Empowering Minority and BIPOC Founders Through Financial Literacy and Mentorship
Mark Babaran • November 25, 2024
Cohort 9: Gaining Financial Literacy with David Worrell
At Boost Pad, we’re all about giving minority and BIPOC founders the tools to build successful, sustainable businesses. Recently, our Cohort 9 entrepreneurs gathered for an insightful session led by David Worrell, founder of FUSE CFO, who broke down the essentials of financial literacy—a crucial skill for any founder looking to thrive long-term. David shared practical, hands-on guidance that gave our participants a clearer view of their businesses’ financial health and set them up to make confident, data-driven decisions. For many, this was a turning point, shedding light on what it really takes to build a resilient company.
David walked the group through three key financial statements every founder needs to understand to succeed:
- Profit & Loss Statement: This statement helps founders answer the critical questions, “Am I making money?” and “Am I selling enough to cover my costs?” By comparing revenue and expenses, it shows whether a business is truly profitable and if prices or volume need adjusting to reach a sustainable income.
- Balance Sheet: The balance sheet offers a snapshot of the business’s financial position, revealing assets and liabilities. David highlighted the importance of knowing exactly “Where is my money, and what do I owe?” This insight is crucial for planning growth or applying for funding, as it gives founders a strong sense of their financial standing.
- Cash Flow Statement: Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. David’s session underscored the importance of knowing where cash is coming from and going each month, helping founders avoid unexpected shortfalls. For small businesses, managing cash flow is often the difference between stability and struggle, making this understanding especially empowering.
In addition, David introduced participants to the power of metrics and dashboards—tools that quickly show what’s working, what isn’t, and where immediate actions are needed. Tracking metrics like gross profit margin and variable expenses can transform a founder’s approach, helping them make agile, informed decisions that keep their business on track.
This knowledge is transformative, especially for BIPOC and minority entrepreneurs who often face barriers to funding and resources. Financial literacy gives these founders the confidence to manage growth, plan strategically, and demonstrate readiness when it’s time to seek funding. But it’s also about impact beyond the business itself. Stronger businesses bring jobs, innovation, and economic stability to our city, creating a more vibrant and inclusive Charlotte.
Join Us in Supporting Minority Entrepreneurs: Boost Pad’s mission is to provide essential resources, mentorship, and learning opportunities like David Worrell’s seminar. With your support, we can continue empowering the next generation of BIPOC and minority founders with skills and knowledge that build lasting success. Consider becoming a Boost Pad donor today, and together, we can make a real impact on Charlotte’s future.
Founder Stories & Startup Wins — The Boost Pad
There's a particular kind of energy in a room full of people who've decided to bet on themselves. On Wednesday, September 16, 2026 , that energy filled Do Greater Charlotte as 17 founders officially kicked off Cohort 13 of The Boost Pad Accelerator the beginning of a 14-week journey that will challenge them, stretch them, and ultimately transform how they think about the businesses they're building. We Build Entrepreneurs First. Businesses Follow. That phrase isn't just a tagline at The Boost Pad it's the whole philosophy behind everything we do. Before founders ever touch a financial model or a marketing plan, we ask them to slow down and answer a harder question: why does your business deserve to exist? That's the spirit Module 1 was built around Know Your Why and it set exactly the right tone for everything ahead. Because here's the truth every founder in that room learned on day one: purpose comes before product. Products evolve. Strategies shift. Markets change. But a founder who is clear on their purpose, their vision, their mission, and their values has a foundation that holds steady through all of it. When your why is clear, every decision who you serve, how you market, who you partner with, how you grow gets easier. A Team Fully Invested in Their Success This cohort isn't walking into the next four months alone. Founders were introduced to the full Boost Pad team who'll be alongside them at every stage from Executive Director Steven Lewis, to Entrepreneurs in Residence Harold Hughes and Charles Kearse guiding them toward stronger, more scalable businesses, to the operations, marketing, and program support team making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Add in a roster of experienced mentors and guest experts, and it's clear: no founder in Cohort 13 will be figuring this out solo. Introducing CoachMax: A Learning Experience Built for Founders One of the most exciting parts of Kick Off was introducing this cohort to their new digital home for the program: Thinkific , powered by CoachMax , our AI coach available on demand. Every module is already built and waiting founders log