The “entrepreneur-in-residence” (EIR) role is common in the startup world, with accelerators and university startup programs hiring such a person to provide mentorship, guidance, and expertise to budding entrepreneurs.
But that title isn’t as common in the nonprofit world. But the United Way of Greater Atlanta is taking a page out of the startup playbook and hiring their first EIR. Atlanta-based founder and serial entrepreneur Sanjay Parekh, who was selected for the position, will lead UWGA Labs. The Labs is designed to “identify and nurture consumer-centric social ventures.” according to a press release.
Parekh has already made his mark in the Atlanta tech scene. He’s founded and co-founded ten companies, including Mirage Data (an Engage-backed company) and Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, which has grown to be a “living laboratory” for transportation technology. He also co-hosts Tech Talk Y’all, a popular tech-focused podcast that has been running since 2017.
QUESTION: How did you learn about the EIR position with the United Way?
Finding this newly created position was purely luck. I stumbled upon it on some site (perhaps LinkedIn) and it sounded interesting. I regularly see it in the private sector, but I had never heard of a nonprofit hiring an Entrepreneur in Residence. Even though I had no history with United Way of Greater Atlanta, I figured there was no harm in applying and seeing what happened.
What about the opportunity made it seem like a good fit for you?
As I got to know more about United Way of Greater Atlanta and the team, I realized it was a great place for me. Anyone who knows me knows that I talk about Atlanta as the entire Greater Atlanta metro area. It’s the same place we all say we’re from when we’re speaking to people outside of Georgia. An organization that is looking to uplift the entire 13-county region, not just one area, is the kind of impact and leverage that excites me. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. So we need to make sure everyone has a boat and we all rise together.
Is there a timeframe set out for how long the entrepreneur-in-residence position is?
The new entrepreneur-in-residence position at United Way of Greater Atlanta is not meant to be a time-limited position. United Way of Greater Atlanta is seeking to change our ability to accomplish our mission without having to be solely reliant on donations. Nonprofits can succeed more greatly if they are able to determine more of their destiny due to revenue generation. Donations then play a part on top of that earned revenue to expand the mission and increase reach. So no, the EIR position should not and is not time bound but instead should, I hope, grow over time and whoever is in this role after me will have a foundation to build from that will allow them to reach even greater heights. United Way has been serving the community for nearly 120 years, and it’s exciting to help ensure the next era of impact.
Walk us through your vision for UWGA Labs. What types of people are you looking to involve in the Labs?
You’re catching me during my first week on the job, so I still have a lot to learn. Every day I’m interacting with new teammates at United Way of Greater Atlanta and learning about their piece of the puzzle. For me, the vision is to first improve what we’re already doing and, in the process, either increase our capabilities, generate revenue, or ideally both. After that, it will be looking at other areas of opportunity where we can get involved and quickly launch new products or services that help everyone achieve more and allow us to continue expanding our impact across Greater Atlanta.
The types of people we hire into the Labs group will depend on the products and services we decide to launch. It’s a little early for me to be able to communicate this just yet, but in the coming weeks to months we’ll start talking about this.
How can the Atlanta startup community get involved?
In terms of the community, first we need help from supporters and friends. This is a new team and comprised, right now, of just one person – me. So my capabilities, aside from my new teammates already at United Way of Greater Atlanta, are pretty limited. If there are people interested in volunteering and helping, I would love to hear from them. I can foresee us needing help on the technical side (design, software development, etc.) but I’m open to others as well, and seeing how we can utilize help to accomplish our mission.
As we launch products and services, we’ll need beta testers and then users. People can sign up on our (not yet launched – but collecting email addresses!) newsletter for the Labs group. We’ll use this to communicate needs and launches to anyone interested. This is the first time United Way of Greater Atlanta has launched products and services like this. So if you live in, care about, or are interested in Greater Atlanta please sign up to our new mailing list or let me know you’re interested in getting involved. If you are in the startup community and don’t already know me, ask someone who has been to Startup Riot and they can introduce you to me.
As the Labs launches, what success metrics are you looking at?
There is only one metric that matters – our ability to allow the whole of United Way of Greater Atlanta to better ensure every child can reach their full potential. We’ll do that by generating positive revenue that we can provide to the rest of the organization to expand the mission and increase support for partner nonprofits. So our Labs’ metric of success is revenue, but our nonprofit metric of success is impact.
You hold so many titles…founder, podcast host, entrepreneur-in-residence. What time management tips can you share with others in the startup world?
Use a calendar. 🙂 I try to be focused on what meetings I accept and the organizations I’m a part of, but it’s also important, as an individual, to be involved and giving back. I’m involved on committees of a number of nonprofits and large organizations. All of these activities – from board service, to podcasting, to now being an EIR all augment each other. It’s a challenge to keep everything going, but having a great team and great people around you makes the work become ‘not work’ and makes every day rewarding.
