In celebration of our companions and the good work they do to advance financial progress for all, we interviewed a few of our Nasdaq Basis quarterly grant recipients about their roles, backgrounds and the significance of their work. We spoke with Meghan Ogilvie, Chief Government Officer of Canine Tag Inc., on their mission to equip veterans, navy spouses, and caregivers with the instruments and schooling to construct resilience, discover renewed goal, and forge group past the navy.
Inform us about Canine Tag, Inc. What’s its core mission?
The Canine Tag Entrepreneurial 5-month Fellowship Program equips veterans, navy spouses, and caregivers with the instruments and schooling to construct resilience, discover renewed goal, and forge group past the navy. Canine Tag gives a bridge from navy service to the civilian world by means of a Enterprise Administration Certificates Program at Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research, a Capstone presentation, analysis on funding alternatives, and sensible utility in a DC bakery to set them up for fulfillment as small enterprise homeowners. Paired with a holistic method to wellness, this system allows fellows to develop as people within the context of a brand new circle of help.
The social influence mannequin of Canine Tag features a brick and mortar bakery within the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, that infuses the area people with $400,000 yearly by using native bakers, cooks, and catering employees. Revenue from the bakery helps fund this system, giving companions and donors the chance to attach with the mission and be a part of the Canine Tag group with one thing so simple as a cup of espresso.
Our funding companions are energetic members in our success from opening their doorways to host pitch periods, resume assessment, and networking, to providing perception on finance, enterprise chemistry, and aggressive markets. Within the spirit of the group, greater than 40% of program alumni go on to help different veterans by way of their very own companies or working in different organizations with renewed goal and dedication.
Are you able to share a narrative that illustrates the influence of Canine Tag?
Whereas it is an attention-grabbing line merchandise that our most profitable technique of recruitment is word-of-mouth; greater than flyers, or tables, or social media, it’s consultant of one thing a lot deeper.
Nnana Obioha was a fellow in Canine Tag’s fifth cohort, an Military veteran that now works in Cybersecurity for the EPA. He’s been a robust alumni accomplice in all the years since, however extra importantly when he met George Jensen on an engagement for Mission Continues, a Veteran Service Group centered on group tasks for veterans, and found his purpose of small enterprise possession, his first suggestion was to turn out to be a Canine Tag fellow. A Marine veteran with a service linked incapacity, George joined cohort 18 and realized to take his merchandising machine start-up to the following stage. It was such a transformative expertise for him, personally and professionally, that his spouse, Sasha Savage, seen the distinction. She utilized to Canine Tag and was accepted into cohort 19 the next Spring the place she workshopped and developed her management teaching enterprise. The whole lot from logos and shows to draft funds, technique, and an outreach plan – The Savage Mannequin was born in this system.
This camaraderie was felt by different members of the cohort and continues to be felt by present fellows as all of them attend Canine Tag graduations and networking occasions to move alongside the spirit of entrepreneurship, management, and group to the person on their proper.
Are you able to inform us why Canine Tag’s mission is so vital? What influence are you hoping the Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly Grant may have on Canine Tag, Inc.’s success?
The significance of Canine Tag’s mission is made clear on a regular basis when alumni from the primary cohort, 10 years in the past, return to show a studying lab to present fellows and share what they’ve realized in regards to the realities of small enterprise possession. When on the finish of 5-month’s of redefining what success seems to be like for themselves and incorporating particular person id and targets into a brand new group, a fellow will get up on stage to inform their story and shares that she as soon as “held a human coronary heart in her fingers as a cardiac nurse; that it’s a must to maintain it firmly, however gently; and that on this program the human coronary heart is held with care otherwise because the work is completed to make it entire.”
With Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly grant Canine Tag may have the agility to be conscious of surveys and suggestions from our fellows in addition to cross organizational strategic planning. We can’t serve and thrive by staying the identical. This funding in our future will imply fellows obtain the lodging they should be profitable in a hybrid program – permitting candidates from all 50 states to interact. We are able to share the influence of a high-touch person-first transition mannequin that leads to extra veteran entrepreneurs in addition to extra companies led by ladies and other people of colour, extra broadly. We are able to, and can, stretch the definition of ‘group’ to its fullest potential by regularly providing assets for alumni companies to thrive together with steerage on loans, registrations, licensing, moral AI, grant packages, and occasions. Canine Tag’s success is measured by that of our fellows and the impact of the group we have now constructed.
What’s on the horizon in 2025 for Canine Tag?
Canine Tag is taking classes realized over ten years of service, and the perception of its fellows, to proceed to optimize the format and execution of the 5 month program, using the distinctive social influence of the bakery. In partnership with stakeholders, Canine Tag has discovered its place in a altering workforce panorama in Washington, DC, and for veterans and navy households redefining goal after service and federal employment nationwide. Canine Tag won’t hesitate to be the very best subsequent step to take when these households have to pivot. With the help of our companions, each instructional {and professional}, we’ll proceed to share present finest practices for entrepreneurship.
Our relationship with Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research is stronger and higher aligned to activate the unimaginable expertise in our group than ever. The bakery continues to construct wholesale partnerships that feed this system on each stage. We intend to be seen by those that can profit from Canine Tag in order that the influence can proceed.
