ULI Cincinnati continues to host its Young Leaders Group’s Growing Professional Skills Series. The series will bring a relevant and timely topic to our YLG every other month to provide information and experience as professionals navigate the path to a successful career.

Join the Young Leaders Group for another session of the 2021 Growing Professional Skills series on Wednesday, April 28 at 4:00 pm. The featured guest is Allen Woods, the Executive Director of MORTAR. Since 2014, MORTAR aims to create diverse communities by enabling historically marginalized entrepreneurs to access the resources needed to start and run successful businesses.  Allen will discuss how to make the pathway to entrepreneurship more equitable. The piece that stands out the most in a real estate context is the MORTAR model for pop up shops, advocating for developing a system that leads to ease in permitting, and the possibility of developers creating "income-based" leases to make spaces accessible for those who may be starting with less.

Allen believes that entrepreneurship can change lives. When people have ownership in an area, they also have pride. That pride manifests itself in the way that the residents become involved in their neighborhoods; no longer feeling like spectators watching life happen from the “cheap seats” – but instead taking the field, making plays as productive members of society.

When neighborhoods are growing, a lot of planning goes into renovating historic buildings and creating magnificent green spaces. In the same way that these locations have the potential to become booming communities, Allen and MORTAR believe that the neighborhood’s residents have the potential to create booming enterprises – just footsteps from their homes.

By targeting underserved and redeveloping communities, we’re offering these non-traditional entrepreneurs the opportunity to use their inherent talents to not just make a dollar, but to positively participate in the rise of Cincinnati.

ABOUT OUR FEATURED YOUNG LEADER

Allen Woods is a devoted husband, father and entrepreneur – in that order. A lifelong Midwesterner, he’s never allowed the size of a city to place a limit on the size of his dreams. Allen is the creative force behind the MORTAR brand, as well as a business consultant and training facilitator for incoming students.

His determination (or stubbornness – as his mom would call it) has allowed him to develop a resiliency that has grown with him on his entrepreneurial journey. Recognized as a 2016 Cincinnati Business Courier 40 under 40 Business Leader, 2017 John F. Barrett Entrepreneur Vision Award and 2017 Echoing Green BMA Fellow, Woods is also a sought-after public speaker who recently shined on the TEDx stage. As a brand strategist and designer, Allen assisted directly in the growth of hundreds of small businesses and personal brands across the globe. Allen is also a proud graduate of ULI and LISC’s Real Estate Accelerator Lab’s 1.0 cohort.

When Allen isn’t at MORTAR, he’s probably somewhere with his wife, Kyla, planning or recording the next episode of their brand new marriage podcast, Permanent Plus One.

EVENT DETAILS

Wednesday, April 28, 2021
4:00-5:30 PM ET
Online Event (via Zoom)

Agenda
4:00 PM Casual Conversation About the Pathway to Entrepreneurship
4:20 PM Q&A
4:40 PM Get to Know Allen Woods
5:00 PM Happy Half-Hour: Get to Know Other Young Leaders
5:30 PM Conclusion

Fees
Free to Members and Annual Sponsors
$15 for Non-Members