Ecosystem builders have a unique opportunity to reverse the growing wealth gap in our country, and to cultivate and integrate approaches that more effectively remove barriers for significant portions of our population.

As professional change agents, system thinkers, and resource providers, ecosystem builders are well positioned to see the hidden structural barriers that perpetuate disconnection, segregation, and isolation – and to remove them.

However, we need diverse voices to lead us toward understanding and removing barriers for all entrepreneurs. Our leadership must include ecosystem builders from all walks of life, all parts of communities, and all kinds of regions, both nationally and globally. In order to empower and create equitable access for entrepreneurs who have been systemically excluded, ecosystem building must also include intentional efforts to level the playing field, to honor the need for belonging within entrepreneurial communities, and to have the (sometimes) hard conversations required for meaningful and lasting change.

Only with a diverse group of leaders can we develop and distribute the insights and effective practices that are needed to support more entrepreneurs with a wide range of perspectives and to help more ecosystem builders lead inclusive change efforts in their own organizations and communities. With a truly open and inclusive ecosystem building field, we can model the change we want to see in the world, disrupt the status quo, and help build a resilient and cohesive economic system that allows us all to realize our full potential.