in, work through the week's content, submit their assignments, and track their own progress in real time. It's a structured, always-available layer of support that means learning doesn't stop when the session ends; it continues all week, every week. Building Toward Pitch Night, One Week at a Time Perhaps the most exciting part of this journey: founders won't wait until the final week to build their pitch. Starting this week, every founder began constructing their investor-ready pitch deck one slide at a time Title Slide first, then Problem, Solution, Business Model, and onward alongside a weekly 60-second elevator pitch video that gets sharper, tighter, and more confident with every submission. By the time Cohort 13 reaches Pitch Night on January 6, 2027 , every founder will walk on that stage with a complete, polished, investor-ready presentation built week by week not thrown together the night before. A Cohort as Diverse as Charlotte Itself What already stands out about this group is the range seventeen founders, seventeen different businesses, spanning technology, wellness, consumer products, event services, education, and more. It's exactly the kind of mix that makes a cohort strong: founders learning not just from mentors and EIRs, but from each other, across industries they'd never otherwise cross paths in. Delivered in Partnership with the Do Greater Foundation Cohort 13 is proudly delivered in partnership with the Do Greater Foundation two organizations united around the same outcome: expanding access for founders who've historically been underserved by traditional capital, and opening more doors, relationships, and rooms to the entrepreneurs building Charlotte's future. "Progress Comes Through Consistency, Curiosity, and Action." That's the standard this cohort committed to on day one show up, participate, ask questions, support each other, and apply what they learn. It's a high bar. It's also exactly why Boost Pad graduates go on to build real, sustainable businesses. Grateful for This Cohort Thank you to every founder who showed up ready to build, to our EIR team for leading the way, and to the broader Boost Pad and Do Greater Foundation community that makes a night like this possible. Cohort 13 has only just begun and we can't wait to watch these 17 founders discover their why , sharpen their pitch, and walk across that Pitch Night stage in January.
Partnerships Create Possibilities: The Boost Pad & UNC Charlotte Launch the Student Intern Program
Good support starts with good listening. That's the idea behind our latest Strategic Partner Network collaboration on Thursday, September 17, 2026 , The Boost Pad partnered with Apparo to host a virtual listening session focused on one question: is technology helping small businesses run, or making it harder? A Session Built Around Real Voices For more than 20 years, Apparo has helped organizations use technology more effectively through practical, accessible guidance and support. Now, they're exploring whether that same kind of support could benefit small, owner-run businesses and rather than guessing at the answer, they wanted to hear it directly from business owners themselves. That's exactly what this session was for. Small business owners joined us virtually to talk openly about the technology they deal with day to day from CRM and customer management to accounting systems, marketing tools, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, cybersecurity and data protection, and AI and automation. No pitch, no sales agenda just a genuine conversation about what's working, what's not, and where the real friction points are. What We Heard The conversation did exactly what it was meant to do. As Apparo's Director of Technology Engagements, Jennifer Ray, put it afterward: the discussion helped confirm assumptions about the value Apparo might bring to the small business community. In other words the challenges business owners described lined up with what Apparo suspected, and now there's real, firsthand insight to help shape what comes next. Didn't Make It? You Can Still Weigh In For anyone who registered but couldn't attend live, Apparo shared a recording of the session along with a short follow-up questionnaire so more voices can still be part of shaping this work: 🎥 Watch the Session Recording → Grateful for the Partnership A big thank you to Jennifer Ray and the Apparo team for bringing this idea to us and trusting our community enough to ask hard questions and actually listen to the answers. And thank you to everyone who showed up, shared honestly, and helped shape what smarter technology support could look like for small businesses across Charlotte. Join the Strategic Partner Network This session is one small example of what's possible when organizations like Apparo choose to invest their expertise in Charlotte's entrepreneurs. The Boost Pad's Strategic Partner Network brings together Alumni Partners , Professional Partners , and Community Partners each contributing knowledge, mentorship, networking, or industry guidance, for a commitment of just five hours per cohort cycle. If your organization has expertise to offer technology, finance, marketing, legal, or otherwise we'd love to talk about what a partnership could look like. Become a Strategic Partner → Practical technology. Real business challenges. Your voice.