Ellie Adelman, Rebecca Gartner and Village Institute board member Jaser Alsharhan
The trifecta that make up the Village Institute
The Village Institute, founded by DU alumna Ellie Adelman (MSW 2019), is an incredible organization that centers around investing in the power of refugee women and their families. Founded in the thick of Covid, Adelman and her co-founder Rebecca Gartner took a risk starting a business with so much uncertainty. But it was one that quickly proved to be well worth it.
Call it destiny, but Adelman and Gartner met at just the right moment. “It was the second year I did the Project X-ITE summer accelerator. I was at Denver Startup Week pitching my idea. That was when I met my co-founder, who just happened to be wandering around and stumbled upon my pitch,” said Adelman. Gartner did not go to DU. She had just moved to Denver two days prior and was walking around downtown, where she saw that Startup Week was happening. “She heard my pitch and was like, ‘I want to work for you,’” said Adelman.
What started as one simple idea has turned into a business that serves a greater need, something that Entrepreneurship@DU strives to help its students find.
“I was a solo entrepreneur for the first year coming up with the idea. I had a lot of co-conspirators along the way. I worked with fellow DU students and amazing community partners, but Gartner has been my right-hand person and the reason it went from an idea to a reality,” Adelman said.
In May 2020, Adelman and Gartner launched The Village Institute’s first program, the housing program, in the heat of Covid-19 shutdowns. “We almost didn’t do it,” Adelman recalled. “I hemmed and hawed. ‘Do I sign a lease on a physical space right now when the pandemic is shutting everything down?’” A question posed by a member of the Institute’s advisory board put things in perspective.
“He asked, ‘Well, what could you do with the funding you have right now?’ I told him we could get through six months if we didn’t bring in any more money. Then, he asked, ‘Is it worth housing four families for six months during a pandemic?’ The answer was yes!” Adelman recalled.
Two families moved in May 1—both headed by single moms trying to navigate the pandemic, both of whom had lost their jobs.
“That is when it really felt like the beginning,” said Adelman. Two years later, the Village Institute has grown to three main programs: a housing and transitional support program for single moms, a preschool program called “the Little Village,” and a new program that trains refugee teens and women for careers in health care and mental health.
“I have moments every day that I am just in awe,” Adelman said. “It is amazing to watch these women take on new skills and build this tight-knit little community, all while teaching and raising young children. Ultimately, the goal is to provide lifelong building blocks for these families—wealth, worth and well-being,” Adelman said.
Reflecting on her time as a student, Adelman said she grabbed every opportunity she could at DU. “I think I was made to be a social worker, but I wasn’t comfortable being an entrepreneur at first. Having that extra support from Project X-ITE and the Barton Fellowship helped me connect with other business leaders and think of myself as an entrepreneur and a founder.”
There are many opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to hone their craft and learn how to tell their stories at DU. As Adelman advised, “Grab every opportunity you can.”
Hear that DU students? Grab every opportunity you can because your idea could be the next business that changes our world for the better!