CitySCOPE Podcast

In episode 11 of the CitySCOPE podcast, Kate Cooney, faculty at the Yale School of Management, speaks with Marissa King, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management about her book Social Chemistry: Decoding the Elements of Human Connection. Topics include: networks and why they matter, different types of social networks, a tool to assess your social network, why the structure of networks is important for building social movements, and the role of networks for economic development. Join us!

Join us for episode 10 of the CitySCOPE podcast where Kate Cooney, faculty at the Yale School of Management, speaks with Brian Argrett, President & CEO of City First Bank and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Broadway Financial Corporation. Topics include: the merger of City First and Broadway Financial to form the largest Black-led bank in the United States, the consolidation of the banking industry, the impact of the 2008 recession on Black-owned and Black-led banks, the history of disinvestment in Black communities and households in the United States, and the passion and creativity that go into creating quality financial products for low wealth communities. Take a listen!

In Episode 9 of the CitySCOPE podcast Kate Cooney, faculty at the Yale School of Management, speaks with Topiltzin Gomez, Chief of Staff at Honeycomb Credit. Our conversation focuses on the decline of the community banking sector, the Jobs Act of 2012, the rise of crowdfunding, and the ways that community capital can be deployed for local small business investment. Topiltzin shares his journey to Honeycomb Credit, through the Venture for America program, and details how Honeycomb Credit builds out rungs to bankability for small businesses by connecting the community. Tune in!

In Episode 8 of the CitySCOPE podcast Kate Cooney, faculty at the Yale School of Management, speaks with Kylie Jiwon Hwang, Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Kylie’s research lies at the intersection of entrepreneurship, discrimination and labor markets. Our conversation focuses on her dissertation research examining entrepreneurship and employment for formerly incarcerated people. Topics include: the current statistics on incarceration and recidivism in the United States, barriers to employment in the labor market for individuals with a criminal record, entrepreneurship as a response to labor market discrimination, employers’ views of candidates with entrepreneurial experience, and the role of employment and entrepreneurship in reducing recidivism. Join us!

Episode 7 of the CitySCOPE podcast features a conversation with Kate Cooney and Boris Sigal, Co-Executive Director of the Community Purchasing Alliance (CPA). Boris graduated from the Yale School of Management in 2014. Post-graduation, Boris worked for a number of years in New Haven, first in a special one-year position created between the New Haven City Economic Development Administration and the Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs and later as Director of Business Development at New Haven Works, where he focused on building closer relationships with the regional business community and aligning local hiring opportunities with large employers like Yale University and Yale-New Haven Health. Topics include: insights from analysis of Yale University’s procurement spending and the impact of operational decisions on the regional economy, reflections on a year-long initiative to move some of Yale University’s spending on procurement toward regional vendors, the landmark Yale University New Haven Hiring Initiative, and the impact on local business development that can result from banding smaller anchors (churches and schools) into purchasing cooperatives. Join us!

In Episode 6 of the CitySCOPE podcast Kate Cooney speaks with Marcia Chatelain, Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University about her Pulitzer Prize winning book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. Topics include: McDonald's trajectory from regional to national franchiser, McDonald's as a site of Civil Rights social movement activity, the fight for the right to franchise for Black entrepreneurs, attempts at restructuring McDonald's franchises into community ownership models, and what we can learn about Black capitalism through this history. Take a listen!

In Episode 5 of the CitySCOPE podcast we share the interview with Stanley Tucker, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Meridian Management Company, Inc (MMG). Stanley has been in the business of supporting and scaling minority and women owned businesses for fifty years. Stanley began his career as Director of the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority, building the organization from the ground up. Today, his firm MMG, Inc manages three additional funds: the Maryland Casino Business Investment Fund, Community Development Ventures, Inc., and MMG Ventures, LP which together provide the continuum of capital needed to take a firm from birth to exit. Described as working with a mix of creativity and pragmatism, Stanley is recognized for generating some of the most innovative programs in the country. Be sure to join us for this one!

Episode 3 of the CitySCOPE podcast features Professor Gerald Jaynes, the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of Economics, African American Studies, and Urban Studies with lead in commentary from Tim Bates, Professor emeritus at Wayne State University and Fred McKinney, former Carlton Highsmith Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University and the past Director of the People’s United Bank Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship also at Quinnipiac University. This week we look at some stories of 19th and 20th century Black entrepreneurs who made it big, despite the odds.

*Photo credit: AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File.