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About Us

Who We Are

The Venture Mentoring Team (The VMT) is a nonprofit educational 501(c)(3) dedicated to the startup and small business communities. The VMT evaluates, trains, and credentials mentors, then connects them with the best and brightest entrepreneurs to help their companies reach their full potential.

We are successful executives and entrepreneurs with experience in corporate, legal, academic, profit and not for profit organizations who donate time and talent.  Our goal is to help startups and small businesses gain sustainability and traction.

The VMT’s efforts impact the communities we serve in a number of positive, impactful ways. As the companies we mentor prosper, employment opportunities become available, generational wealth is created, and the entrepreneurs themselves experience personal growth.

We Help Founders

Why Startups And Small Businesses Love The VMT, In Their Own Words

We serve as a connective tissue for organizations who share our goals, creating a network consisting of universities and other institutions of higher learning, the investment community, corporations, incubator and accelerator programs and more. Mentors who join us from the corporate world become better suited to serve in their roles, having learned to think like owners. And we greatly enhance the effectiveness of loans and grants by combining the mentorship we offer with the funds those financial programs provide, resulting in a huge outcome multiplier.

Florida Atlantic University

The path taken by entrepreneurs is never a straight line and is full of twists and turns that often require expertise and guidance from professionals outside of the organization. We at 2nd Vault could not be more grateful and appreciative of the time and knowledge provided to us by the Venture Mentoring Team. Every minute spent with our mentoring team is time well spent and invested. The VMT mentoring team is a perfectly crafted group of professionals that all have meaningful direction and insights to provide. The VMT mentors keep us focused on what is in front of us systematically, helping to lead our company to scale. We feel so fortunate to have been selected as mentees of the VMT and hope to pay it forward in the future.  Thank you for all you do and the impact you have on start-up founders, as there is no price one could ever assign to the value we have received.

Kevin C. Cox, phD, MSE

Senior Instructor and Assistant Director

Elevate Together

Office Depot initiated the Elevate Together program in 2021 partnering with The Venture Mentoring Team, the National Urban League and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to deliver impactful, measurable and scalable support services that foster business creation and growth opportunities for Black and Hispanic businesses.

It has been an honor to partner with the Venture Mentoring Team during Elevate Together’s launch and early stages. Their mentoring methodology and training set a high bar, and their mentors have been invaluable to our Elevate Together grant recipients.

We look forward to the VMT’s continued work with Urban League affiliates, Hispanic Chambers and other community partners to provide mentoring services to minority-owned small businesses as they grow and expand their mentoring services.

Sharu Goodwyn

National Manager, Community Investment, Elevate Together

Alex Price

National Director, Community Investment / Co-Leader, Diversity Council