Victory Village Corp

The Problem: 90% of small businesses fail because of poor product design and marketing. (Forbes 2019)

The VV Corp Solution: VV Corp converted a 40ft former metro bus into the ITECH mobile S.T.E.A.M. Lab to host the CODEXCEL program. Within this program, we train teens of color to design & develop software solutions that provide marketing and product design and testing services uniquely catering to BIPOC-owned and small businesses earning less than $100,000 annually in East Harris County. 

CODEXCEL SCOPE & SUMMARY:

Each semester, including summer, we host a CODEXCEL cohort of 10 - 15 teens to train in CRM/ERP software administration/development, Social Media/VR marketing, and financial business services. Upon two successful semesters (32 weeks), the students are prepared to work as paid interns for BIPOC small businesses at free or subsidized costs.

This allows BIPOC small businesses to effectively market and demo products to the public while avoiding costly consulting and overhead costs that often plague startups and small businesses. 

The Problem: According to Forbes Magazine, 90% of small businesses fail because of poor product design and marketing. (Forbes 2019)  Nationally, Approximately 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, 50% fail within five years, and 33% make it to 10 years and further. Furthermore, BIPOC-owned businesses face even greater odds of failure with eight out of ten (80%) failing within only 18 months. Additionally, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected BIPOC-owned businesses, particularly those owned by Black entrepreneurs, with 58% saying their business’s financial health is “at risk” or “distressed”. According to Rice Kinder Institute, while Blacks make up 23% of the population, just 4% of Houston businesses are Black-owned, compared with 64% for Non-minority owned businesses in Houston. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, running out of money is a small business’s largest risk. Owners often know what funds are needed day to day but are unclear as to how much revenue is being generated, and the disconnect is often disastrous. 

Our Localized Solution

In the communities that we serve with zip codes of 77015 and 77049, our 2022-2023 CODEXCEL goal is to work with over 20 local BIPOC-owned small businesses to help grow and sustain their businesses by providing premium IT, marketing, and finance Services at substantial discounted pricing. We offer these services by training 7th through 11th grade students in IT Software programming, ERP/CRM systems, IT Configuration, Marketing, and Finance services.

Offering focused guidance/professional development for building specific functional skills for internal staff such as strategic planning, human resources, process improvement, and research and testing products/services

VV Corp's CODEXCEL program trains BIPOC interns on specific functional skills such as human resources, process improvement, and product research and testing products/services. In return, our CODEXCEL interns provide these consulting services to small businesses of color at free or discounted pricing.

Supporting and fostering growth to scale through comprehensive and relevant technical support assistance such as legal aid, fiscal management for sustainability, marketing, and procurement

VV Corp's CODEXCEL program trains BIPOC interns to provide technical, fiscal management, and marketing services in placement of hiring costly full-time or contractors, of which many of these businesses cannot afford.

VV Corp serves East Harris county area codes of 77015 and 77049. 

77015 Demographics (2020 U.S. CENSUS):

• 57,553 people, 77015 is the 87th most populated zip code in the state of Texas out of 1,908 zip codes.
• Race & Ethnicity. The largest racial/ethnic groups are Hispanic (72.4%) followed by Black (14.9%) and White (9.8%). 
• In 2020, the median household income of 77015 households was $50,118.
• 18.1% of 77015 families live in poverty. 
• The median age: 30.3 years young.

77049 Demographics (2020 U.S. CENSUS):

• 38,915 people, 77049 is the 228th most populated zip code in the state of Texas out of 1,908 zip codes.
• Race & Ethnicity. The largest 77049 racial/ethnic groups are Hispanic (68.9%) followed by Black (18.4%) and White (8.4%).
• In 2020, the median household income of 77049 households was $62,840. 
• 13.5% of 77049 families live in poverty.
• The median age: 28.6 years young.

The leadership team of Victory Village Corp partners with community leaders, non-profits, economic development agencies, and faith-based organizations to understand and fulfill the needs of our beneficiaries. In fact, we station our ITECH Mobile Lab on the campus of Fellowship of Purpose Church, one of the largest Black churches in the area. All board members utilize their memberships of other local community organizations to recruit Black and Hispanic students for the CODEXCEL training program. Our focus centers on using the African Markets Utu-Ubuntu model in which all entities within the local community contribute to its overall success by recycling services and resources back into the community.

Victory Village Corp is currently operating in Texas.

The Victory Village Corp Mission: Empowering the Next Generation Through Innovative Programming that Trains and Develops Community Leaders and STEAM Professionals of Tomorrow.

