Programs and results
What we aim to solve
For entrepreneurs of color who manage to start, but struggle to grow their businesses, Good Work Network is a non-profit that provides access to education and individual business planning support to increase revenues and profitability, job creation, and contract attainment. Unlike most accelerators and incubators, our support is individual to the client, not limited to a specified duration, has no designated enrollment period, and can be provided in-person and virtually. We stay in our lane. While an abundance of resources exist both online and in brick-and-mortar operations to help entrepreneurs start businesses, far fewer exist to help them sustain operations and grow, eventually priming them to scale. We are that resource – with a specific eye on entrepreneurs of color. We work to increase minority business growth by addressing the well-documented barriers to success — contacts, contracts, and capital.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Small Business Development Services
Technical Assistance, Entrepreneurship Training, Administrative & Management Support Services, Market Access Assistance, Capital Access Assistance, 1-on-1 Coaching
Where we work
External reviews

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Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our current services of one-on-one coaching and entrepreneurship education are led by a near-20-year veteran of the SBA and a skilled former small business lender. Greg Duffer is our Director of Small Business Serivces and has experience in small business lending, marketing, and government contracting. He graduated in 1998 from Marshall University with his MBA. Additionally, he has a project management certificate from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and a FAC-C federal contracting certificate.
Tawanna Hardy-Ventress has been in the financial industry for over ten years. Her career started in 1999 as a loan processor in the mortgage industry before becoming a licensed loan originator in the State of Louisiana. Prior to joining Good Work Network, Tawanna worked for nearly a decade as a lending advisor at Liftfund, a provider of loans to small business owners who did not had access to loans from commercial sources. Tawanna has a B.A. in Marketing from Tulane University and sits on the board of El Centro, a nonprofit specializing in providing culturally competent financial literacy programming, business coaching and entrepreneurial training to Latinx individuals and entrepreneurs in south Louisiana.
Hermione Malone serves as Executive Director of Good Work Network, where she has lead an organizational re-imagining to modernize operations, strengthen the skills of the team, and better support the changing needs of growth-phase women and minority entrepreneurs. Prior to her arrival at GWN, Hermione served as Director of Supplier Diversity for Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. There, she created the corporate supplier diversity strategy, including metrics, policies, and protocols designed to increase Cleveland Clinic purchasing from minority-, women-, and veteran-owned companies, among others, ultimately attaining more than $100M in annual spend with diverse companies. Hermione has also worked as a professional journalist for numerous U.S.-based newspapers, including The Boston Globe. She is a German Marshall Memorial Fellow (2016) and holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from Case Western Reserve University, a B.S. in Journalism from Florida A&M University, and a Diversity Management Certificate from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Good Work Network is proud to partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE, the New Orleans Business Alliance, the Louisiana Alliance for Economic Inclusion, and Interise in delivering a constellation of education, coaching, mentoring, and access to opportunity to our clients. Not only has GWN successfully delivered business development services to thousands of women and minority entrepreneurs for over 19 years, it has done so while managing millions of dollars in private, state, local and federal funding cumulatively. We have strong internal controls, and efficient platforms for tracking and monitoring outcomes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2019, we invested in an evidence-based online platform for small business advising and education, with the ability to be used virtually to support clients across Louisiana and beyond. The curriculum for our 5-month intensive cohort, Level Up! is used in over 70 communities across the country and is proven to help firms grow. September 2020 saw the launch of our 3rd cohort.
Our supplementary educational programming focuses on building financial acumen – so that entrepreneurs can make more informed decisions about how to grow their business, and become more bankable. Access to capital is a known barrier, but utilizing that capital wisely is as much of an imperative.
We began a year-long focus on expanding services across the state of Louisiana last year and as a result have expanded our provision of services using technology - including an overhaul of our client database, adoption of a web-based business coaching platform, and organizational subscription to an online meeting platform. Thankfully that ground work was laid prior to COVID-19, facilitating our rapid response. Our technology allowed us to seamlessly continue supporting entrepreneurs virtually through one-on-one advising and expanding our webinar offerings, laying the groundwork for further expansion to regional markets in 2021 and beyond.
We saw a 181% increase in participation in our capacity-building trainings from January through August of 2020 compared to the same time last year. As a result, we have made most of our trainings available on-demand via on our new online learning library.
2020 also saw us launch our women's CEO roundtable, The GatHERing, focused on growing women-owned businesses. By fall 2020, we anticipate launching our new member portal that will feature access to mentors, visibility to procurement professionals, specialized educational content, and more. Lastly, this fall will see the launch of a special projects fund, designed to provide funding to help our clients build capacity and/or re-imagine their business in the wake of the COVID-19 economic disaster. JPMorgan Chase was our first contributor to the fund we aim to continue growing.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Entrepreneurially-minded business owners of color and women with business revenues between $150,000 and $1 million annually
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
In response to feedback that our clients desired more connection to and opportunities to learn from other entrepreneurs, we launched a women's CEO roundtable, added an additional business growth cohort, and created an online community platform to for business owners to network.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GOOD WORK NETWORK
Board of directorsas of 01/07/2022
Ms. Daphne McBeth
AWS
Term: 2020 - 2023
Jim Schoen
Fidelity Bank
Yolanda Brumfield
Eugene Green
Nationwide Real Estate Corp
Dr. Pamela Jolly
Torch Enterprises Inc.
Hyma Moore, Jr.
GNO, Inc.
Lydia Cutrer
Gulf Coast Housing Partnership
Alesha Washington
The George Gund Foundation
Dr. Sherri Charleston
Harvard University
Eric Morgan
Morgan & Co.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/08/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.