About

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

When Ben Powell launched the first mini-golf course in Puebla, Mexico, he was focused primarily on ensuring he could make enough money to repay his investors. But as the business grew, he began to realize it was generating a much more significant kind of return. One employee, Maribel, a single mother, was able to buy her own apartment because of the taxable wages she earned – the first of her life. Another was encouraged and given the flexibility to go back and complete her degree – from primary school.

These actions and many others inspired Ben to see small businesses as a fundamental driver of innovation and job creation in poor countries. Maybe, he thought, business could design itself so as to solve certain kinds of social problems much more effectively than charitable organizations by addressing the very roots causes of poverty and inequality.  In 2004, Ben and a group of students at Columbia Business School wrote a business plan for a new kind of development organization that would help outstanding entrepreneurs launch and finance small companies with high growth potential that were addressing social problems. During this time, Ben was introduced to Ricardo Teran, a serial entrepreneur who had recently co-founded the Young Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nicaragua.

Together, they decided to launch the model in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. Through trail and error and constant experimentation with a great team, most of whom are from the region, we have built an approach to development we think works better than most out there.

Why Nicaragua?

Ben grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and question of why Nicaragua came up frequently. As Ben notes, “People often ask me why of all places we started in Nicaragua and the reason is simple: that’s where Ricardo is from. We wanted to build an organization with strong local roots and local buy-in. And while Nicaragua is certainly challenging, that is pretty much the whole point of what we are trying to do – bring capital and expertise where circumstances are the most challenging, and where investors otherwise might be too afraid to tread. We decided to go deep and really understand the needs of small business in one geography over a sustained period of time.”

Today Agora operates throughout Central America and is expanding into Mexico.

Why “Agora”?

In ancient Greece, citizens gathered in the agora – marketplace or public square – to discuss ideas and exchange goods and services. Agora Partnerships is building a modern-day agora where volunteer consultants, impact investors, local experts and business leaders, and talented impact entrepreneurs from all walks of life can join together with one purpose – to create and grow the businesses that will put the world on a more sustainable path and move it forward.

Why “Partnerships?”

We wanted to stress the importance of partnership to development in very practical terms – there needs to be clear coordination and information sharing along the entrepreneurial value chain for Agora – and other organizations like us – to be successful. For example, groups that run business plan competitions need to know us, and we need to know them, so we can work together to help an entrepreneur at the appropriate time. We also believe, philosophically, that there is an urgent need to work together to create networks of networks and to link people together in ways that channel real action. Transaction and information costs are too high in our business – working together brings them down. Building partnerships is key to our success.

What’s up with the logo?

Our logo is meant to imply a strong and sturdy agora where each color represents a different stage of our original model – identify, consult, invest, and support. We believe we need to take an integrated and holistic view toward supporting small businesses, from the process of identification, all the way to then supporting them after they have received investment. The three colored squares of our logo also represent our target market – called the “missing middle” – companies too big for micro-finance and too small for traditional capital. Imagine the logo as a pyramid; we do not work directly with those at the base of the pyramid (if they need capital, they may be able to get it from a microfinance bank, but most likely they do not need capital – they need a job and good schools for their children), nor do we work with those at the very top (they may be running incredible companies, but they do not need our help – the market works for them, and impact investors can find them without our guidance).  We work with the band in the middle: the high-growth sustainable small businesses that are on the front lines in the global war against poverty but that receive very little assistance or attention from our large development institutions.