In order to accomplish this mission, we have implemented the CODEXCEL program to help sustain local small businesses to employ these students into careers, developing them into future entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Growing up in low-income communities within East Harris County, the board members of Victory Village Corp know that creating change requires dramatic and perpetual disruption of the status quo. Indifference is the enemy of progression and change. Our theory of change lies in our continuous, incremental methods of creating deltas in how our communities of color interact with one another to grow, develop, and thrive. We focus on the PEOPLE first, not the problem. Creating a successful village means first focusing on the people and human entities within that village. Once we understand our beneficiaries, we can then focus on solving their problems by addressing their immediate needs based upon THEIR PRIORITIES FOR SUCCESS. This is our Theory of Change.

Since 2013, the Victory Village founders have hosted and attended over 20 community forums in 77521, 77049 and 77015. By doing so, we have determined that our two main target beneficiaries are BIPOC youth ages 10-18 and BIPOC small businesses.

BIPOC Small business owners' most pressing need is preserving working capital while BIPOC youth need after-school STEAM education and cognitive challenge, and income opportunities in addition to normal student activities to elevate themselves into successful careers once their high school matriculation is complete. 

For this reason, we purchased a 40-foot former metro bus to train teens of color to develop software, design and implement marketing plans, and demo test products to help local BIPOC small businesses. In this way, our CODEXCEL program keeps teens away from illegal trades while small businesses gain the needed marketing and business services that they often cannot afford with consulting companies. In our first CODEXCEL cohort in the summer of 2018, we implemented a paid-internship program to train 6 teens to develop and market a mobile fitness app for a BIPOC fitness tech startup. Fast forward to January - April 2022, we are training 7 Black teens how to develop software and design marketing campaigns for local BIPOC-owned small businesses. 

Since 2018, our 16 CODEXCEL students and faculty have developed websites, mobile apps, marketing, and practical solutions for over 20 local small businesses, startups, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs, positively impacting over 2500 individuals, families, and workers living in Harris County, TX. 

Our reach does not just end with software solutions. At the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, under Victory Village Corp, Tori Cole began teaching international and local teens how to print, ship, and deliver 3D mask accessories for the Houston Medical Center staff. Through this initiative, we were able to print over 1200 reusable mask accessories helping to extend the lifespan of each critical N95 mask during the significant mask shortage.

In the next year, we are looking to serve an additional 20 local BIPOC small business owners and startup entrepreneurs. Within the next five years, our goal is to implement IT and digital marketing solutions for over 200 local BIPOC and minority small businesses and startups.

The CODEXCEL program serves the East Houston communities within the 77049 and 77015 zip codes. These communities comprise of over 80% people of color with an average salary of $35,000. 

Our stakeholders lie in three categories:

• Direct Beneficiaries - Define the Need/Problem
  • BIPOC-owned small businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs
  • BIPOC youth ages 10 - 18
•  Sponsors and Local Government Officials - Influence the Org Strategy
  • Large Corporations
  • State and US Congress Representatives
  • Local Government Officials - Juvenile Judges, Youth program directors
  • School Districts and Harris County Department of Education
• -In-Direct Beneficiaries and Supporters - Essential Partners in Success
  • CODEXCEL students' families
  • Non-Profits working with youth
  • Community Volunteers

The Victory Village board members work, live, volunteer, and worship within a 10-mile max radius of the communities that the CODEXCEL serves. We are all present and past members and leaders of several local non-profits, small businesses, and corporations. Therefore, we converse with CODEXCEL stakeholders on a daily basis and know the unique problems that BIPOC and minority stakeholders face. We are in a unique position to meet those needs, as BIPOC small business owners, parents, and mentors.

Our CODEXCEL Spring 2022 Completion Ceremony at FOP Church.

For example, our iTECH Village Mobile STEAM Lab features African-centric and Hispanic cultural artifacts that create a welcoming environment for students of color. We host a gold ceiling in the lab because gold is the color of wealth, success and status. The color gold is the color of success, achievement and triumph. Also, in the African-centric historical context, gold was the color that royalty wore such as King Tut and Queen Nefertiti. Research has shown that this type of environment directly contributes to the success of BIPOC students, both on a conscious and sub-conscious level.

First and foremost, our Theory of Change evolves around our beneficiaries, meaning BIPOC-owned small businesses and BIPOC youth. As BIPOC small business owners and community leaders, our VV Corp board members and CODEXCEL faculty members work and interact locally with these two groups on a daily basis, learning more about their needs and developing trusting relationships with all of our stakeholders. 

Furthermore, our CODEXCEL faculty members actively serve on nonprofit leadership teams with our government and corporate sponsors, cultivating those relationships. 

