EcoMap offers PLACE Builder Fellowship in ‘tribute’ to Pava LaPere’s ‘enduring legacy’

A four-month fellowship program just launched to support eight ecosystem builders as they expand their skillsets and capacity to support entrepreneurs in their communities.

According to a release sent to Technical.ly, the EcoMap PLACE Builder Fellowship, or PLACE (which stands for “Pava LaPere Award for Cultivating Ecosystems”) Builders, is inspired by the “enduring legacy” of the late namesake EcoMap Technologies founder. During her lifetime, LaPere played a key role in developing several accelerators like Emergence Baltimore, which she cofounded with EcoMap Director of Business Development Kevin Carter.

PLACE Builders will be partially overseen by Carter, who admitted to Technical.ly that the past two months since LaPere’s killing have been “brutal.” He also emphasized that this type of work was a passion for LaPere, who led entrepreneurship support efforts as far back as during her undergraduate years at Johns Hopkins. For the first iteration of the program, Carter said that references from within PLACE Builders’ own ecosystems and networks will be important.

Kevin Carter (left) and Pava LaPere. (Courtesy EcoMap Technologies)

“So a lot of what we’re gonna depend on is nominations,” Carter said, adding: “We just feel like there’s a really good opportunity to help get the word out and make sure that we are getting a good representation of focus on the ecosystems in different regions throughout the country.”

EcoMap partnered with Forward Cities on the initiative. Forward Cities CEO Fay Horwitt, who will also oversee PLACE as part of this collaboration, told Technical.ly that she previously met LaPere in Baltimore.

“A couple of years ago, Pava put out a blog saying that, hey, they wanted to figure out a way that they could support ecosystem builders in communities,” Horwitt said. “And Forward Cities had been running fellowship programs since, for essentially all of our organizations’ lifetime, with a focus on, on equity.”

After hearing Carter’s plans for a fellowship in memory of LaPere, Horwitt decided that “it makes perfect sense that we might do this together.”

According to Horwitt, the Forward Cities team is reaching out to foundations for financial support. It’s also crafting a curriculum that involves an in-person orientation in Baltimore and concludes with a wrap-up session in Durham, North Carolina, where the organization is based. This curriculum, which includes weekly virtual meetings, is designed to revolve around understanding and addressing the needs of underrepresented entrepreneurs.

“We recognize that, you know, there is no one-size-fits-all [approach] when it comes [to] entrepreneur ecosystems,” Horwitt said. “But what we want to do is be able to provide them with some core frameworks and tools and skills that they can use no matter where they are.”

Horwitt added that the program aims for fellows to identify one project they’d like to launch as a part of the fellowship. To support them in this goal, the organizing entities have launched a crowdfunding campaign. Horwitt said that the fund will subsidize a stipend for participating fellows.

Looking forward, Carter, who is one of the campaign’s first donors, noted that more details will come as next year approaches.

Learn more about PLACE Builders’ crowdfunding campaign