Right to Start, a group in Kansas City, Mo. dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship, appointed Johnnie Turnage as its advocate in Detroit.
He will coordinate the national nonprofit organization’s efforts in Michigan to advance entrepreneurship as a civic priority. Funding for this initiative is made possible by a grant from the New Economic Initiative in Detroit.
With this appointment, Right to Start has advocates in eight states. They work for Right to Start on a part-time basis, talking with underserved entrepreneurs to understand what barriers most restrict entrepreneurship, informing policymakers and the community on these, and working with local civic leaders to design efforts to remove those barriers.
Turnage is a grassroots organizer and tech entrepreneur. He began his career in social justice and grassroots organizing early by leading local youth in neighborhood canvasses to Get Out the Vote (GOTV).
He later joined MOSES (Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength) as a GOTV intern leading organizing efforts across the city to strengthen ties with African American leadership. In 2012, he founded MOSES’s youth-organizing project “Crossing Boundaries, Building Bridges” with other young leaders from the metropolitan area.
After winning the Mario Savio Youth Activist Award in 2015, Turnage accepted a position with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Local 876) and worked his way up to contract director.
In 2021, he founded EvenScore, an impact-focused donation platform that provides a safe and trusted space for small-dollar donors to support the causes most important to them and their communities. He continues to serve as CEO of EvenScore and is an advisory board member of the Michigan Founders Fund and of Detroit Action.
“Right to Start is excited that Johnnie Turnage has joined our team, and we are grateful to the New Economy Initiative for making this possible,” says Victor Hwang, founder and CEO of Right to Start. “Johnnie brings enormous experience as a community organizer and entrepreneur to our mission of championing entrepreneurship in all communities. We look forward to working with him to expand access to entrepreneurship across Detroit and Michigan.”
“Right to Start reflects my commitment to social justice by working to ensure that everyone who wants to start a business or organization has the opportunity to do so,” says Turnage. “As an entrepreneur, I understand the challenges. As a community organizer, I understand how to bring about change. Born in Detroit and raised in the metro area, I know how important entrepreneurship is to be achieving the economic ambitions of everyone in the region. I’m pleased to be working with Right to Start and embarking together to create progress in this crucial effort.”
