From idea to entrepreneurship: South Dallas center nurtures talent, small businesses – Dallas News

Report on the WeCreation Center’s Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals in South Dallas

Executive Summary

The WeCreation Center, a collaborative initiative in South Dallas, serves as a community innovation hub that directly addresses several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By providing skills training, entrepreneurial support, and educational programs to a diverse, intergenerational population, the center fosters local economic growth, promotes quality education, and reduces inequalities. This report analyzes the center’s operations and impact through the lens of the SDGs.

Alignment with Key Sustainable Development Goals

The WeCreation Center’s model is fundamentally aligned with fostering sustainable community development. Its primary contributions are concentrated in the following areas:

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The center acts as an incubator for local entrepreneurs, providing the skills and resources necessary to create small businesses and generate sustainable livelihoods.
• SDG 4: Quality Education: It offers inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all, from schoolchildren to senior citizens.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: By empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds, including women and ethnic minorities, the center provides a pathway to economic inclusion.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The center’s existence is a testament to a successful partnership between an educational institution and a non-profit organization.

Programmatic Impact on SDGs

Fostering Economic Empowerment (SDG 1, SDG 8, SDG 5)

The center’s core mission is to transform creative ideas into viable business ventures, directly contributing to local economic vitality.

1. Entrepreneurial Development: The center provides comprehensive support for emerging entrepreneurs. This includes hands-on training in product creation (e.g., embroidery, leatherwork, 3D printing) and business development consulting. This directly supports SDG 8 by promoting entrepreneurship and the creation of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
2. Poverty Reduction: By equipping community members with marketable skills, the center facilitates income generation, a critical component of SDG 1 (No Poverty).
3. Gender Equality and Inclusion: The center serves as a catalyst for entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. For example, it supports aspiring female business owners like Dametria Brown, who is developing an embroidered hat brand, thereby advancing SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

Advancing Lifelong Learning and Innovation (SDG 4, SDG 9)

Education and innovation are central to the WeCreation Center’s approach to community development.

• Vocational and Skills Training: The center offers a wide range of workshops that provide practical, hands-on skills. This focus on technical and vocational skills for employment and entrepreneurship is a key target of SDG 4.
• Youth Entrepreneurship Programs: Through its partnership with St. Philip’s School, the center integrates entrepreneurship into the curriculum for seventh-grade students, teaching them to develop and monetize their own business ideas. This educational philosophy aims to create future employers, not just employees.
• Access to Technology and Innovation: By providing access to modern technologies like 3D printers, the center functions as an innovation hub, supporting SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) at a community level.

Building Sustainable and Inclusive Communities (SDG 11, SDG 17)

The center’s success is built on collaboration and a deep commitment to the local community.

1. Strategic Partnership: The collaboration between St. Philip’s School and Community Center and Dallas Designing Dreams exemplifies SDG 17. This partnership leverages the strengths of both organizations to create a resource that neither could have built alone.
2. Community Cohesion: The center serves as a gathering place for people of all ages and backgrounds, strengthening the social fabric of South Dallas and contributing to the creation of an inclusive and resilient community, in line with SDG 11.

Future Outlook

The vision for the WeCreation Center includes the establishment of a retail outlet to showcase and sell products created by its members. This next step would further solidify its contribution to SDG 8 by creating a direct channel to market for local entrepreneurs. The long-term goal is to cultivate a “village of entrepreneurs,” establishing a sustainable model for community-led economic development that can be replicated in other areas.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article on the WeCreation Center in South Dallas highlights several issues and initiatives that directly connect to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• SDG 4: Quality Education – The center provides workshops, afterschool programs, and hands-on training, focusing on vocational and entrepreneurial skills for youth and adults.
• SDG 5: Gender Equality – By supporting all community members, including aspiring female entrepreneurs like Dametria Brown, and by operating in a context where female entrepreneurship is growing, the center contributes to women’s economic empowerment.
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – The core mission of the center is to foster economic growth by promoting entrepreneurship, creativity, and the development of small businesses, which are key drivers of job creation.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – The center acts as an “innovation hub,” providing access to technology like 3D printers and supporting the growth of small-scale creative enterprises.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – The center is explicitly inclusive, serving “people of all ages and all walks of life” and contributing to the economic inclusion of diverse communities, including Black, Asian, and Hispanic entrepreneurs mentioned in the article.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – By creating a community-focused space that fosters local economic development and collaboration, the center helps build a more inclusive and resilient community in South Dallas.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the activities described, the following specific SDG targets are relevant:

• SDG 4: Quality Education

  • Target 4.4: “By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.” The article details how the WeCreation Center offers hands-on training in skills like “leatherwork, sewing, drone piloting, video editing, embroidery digitizing, sublimation printing and graphic design” to help community members build businesses.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • Target 8.3: “Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises…” The center is a direct embodiment of this target, acting as a “catalyst for building emerging entrepreneurs” and providing a “platform for local entrepreneurs and small business owners.”

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • Target 5.5: “Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.” The center supports the economic participation of women by providing resources and skills. The article highlights a female entrepreneur, Dametria Brown, and notes the national trend that “about 43% of self-employed Americans being female.”

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  • Target 10.2: “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.” The article states the center is for “people of all ages and all walks of life,” from a “senior citizen or a kindergartener” and supports the rise of entrepreneurs from “Black, Asian and Hispanic communities.”

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  • Target 9.3: “Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises… to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets.” The center helps entrepreneurs “monetize on their businesses” and plans to “create a merchandise center or a retail store,” which directly facilitates market access for small businesses.

• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

  • Target 11.a: “Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.” The center is a result of a community partnership between “St. Philip’s School and Community Center and Dallas Designing Dreams” and serves as a hub for local economic and social development.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article mentions or implies several quantitative and qualitative indicators that can measure progress:

• Indicators for SDG 4 (Target 4.4)

  • Number of participants in educational programs: The article explicitly states, “About 18 students at St. Philip’s School attend their seventh-grade entrepreneurship classes at the center.”
  • Diversity of skills taught: The range of classes offered, from “candle making to stitching to embroidery and even producing material using a 3D printer,” serves as a qualitative indicator of the breadth of vocational training provided.

• Indicators for SDG 8 (Target 8.3)

  • Number of new businesses created: The article provides national and state-level data (“5.5 million new business applications were filed” in 2023) and gives specific examples of businesses being developed at the center, such as Dametria Brown’s hat brand and student businesses including “garden flags, jewelry, dog treats.” The number of such ventures originating from the center is a direct indicator.

• Indicators for SDG 5 & 10 (Targets 5.5 & 10.2)

  • Proportion of entrepreneurs from diverse groups: The article cites national statistics that can be used as a benchmark: “about 43% of self-employed Americans being female” and the exponential rise of “Entrepreneurs from Black, Asian and Hispanic communities.” The demographic data of the center’s participants would be a direct local indicator of its contribution to inclusion.

• Indicators for SDG 9 (Target 9.3)

  • Access to markets: The plan to “create a merchandise center or a retail store” is a tangible step towards integrating small businesses into the market. The number of businesses from the center that begin selling products would be a key performance indicator.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: dallasnews.com