In celebration of our companions and the good work they do to advance financial progress for all, we interviewed a few of our Nasdaq Basis quarterly grant recipients about their roles, backgrounds and the significance of their work. We spoke with Meghan Ogilvie, Chief Government Officer of Canine Tag Inc., on their mission to equip veterans, navy spouses, and caregivers with the instruments and schooling to construct resilience, discover renewed goal, and forge group past the navy.
Inform us about Canine Tag, Inc. What’s its core mission?
The Canine Tag Entrepreneurial 5-month Fellowship Program equips veterans, navy spouses, and caregivers with the instruments and schooling to construct resilience, discover renewed goal, and forge group past the navy. Canine Tag gives a bridge from navy service to the civilian world by means of a Enterprise Administration Certificates Program at Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research, a Capstone presentation, analysis on funding alternatives, and sensible utility in a DC bakery to set them up for fulfillment as small enterprise homeowners. Paired with a holistic method to wellness, this system allows fellows to develop as people within the context of a brand new circle of help.
The social influence mannequin of Canine Tag features a brick and mortar bakery within the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, that infuses the area people with $400,000 yearly by using native bakers, cooks, and catering employees. Revenue from the bakery helps fund this system, giving companions and donors the chance to attach with the mission and be a part of the Canine Tag group with one thing so simple as a cup of espresso.
Our funding companions are energetic members in our success from opening their doorways to host pitch periods, resume assessment, and networking, to providing perception on finance, enterprise chemistry, and aggressive markets. Within the spirit of the group, greater than 40% of program alumni go on to help different veterans by way of their very own companies or working in different organizations with renewed goal and dedication.
Are you able to share a narrative that illustrates the influence of Canine Tag?
Whereas it is an attention-grabbing line merchandise that our most profitable technique of recruitment is word-of-mouth; greater than flyers, or tables, or social media, it’s consultant of one thing a lot deeper.
Nnana Obioha was a fellow in Canine Tag’s fifth cohort, an Military veteran that now works in Cybersecurity for the EPA. He’s been a robust alumni accomplice in all the years since, however extra importantly when he met George Jensen on an engagement for Mission Continues, a Veteran Service Group centered on group tasks for veterans, and found his purpose of small enterprise possession, his first suggestion was to turn out to be a Canine Tag fellow. A Marine veteran with a service linked incapacity, George joined cohort 18 and realized to take his merchandising machine start-up to the following stage. It was such a transformative expertise for him, personally and professionally, that his spouse, Sasha Savage, seen the distinction. She utilized to Canine Tag and was accepted into cohort 19 the next Spring the place she workshopped and developed her management teaching enterprise. The whole lot from logos and shows to draft funds, technique, and an outreach plan – The Savage Mannequin was born in this system.
This camaraderie was felt by different members of the cohort and continues to be felt by present fellows as all of them attend Canine Tag graduations and networking occasions to move alongside the spirit of entrepreneurship, management, and group to the person on their proper.
Are you able to inform us why Canine Tag’s mission is so vital? What influence are you hoping the Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly Grant may have on Canine Tag, Inc.’s success?
The significance of Canine Tag’s mission is made clear on a regular basis when alumni from the primary cohort, 10 years in the past, return to show a studying lab to present fellows and share what they’ve realized in regards to the realities of small enterprise possession. When on the finish of 5-month’s of redefining what success seems to be like for themselves and incorporating particular person id and targets into a brand new group, a fellow will get up on stage to inform their story and shares that she as soon as “held a human coronary heart in her fingers as a cardiac nurse; that it’s a must to maintain it firmly, however gently; and that on this program the human coronary heart is held with care otherwise because the work is completed to make it entire.”
With Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly grant Canine Tag may have the agility to be conscious of surveys and suggestions from our fellows in addition to cross organizational strategic planning. We can’t serve and thrive by staying the identical. This funding in our future will imply fellows obtain the lodging they should be profitable in a hybrid program – permitting candidates from all 50 states to interact. We are able to share the influence of a high-touch person-first transition mannequin that leads to extra veteran entrepreneurs in addition to extra companies led by ladies and other people of colour, extra broadly. We are able to, and can, stretch the definition of ‘group’ to its fullest potential by regularly providing assets for alumni companies to thrive together with steerage on loans, registrations, licensing, moral AI, grant packages, and occasions. Canine Tag’s success is measured by that of our fellows and the impact of the group we have now constructed.
What’s on the horizon in 2025 for Canine Tag?
Canine Tag is taking classes realized over ten years of service, and the perception of its fellows, to proceed to optimize the format and execution of the 5 month program, using the distinctive social influence of the bakery. In partnership with stakeholders, Canine Tag has discovered its place in a altering workforce panorama in Washington, DC, and for veterans and navy households redefining goal after service and federal employment nationwide. Canine Tag won’t hesitate to be the very best subsequent step to take when these households have to pivot. With the help of our companions, each instructional {and professional}, we’ll proceed to share present finest practices for entrepreneurship.
Our relationship with Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research is stronger and higher aligned to activate the unimaginable expertise in our group than ever. The bakery continues to construct wholesale partnerships that feed this system on each stage. We intend to be seen by those that can profit from Canine Tag in order that the influence can proceed.
