Wallace brings 40 years of entrepreneurial experience. He has been a dedicated champion for minority and women business owners his entire career.
Baltimore, Maryland, June 1, 2022 – Former Baltimore Mayoral candidate, accomplished entrepreneur and internationally known business consultant Robert Wallace has been named Co-Chair for Baltimore Community Lending’s Campaign Cabinet. He is the President and CEO of the leading technology and energy companies, BithGroup and Bithenergy, both based in Baltimore, as well as the e-learning community, EntreTeach.
If you ask Mr. Wallace, his drive to help the underdog become a successful business owner started with a research paper in the ‘80s. He was a graduate student at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth when he began studying minority and women entrepreneurs and their connection to the community. Ten years of this research led
him to uncovering three key takeaways:
- In cities like Baltimore, if you are going to address the issues of violence and crime, you must solve the economic development equation.
- To solve the economic equation, you must accelerate the formation of women and minority entrepreneurs.
- And to accelerate their formation, you must remove the barriers standing in their way: market access, capital and technical assistance.
Wallace understood even back then that it all comes down to resources. If you want communities to thrive, you need thriving businesses. For businesses to thrive, entrepreneurs from all communities need the resources to help get them there. “So how do we make that happen? We identify organizations like Baltimore Community Lending,” Wallace said. “We wrap our arms around them so they can meet the needs of those in the community. Baltimore Community Lending provides what is necessary when it comes to economic opportunity to help close the gap.”
A Cherry Hill native, Wallace has a deep understanding of the obstacles Baltimore residents face. It’s this understanding that drove him to launch EntreTeach and coach other entrepreneurs, run for Mayor of Baltimore in 2020, and ultimately what landed him a seat at Baltimore Community Lending.
“We are very excited to have Mr. Wallace serve as the co-chair of our Campaign Cabinet,” Watchen Bruce, President and CEO of Baltimore Community Lending, said. BCL is a Community Development Financial Institution serving the Baltimore metropolitan area.They provide support to low-income, low-wealth and other disadvantaged people and communities through flexible financial resources.
As Co-Chair of the Campaign Cabinet, Mr. Wallace will primarily focus on generating capital revenue. Alex Arons, CEO of Blank Slate, has also been named Co-Chair. The cabinet consists of 15 other members, including business leaders, advocates, attorneys, and other residents who are dedicated to BCL’s mission to launch thriving businesses and reimagine the city of Baltimore.