Melissa Bradley is a professor of the practice at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economics, and innovation.
Since graduating from Georgetown McDonough in 1989 with a B.S. in finance, Bradley has remained passionate about preserving the strength of the American financial system.
“I am laser-focused on small business and entrepreneurship — which is the backbone of the U.S. economy,” Bradley said. “More individuals are employed in small businesses than large corporations. As the demographics of founders have changed to the majority of people of color, it is important to support their journey with culturally competent and relevant support.”
At Georgetown and through her own business, 1863™ Ventures, which is a platform that delivers content, connections, and capital, to “New Majority” entrepreneurs to foster responsible entrepreneurship and change the narrative around their potential and needs, Bradley lives and breathes purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
“All investing has an impact,” Bradley said. “The class I teach is focused on intentionally using capital to generate a profit and create social impact at the same time. Students hear from for-profit social entrepreneurs, as well as investors. The final project is the creation of an impact investing fund. Whether students go into finance or investment banking is irrelevant. As Georgetown seeks to create global leaders, I believe my MBA students need to understand the impact and power of capital allocation across all sectors.”
In order to achieve business success, Bradley believes that a company should solve a problem or a pressing societal challenge.
“The founders who solve really big social problems are the true social entrepreneurs,” Bradley said. “If founders wish to solve really big social problems, then they need to understand the problem, have empathy toward the impacted stakeholders, focus on impact and profitability, and seek to scale their solutions if and when they work.”
When looking at the future of entrepreneurship, Bradley explained that supporting founders who are stepping up as forward-thinking innovators will be crucial to the success of the industry.
“This new batch of founders are women, people of color, and older generations. As any good business, we must follow the customer demand.”
