Venture for America is a fellowship program that connects recent graduates with jobs at startups across the country, including New Orleans. The Big Easy is a popular destination for fellows and there are a few dozen former and current fellows in the city.
The organization has just launched an Executive in Residence (EIR) Program, a new initiative will bring executives from tech companies to cities where our Fellows already work to help correct the regional imbalances. Other cities the program is in include Miami, Denver, St. Louis, Providence, Philadelphia, Atlanta and others.
The first confirmed EIR is Leslie Miley, former Director of Engineering at Slack. He will eventually be joined by other executives who will “trade Silicon Valley for a VFA city and pull from the lessons they’ve learned in tech to serve as resources to the local innovation and entrepreneurship communities – advising entrepreneurs, activating their networks, and growing alongside the startup ecosystem,” shared the Venture for America team.
“There is no shortage of real problems to be solved, or daring risk takers dedicated to working hard to build the right solution in our cities. We’ve just got to get them there.”