We choose board members and faculty members who are in nonprofit and corporate leadership because we want to ensure the Victory Village Corp has full exposure to networking and communication opportunities that aligns with our corporate goals and objectives.

2022 -2023

• Goal: Recruit, train, and develop the GPAs of 20 new students for the 2022- 2023 CODEXCEL year 
  • How: Enlist current CODEXCEL students and alumni to recruit students, earning rewards upon new student enrollment and learning success (Reward)

• Goal: Complete IT and digital marketing projects for 20 local BIPOC small-businesses
  • How: Enlist current CODEXCEL students, alumni, and faculty to market CODEXCEL services and secure project contracts, offering commission scholarships for each contract secured (Reward)

2022 - 2027

• Goal: Retain 100% of our CODEXCEL Students as students, and Alumni as student instructors, mentors, and summer interns until high school graduation
  • How: "Upgrade" the student's badge level to Alumni/Instructor/Developer (promotion) and work with student to earn industry certification and paid internships (Reward)

• Goal: By 12/2023, Build a CODEXCEL metaverse for CODEXCEL students to gain scholarships from local business sponsors
  • How: Enlist current CODEXCEL students and alumni to design and develop the metaverse and market to small businesses for 1% sales commission scholarships

• Goal: By 2027, Secure 200 new CODEXCEL students
  • How: Enlist current CODEXCEL students and alumni to recruit students, earning rewards and scholarships upon new student enrollment (Reward)

• Goal: By 2027, Secure over 200 small-business impact project contracts 
  • How: Enlist current CODEXCEL students, alumni, and faculty to market CODEXCEL services and secure project contracts, offering 1% of sales commission scholarships for each contract secured (Reward)

• Goal: By 2027, Expand our CODEXCEL operations into three buses in three territories throughout east Harris County.
  • How: Retain 50% of contract funds for expansion funding

Tori Cole, Executive Director

B.S. in Computer Engineering, SMU 

MBA, University of Houston, Downtown

As a BIPOC small business owner, Tori has over 15 years of Computer Engineering and Technical Consulting experience with various corporations such as Apple TMCF Scholars, Microsoft, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, JP Morgan Chase, and Dell Computers. As a former student athlete and trainer, Tori has combined her love for athletic performance and technology into eSports and gaming technology... and her passion lies in training minority teens how to gain equity in this tremendous $65B eSports industry through Computer Science and Engineering.

David Bautista, Lead Instructor - CODEXCEL

B.S. in Computer Science, University of Houston (Exp. Grad Date: 5/2023)

David is a Junior Computer Science major at University of Houston. He is uniquely qualified to teach minority youth how to become software engineers. In addition to serving as the CODEXCEL instructor, David is interning for Anheuser-Buschduring the summer of 2022.

Funding on any level is very important to the survival of Victory Village Corp and our CODEXCEL program. In just two years (at the height of COVID19), we managed to convert a 40-foot metro bus into a solar-powered STEAM Mobile Lab for BIPOC youth to learn computer science and engineering. 

And we did it with a budget of less than $17,000! Imagine the possibilities with more budget to work with! 

We are making significant impact within our community, which was ranked one of the most crime-stricken communities and small businesses in the Houston area. WE ARE BRINGING HOPE TO UVALDE ROAD (which experienced three deadly robberies in a span of 1 week in 2021. Please refer to our Youtube video: Dealing Hope on Uvalde)

We are partnering with local nonprofits, school districts, faith-based organizations, and governmental agencies to recruit and train, and hire CODEXCEL students as interns with local BIPOC-owned small businesses. 

We have an aggressive goal to form 10 strategic partnerships with such entities to recruit and sponsor 20 new CODEXCEL students by the Fall of 2022 and 200 new students by 2027. To achieve this goal, we need help with marketing our digitally services to these organizations. Marketing services are very expensive, and we do not have the budget or resources to start a broad marketing campaign. We need both funding and resources to help in this effort.

Governmental and At-risk Education Agencies - Instead of pipelining at-risk students into juvenile detention programs, we would like to partner with truancy and probate judges to host these students in our CODEXCEL program

Nonprofit Philanthropy Organizations - We would like to partner with these organizations to find real solutions for widespread economic development of impoverished areas using our Business model that encompasses the Ubi-Ubuntu model.

Faith-based Organizations - For recruiting purposes, we would like to partner with these organizations to recruit students into our CODEXCEL program.

Digital Marketing Agencies - These firms provide pro bono marketing consulting services for the CODEXCEL program while we provide intern resources for project work.

News and Media Agencies - These entities provide free marketing services for the CODEXCEL program while we provide intern resources for project work.