In today’s episode, we’re headed to Puerto Rico to talk with Denisse Rodríguez. Denisse left her high-flying career on Wall Street to return to her home country where she’s now dedicated to making entrepreneurship more accessible for founders all across the island.
Against the background of the bustling streets of San Juan, Denisse shares which champions helped her launch an island-wide ecosystem and she talks about the opportunities that come with a population of three million, and a diaspora of 5 million Puerto Ricans around the world.
Denisse has a big vision for making this US territory not just a place from which top talent graduates, but a place where top talent stays to build and work at startups that have the potential to transform the island state.
Denisse Rodríguez is an ecosystem builder and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of economic and community development. As Executive Director at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust, she founded and leads Colmena66, an award-winning program which makes entrepreneurship easier by connecting entrepreneurs with the vital, just-in-time, on-the-ground resources they need to accelerate their ideas and turn those into sustainable businesses that create jobs. Through entrepreneur-led economic development strategies, Denisse works to strengthen a cohesive and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Puerto Rico.
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Learn more about Denisse Rodríguez:
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Resources:
Ecosystems For Change: Logbook #7
Build the Fort: Simplifying Startup Community Building with Chris Heivly
E 6.7 - What We Learned: Stories That Redefine Entrepreneurship In Our Communities
E 6.6 - Stories of Tech and Innovation in Rural America with Austin Danforth
E 6.5 - Entrepreneurship Indiana: A State-Wide Storytelling Campaign with Julie Heath, Polina Osherov and Morgan Allen Part 2
E 6.4 - Entrepreneurship Indiana: A State-Wide Storytelling Campaign with Julie Heath, Polina Osherov and Morgan Allen Part 1
E 6.3 - Changing the Narrative of Rural Entrepreneurship with Natalie Hodge
E 6.2 - A Global Storyteller: Solutions-Based Journalism with Eva-Maria Verfürth
E 6.1 - The Power of Storytelling in Ecosystem Building
Ecosystems For Change: Logbook #6
E 5.8 - What We Learned: Knowing When and How to Move On as an Ecosystem Builder
E 5.7 - Unlearning Systems, Sharing Power, and Stepping Back From Your Startup with Naomi Ryland
E 5.6 - The Art of Quitting: Gracefully Navigating the Responsibility of Change with Lucas Lindsey
E 5.5 - Start. Hand over. Repeat. The Cycles of Ecosystem Building with Larkin Garbee
E 5.4 - Grief, Quitting, and Listening to the Your Heart with Annie Wood
E 5.3 - Self-Trust and Curating Impactful Community with Julia Firestone
E 5.2 - Recognizing Your Strengths and When It's Time to Sail On with Joe Maruschak
E 5.1 - The Quitters: Quitting the Infinite Game of Ecosystem Building
The Ecosystem Builders: Where Are They Now?
Federal Funding for Ecosystem Builders with Melissa Roberts Chapman
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