The pilot program will help diverse local area small businesses accelerate growth and scale
Intuit Inc., the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, in partnership with the Los Angeles Urban League (LAUL) launched a new initiative called the Intuit IDEAS (Invest, Develop, Empower, Accelerate, and Scale) program. The pilot program will leverage Intuit’s AI -driven platform and human experts with the know-how and advocacy of the Los Angeles Urban League to support Los Angeles-area Black and Latino small business owners to help them grow, scale and accelerate their businesses.
“At the Los Angeles Urban League, we actively seek partners who possess a deep understanding of the challenges confronting Black and Brown entrepreneurs and small business owners. That is why the development of the IDEAS program and our collaboration with Intuit is so meaningful”
The IDEAS program will support 25-30 Black and Latino-owned small businesses representing a geographically diverse cross-section of Los Angeles. These entrepreneurs will be connected with Intuit experts to support business compliance, back-office bookkeeping, tax prep, and email marketing. The year-long program aims to improve efficiency, earnings, and capital readiness for participating businesses.
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“Small businesses are critical to building healthy, local communities. That’s why it is so important to ensure they have the tools and expertise to grow and hire. At Intuit we believe that our AI-driven platform combined with our human expert network will make a significant impact on program participants, the community, and beyond,” said David Graham, Vice President of the Intuit Expert Network. “We are honored to be a part of this journey, understanding that Intuit tools will continue powering prosperity for local entrepreneurs, and look forward to providing expertise that will set participating businesses on a path to success.“
LAUL has distributed Intuit QuickBooks subscriptions annually to entrepreneurs participating in business programming. Intuit IDEAS builds on this by providing expertise to manage their accounting, tax, and other financial matters effectively. As part of the program, LAUL will provide business consultant experts to help participants leverage the numerous resources that will be provided by Intuit.
“At the Los Angeles Urban League, we actively seek partners who possess a deep understanding of the challenges confronting Black and Brown entrepreneurs and small business owners. That is why the development of the IDEAS program and our collaboration with Intuit is so meaningful,” said Michael Lawson, President and CEO at the Los Angeles Urban League. “This innovative and thoughtful initiative will empower a diverse group of small business owners in Los Angeles, and more importantly, it will add to the economic vitality and support the self-sufficiency of our neighborhoods and our families. We are thrilled about this new program which is rooted in a deep commitment to support local, small Black and minority-owned businesses across Los Angeles in partnership with Intuit.”
Businesses interested in participating in the program will complete an application and register with LAUL’s Entrepreneurship Center. In addition to year-long support from Intuit experts, each entrepreneur will receive Los Angeles Urban League business coaching to maximize the benefit and learnings of the program.
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Intuit IDEAS will focus on small businesses that are geographically diverse and minority or women owned. At the conclusion of the 12-month cycle, Intuit will also provide participants with a $10,000 grant to continue to accelerate program participants’ continued business growth.
Intuit is committed to the Los Angeles community through a number of initiatives and investments. In 2021, Intuit announced a long-term partnership with the Los Angeles Clippers to deliver one-of-a-kind fan and customer experiences while delivering economic benefits for the local community via Intuit Dome. Intuit Dome is creating more than 7,000 jobs and construction is expected to complete ahead of the 2024-2025 NBA season. Intuit has invested more than $1 million in Los Angeles-area school districts including Inglewood, Compton, and Los Angeles Unified School Districts to develop financial literacy and job readiness programs to empower the next generation of students to learn about finances and entrepreneurship. Last year, Intuit partnered with the Suh Family Foundation, co-founded by NFL player, Ndamukong Suh, and his wife, Katya Suh, to provide Intuit’s Financial Literacy Foundations course to students in the Los Angeles area and has engaged in several events with the foundation.
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