Driving Capital, Creativity, and Community Impact
About Desha Elliott
Finance, Social Media, Impact
Across 20+ years, I’ve built a career at the intersection of finance, social impact, and media — bringing resources, visibility, and opportunity to communities and industries that need them most.
Economic Development & Finance
In Economic Development & Finance, I’ve advised over 750 small businesses, raised over $2M for local programs, and structured $10M+ in debt capital for Black women entrepreneurs. My work includes creating the gold-standard Black Farmer Accelerator with Cargill, raising $3M from national retailers, founding a start-up changing the educational outcome for student athletes, and designed a 10-city, $100M FIFA World Cup supplier readiness initiative. I’ve led research on guaranteed income pilots, access-to-capital studies, business accelerators, and designed lending products for food & beverage entrepreneurs.
Media & Creative Industries
In Media & Creative Industries, I’ve built national brand partnerships and stories through digital and social media for nonprofits, entertainers, and corporate partners. I’ve served as Editor-in-Chief of a nationally distributed entrepreneurship magazine, managed artists, produced concerts, comedy shows, and conferences, and written songs for country artists. Most recently, I've developed drama and romantic comedy scripts that combine emotional resonance with commercial appeal.
Key Highlights
- Raised $2M for community-based programs and $3M from major retailers.
- Advised 2500+ businesses and structured $10M+ in capital access for underserved entrepreneurs.
- Created gold-standard Black Farmer Accelerator in partnership with Cargill.
- Developed premier national research on entrepreneurs of color, producing groundbreaking studies on access to capital and business acceleration that informed policy, guided C-suite strategy, and shaped investment approaches for philanthropic, corporate, and public-sector stakeholders
- Designed lending products and accelerator curriculum for food & beverage entrepreneurs.
- Led 10-city, $100M FIFA World Cup small business readiness program.
- Managed national digital/social campaigns for nonprofits, entertainers, and corporate partners.
- Editor-in-Chief for nationally distributed magazine on entrepreneurship & education.
- Screenwriter, songwriter, and creative producer with multiple completed works.