One of our mandates is to serve the least among us – the poor. The question is, how should we even think about poverty? The second question is, what models can we actually employ that enable people to use their God-given abilities and potential to create wealth for their families and their communities?
The goal of the Rethinking Poverty: Urban Entrepreneurship conference is to equip attendees with ideas that will allow them to think about poverty from a new perspective and act in such a way that truly benefits urban communities instead of unintentionally harming them.
Think: We will begin the conference with two lectures that focus on some foundational ideas that are essential to understand before we jump to action. If we err in our thinking about poverty, then surely our actions to serve those in poverty will lead to more harm than good.
During these lectures, we will talk about the fundamental characteristics of the human person made in the image of God and what that means for our fight against poverty. We will also discuss basic economic concepts and the proper role of government and civil society in addressing poverty.
Act: The preponderance of the conference will consist of a presentation by Hustle PHX, a partner organization of the Acton Institute’s PovertyCure initiative. Hustle PHX, an organization dedicated to training urban entrepreneurs in the city of Phoenix, AZ, will explain their model and work in detail. Attendees will leave equipped with actionable knowledge about how they can possibly mimic that same model in their own communities.
Ideal conference attendees will be proven community leaders, pastors, business people, and nonprofit managers who have an interest in transforming their urban communities. The attendees should possesses a desire to learn about how to think about foundational issues related to poverty as well as a passion to act to eradicate poverty through a business-focused, entrepreneurship-based model.
Conference attendance is by application only. Applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis. Applications close on August 20, 2018. Conference fees, meals, and lodging will be covered for accepted applicants. Travel scholarships are available.
About Hustle PHX: Some of the best natural entrepreneurs in the United States are in underserved urban communities. They are called hustlers – visionary risk-takers who seize the opportunity to move product and turn a profit. They have the God-given skills, attributes, and talents of an entrepreneur, but they lack key resources needed to create sustainable businesses that benefit the broader community. At Hustle PHX, we want to let the hustlers hustle – for the common good.
