Colleen Slinkard
Program Manager
Colleen joined Livelihood NW in 2019 to launch Ascend Oregon, a corporate-funded program that leverages a national ecosystem to provide businesses with personalized strategies for growth through increased access to management, money, and markets with the goal of growing the revenues of new business owned by people of color. In addition, she contributed to the launch of our Open Business Advising program and provides one-on-one business support (in English and Spanish) to clients.
Colleen has over 20 years of experience working in 25 countries to equip nonprofits and for-profits with financial and technical resources for growth, including managing private sector and government-funded initiatives. This experience opened her eyes to the role of entrepreneurship in sustainably alleviating poverty and creating wealth in an empowering and dignifying way. She founded and ran an award-winning social impact advisory company where she trained women-owned businesses from across 31 countries in developing innovative business models and increased the presence of certified businesses in corporate supply chains in over 70 countries. She expanded and systematized the financial loan products and business services for a Peruvian microfinance organization and secured private funding to open a new branch in the Andes mountains. Lastly, she has advised economic policy think tank clients from over 80 countries, including launching a global non-profit management program in 2008 that is still ongoing.
Fun facts about Colleen: She is part of the first set of quadruplets in her hometown of Albuquerque, NM, and is an aspiring guitar player.