The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/406282
34 Fall 2014 a website devoted to relationship issues. Her upcoming book, The Busi- ness of Social Change, describes the methods of successful social entre- preneurs and their challenges. She is working on e-books and workshops called "Nuts and Bolts for Latina Start-ups," which also serve as the foundation for her Innovators In- stitute, an umbrella program with a number of initiatives to teach the business basics of start-ups. Those basics include developing an entrepreneurial style and busi- ness model, learning about proft and loss statements, preparing business plans, and pitching to potential lenders and investors. In July she was part of a roundtable discussion on National Pub- lic Radio about getting the next generation of minorities into the technology feld. Host Michel Martin talked about Escoto's par- ticipation in the Latina Startup Tour, which will bring training to 800 women and their businesses in eight cities this year, including Boston in October. During the discussion, Escoto called Latinas the fastest-growing entrepreneurial sector in the country, and said the goal is to get them to embrace technology and to use it to become part of the start-up economy and to solve social problems, espe- cially poverty and disease. Escoto notes that technology enables entrepreneurs to enter global markets that had been out of their reach, and a big part of her work is to teach them how to turn ideas into a proftable business. "In today's economy, the little gal (or guy) is best positioned to take over the world," she wrote on her blog. "If you are an entre- preneur, this is the best time to leverage all the existing resources and make a big impact in your community. "A tiny business can thrive and grow and compete because it has a smaller operation to fund. In other words, it takes a lot less food to feed a zebra than it does to feed a dinosaur. While giants need large volumes of sales to keep afoat, a small business can scale with lower volumes." This September, Escoto launched a series of podcasts called "Start-ups for Social Change," featuring stories of successful entre- preneurs who fght disease and poverty. In January, the site will be expanded to provide training, coaching, and tools for those who want to build a small business to fght these social ills. As an example of using technology for good, she points to a vehicle developed by I-TEC, the Indigenous Peoples Technol- ogy and Education Center, a missionary effort to help people in remote regions. The vehicle, a car that's capable of going airborne— via a powered parachute—when the roads end, can be used to shut- tle supplies and provide healthcare to off-the-grid locations. "This automobile costs around $60,000, making it about 12 times less expensive than a helicopter, and thus much more accessible to those who need it most," Escoto said, not- ing that an indigenous tribe in Ecua- dor will use the vehicle. She cites the work of the nonproft organization Engineering for Change, which works on technical solutions to humanitarian issues, including those involving agri- culture, water, energy, health, and sanitation. But she also says a start-up for social good could be as simple as a woman in a village with a cell phone that she rents for fve minutes at a time. While Escoto has the heart of an entrepreneur, she realizes there are only so many businesses she can build herself, so she's decided to help others get started and be a part of their enterprises vicari- ously. "I'm going to be part of something that is still bigger than my- self," she says. "It's about people who are also pursuing the kind of life and the kind of society that I want to see." With her technology background, Escoto can help start-ups with marketing, advertising, and other aspects of running a business. "I have a unique life experience, education, and access to resources that help me help those businesses that are using technology for good," she says. "I'm going to help them grow their enterprises so they can impact more people," especially in efforts to reduce pov- erty and disease. RETROSPECTIVE Escoto claims she was "educated in between cultures and coun- tries by mothers, fathers, aunts, grandparents, WPI's engineering curriculum, Christian leaders, and graduate school professors at Bentley." "WPI is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I didn't realize it at 20, when I was graduating. At that time, it seemed like fnally the torture was over and I could get away from all that engineering talk I had no passion for. "Today, I look back at my time at WPI and think, 'That's why I be- lieve that there is a God.' This just doesn't happen by coincidence." J Escoto calls Latinas the fastest-growing entrepreneurial sector in the country.