We’re happy to welcome Brian Alvarez-Bailey, the Foundation for Community Driven Innovation‘s new Entrepreneur-in-Residence at AMRoC Fab Lab, to the AMRoC team!

Mr. Alvarez-Bailey is the founder of Allison, a Fintech company that serves Community Banks and Credit Unions through a low code API, and Co-Founder of Vocasity, a Digital Vocational Incubator that served the Chicagoland area through community re-skilling and up-skilling. He also formerly served as a mentor with SCORE Chicago and was a consultant with the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council. Currently, he serves on the Advisory Board of the new Soaring City initiative at RITHM at Uptown, where AMRoC Fab Lab is located.

Brian will be heading up the FCDI Equity in Entrepreneurship (EquinEnt) program at AMRoC. Now in its 3rd year, EquinEnt is an entrepreneurship education and support program that aims to help bridge the race and gender equity gap in early-stage entrepreneurship in Uptown Tampa, to help create more inclusive pathways to the Tampa Bay startup ecosystem.  Program participants have access to a dedicated community of mentors with expertise across a wide range of business fields, as well as to the rapid prototyping and fabrication resources and tools at AMRoC.

The program is delivered in three phases: the Big Idea Brew Club, which helps participants discover whether their idea can be turned into a sustainable business; the Startup Club LaunchPad which helps those with marketable ideas become established businesses and earn a little seed funding to get them going, and finally, the Entrepreneurs Cruise Club which helps newly established businesses further improve financial and strategic planning, and develop a long-range plan for sustainable success.

“I’ve always been in love with the concept of taking an idea and building it out to solve a problem,” Brian said. “Regardless of the outcome, being able to take something inside of my mind and make it into a tangible solution has been my passion. I’m excited for the Big Idea Brew Club, particularly. Being able to workshop an idea, to help someone identify if it can be a viable business model, is thrilling for me. My success is not centered around the pathway that lies ahead, but the steps I take to ensure the pathway behind is secure for the next person. I’ve had a lifetime of lessons that I want to pay forward, to help other entrepreneurs who embark on their own journeys.”

Outside of his entrepreneurship passions, Brian is an avid reader, loves golf, playing with his dogs, and being with his family.

Ultimately, he says, “I’m hoping to learn, become better and continue to be inspired by the amazing work the FCDI team has been doing.”

We’re grateful to have Brian on that team with us and look forward to growing the Equity in Entrepreneurship program and the Uptown Tampa small business community with his compassion, expertise, and leadership.