Musa and Khaleda Dakri Center for Economic Inclusion
The SURESM Program: Where We've Been
Muhammad Yunus (right), won Nobel Peace prize with Microfinance in 2006. Thank You to Our Community Partners
Energizing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Thank You to Our Funding Partners
Energizing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Thank You to Our Education Partners
Energizing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. SURE™ Program Honors & Awards
Higher Ed Community Impact Award, Texas Governor Abbott’s Volunteer Awards.
The SURE℠ Program was launched in Fall 2012 with a mission to enable economic stimulation by serving aspiring local entrepreneurs from underserved communities and Veterans in the Houston area. The SURE℠ Program provides FREE financial and business education, ongoing business consulting and prepares entrepreneurs to access capital.
While the SURE℠ Program has supported microfinance efforts in Africa, India, Mexico and China, Robert Grinaker Professor of Accounting and SURE℠ Founding Director Saleha Khumawala has recognized that there is a need here in the Houston area. Almost 20 percent of Houstonians live in areas designated as high poverty neighborhoods and over nine percent live on less than $2.00 per day.
Housed at the Bauer College of Business, the SURE℠ Program offers education modules and mentorship for businesses in their beginning stages of development. By partnering Bauer business students with aspiring entrepreneurs, the program has developed a unique model of experiential learning. It consists of three active components: SURE℠ Entrepreneur, SURE℠ Boot Camp for Veterans and SURE℠ Incubator.
The SURE℠ Program offers the 13-week class twice a year (Spring and Fall), which were formerly housed in local community centers, including:
- Mission Milby
- Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
- Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center
- Independence Heights Neighborhood Center
- Leonell Castillo Neighborhood Center
- Ripley House Neighborhood Center
Due to the rising demand and success of the SURE℠ Program, we moved to the University of Houston to accommodate the increased number of participants. Since its inception, the SURE℠ Program has educated and trained over 1,500 entrepreneurs.
