The RALPH C Wilson JR Foundation

Rcwjrf seeks to bring Western New York (wny) community leaders and stakeholders together to design a unified vision for the wny entrepreneurial ecosystem and CO-develop a model of ecosystem support and sustainability. Through consultation and support from victor & CO., we devised three actionable phases of work to advance the 2032 strategic vision for the Western New York high-growth ecosystem: phase 1) accelerate ideas. Establish a rapid competition, known as springboard, to distribute small capital prizes to individuals, businesses, or organizations advancing innovative entrepreneurial support activities. Phase 2) accelerate the ecosystem. CO-design a model of ecosystem support and sustainability to advance coordination across the wny entrepreneurial community. Phase 3) accelerate capital formation. Support the establishment of an ecosystem of investment funds that deploys capital into wny startups and creates programming to educate, energize, and strengthen the community