Small businesses & big moves
What’s ahead:
Built in LA
Celebrating National Small Business Month
Playing the long game
Built in LA
This month, we closed out the Visionary Ventures Program in true community fashion — together.
The final gathering brought our cohort of small business owners to 1010 Wine Bar in Inglewood, the Black-owned wine bar founded by program participant Leslie Jones. What began as a pilot initiative in Los Angeles — a collaboration between Social Change Fund United, the NBPA Foundation, and Stackwell — has grown into a shared space for learning, building, and long-term financial empowerment.
Throughout the program, founders focused not only on growing their businesses, but on strengthening the financial foundations underneath them — from investing and planning to building the tools needed for sustainable, long-term growth.
Visionary Ventures was built on a simple belief: access to financial wellness tools and investing support can help small businesses move from survival to sustainability — and from sustainability to scale.
For Stackwell, this pilot represented more than a program. It was a model for what happens when community, capital, and long-term financial education come together with intention.
And while this cohort may be wrapping, the work continues in the businesses being built, the habits being formed, and the futures being shaped long after we all said goodnight.
Congratulations to our Visionary Ventures cohort. We’re so proud to be a part of your journey.
Celebrating National Small Business Month
At Stackwell, our mission is to help communities thrive, and while each one looks different, one truth holds steady: strong communities are built on strong small businesses.
They’re more than economic engines — they’re neighborhood anchors that create jobs, shape local culture, and reinvest directly into the places they call home.
This belief is what grounds programs like Visionary Ventures in Los Angeles and the Small Business Investing Program (SBIP) in Detroit, where we’ve worked with our amazing partners to help entrepreneurs build investing confidence, strengthen financial habits, and take tangible steps toward long-term wealth building.
What we’ve learned is that when small business owners are given access to investing tools and financial education, they don’t just grow their businesses — they shift their relationship with money entirely. Confidence increases. Long-term planning takes root. Wealth-building becomes a practice, not a distant goal.
We know all this because we’ve spent the time with these communities. Teamed up with passionate partners. Done extensive research. We’re not only supporting entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses; we’re investing in the financial ecosystems that allow those businesses to thrive for the long run.
Small Business Month is a reminder of what we already know: when small business owners are supported, entire communities move forward with them.
What’s your money blind spot?
Understanding your finances isn’t just about what you know — it’s also about what you might be missing.
That’s why we launched a new quiz series in the Learning Center, starting with “What’s your money blindspot?” It’s designed to help you quickly uncover patterns in how you think about money, risk, and decision-making, so you can build habits that actually work for you.
Each quiz takes just a few minutes, but the goal goes deeper than that.
You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of your strengths, a better understanding of your tendencies, and a few practical ideas to help you move forward with more confidence. Because sometimes, the biggest unlock isn’t learning something new—it’s seeing yourself more clearly.
Playing the long game: Meet Alex Acker
Some ideas start as moments. Others start as environments — like late nights in dark gyms in Compton, where Alex Acker learned how to train through what he couldn’t always see.
That experience stayed with him long after his 16-year professional basketball career, shaping the way he thought about preparation, confidence, and what it really takes to perform under pressure.
Before he became a founder, Alex was an NBA player learning the game at the highest level. Now, he’s building something entirely new from the ground up: his own small business.
Today, Alex is the founder of AckRight Hands, a basketball training product designed to help players simulate defensive pressure and build confidence in game-like situations. As a participant in Stackwell’s Visionary Ventures Program, he’s also strengthening the financial foundation behind his business — using investing and long-term planning to build stability, ownership, and generational wealth for his family.
His story is about what happens when an athlete starts building again, one decision at a time.
This unpaid client testimonial was of an actual Stackwell client. This testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other clients. No testimonial is indicative of future performance or success. This testimonial may not represent all interactions or relationships with Stackwell.