address those today, and I’m proud of the work that we do there. I’m also proud that we are taking a more long-term developmental perspective. 

Our focus is doing our part, our piece, to face this problem called poverty. Long term, the best way to do that is helping to enable and empower those who are living in these communities or focused on solutions to combat the effects of poverty.

We believe that by helping these entrepreneurs make their ideas a reality, we help them personally, but they also help others.

They help their communities, they are employing people. Having a job combats the monetary effects of poverty but also the dignity that comes from work and being able to earn and take care of themselves and their families and those around them. [The Because Accelerator] is enabling this cycle that lifts people out of poverty in a developmental way, in a sustainable way. 

Emily: There are people all over the world who already have solutions to the problems that they face. They already can solve the problem of poverty for themselves and the people around them … I love that Pursuit isn’t trying to create something, it’s just giving an opportunity for those who are already doing such amazing things, such wonderful things, have such great ideas, we’re just giving them a little boost and then they’re going to be solving their own problems and so much more.

You give a pair of shoes, and they’ve got a pair of shoes for a while. But you give someone an opportunity to create jobs, and they create jobs indefinitely.