About CEO
Entrepreneurship has always been a key part of the American Dream. Business ownership creates jobs for people in their community and provides the dignity of being able to work for oneself. And yet, starting a business in this country is exceptionally hard. Twenty-one percent fail in their first year, and only 50% are still in business after five years.
Barriers to starting and scaling businesses are even higher for women and people of color. Minority-owned businesses have less revenue, are more likely to be labeled a high credit risk, and are more likely to be shut out of financing. Female founders are receiving more venture capital than in past years, but still far less than men. And women and people of color continue to get too small a slice of government contracts.
It’s no wonder that just 3% of employer businesses are Black-owned, 8% are Hispanic-owned, and men own three times the number of small businesses than women—a significant disparity that falls well below these groups' demographic share in the population.
But these entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones struggling. Four-in-ten rural business owners have trouble accessing capital, and over half struggle with access to digital technology. Military spouses face unique burdens resulting from frequent moves and financial stress. People in low-income areas are more than twice as likely to live in a banking desert than their counterparts in higher-income neighborhoods.
Entrepreneurial success is one of the greatest drivers of wealth creation and must be at the center of any national effort to expand economic opportunity. That’s why Third Way and the National Urban League have come together to create the Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunity (CEO).
Our two organizations initially came together in 2022 to create the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity with the goal of elevating awareness of the barriers faced by underrepresented entrepreneurs. The Center for Entrepreneurial Opportunity will build up on that important work, developing and advancing federal policies that dramatically increase the opportunity for all disadvantaged entrepreneurs to start and expand successful businesses.
Industry Council
Support for our work comes in part from CEO’s Industry Council, which includes the following founding partners:
