Right to Start Expands Its Presence in Missouri, Championing Entrepreneurship Statewide
A New Statewide Starters Coalition Will Launch on Thursday, September 11th
Kansas City, Mo. – September 5, 2025 – Right to Start, the national nonprofit organization championing entrepreneurship as a civic priority, today announced that it is expanding its organizational presence in Missouri to advance entrepreneurship statewide. The expanded presence includes a Coalition Manager and an Advocate, who will focus on creating and energizing a statewide coalition engaged in enhancing the landscape of entrepreneurship across Missouri. The coalition will be launched with an event in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, September 11th – at 9:30 am at the Keystone Innovation District. It will build on exciting recent developments in Missouri, including enactment in 2024 of the Right to Start Act, which created a statewide office of entrepreneurship, among other features including government contract tracking for new businesses under three years old.
Jim Malle, a resident of St. Louis, Mo., has been hired as the part-time Coalition Manager for Right to Start, charged with creating and building the statewide coalition. Jim has more than a decade of experience in public policy, economic development, and government affairs, including working twice in local government in Missouri. He began his career in the Jackson County Executive's Office focusing on economic development. He later worked as the Strategic Initiatives Manager for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, leading the LaunchKC program, which attracted over 100 global startups and secured funding for accelerator programs.
Jessica Powell, a resident of Kansas City, Mo., has been hired as the part-time Advocate. She has more than a decade of experience negotiating and managing partnerships and producing special events. She served from 2020 to 2024 as the Executive Producer of the Startup Hustle podcast, contributing to its seven million downloads and over 1,250 published episodes. She previously served as Executive Director of KC Collective, the nonprofit entrepreneur support organization, and as Director of Experiences at the Kansas City Startup Foundation.
The statewide coalition will be launched at an event on Thursday, September 11th. The keynote speaker will be Victor W. Hwang, Founder and CEO of Right to Start, former Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, and co-author of The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley.
The coalition, which will be unveiled at that time, will be composed of both organizational and individual members. Organizational members will include entrepreneur support organizations and other civic entities; individual members will include entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and other supporters of entrepreneurship. The coalition will work to advance entrepreneurship as a public priority across the state; identify and remove barriers to starting a business; elevate the voices of historically excluded communities; and, engage policymakers and citizens in solutions that support new and small businesses to start and grow.
Right to Start has been working in Missouri throughout its five-year history and has close ties to the state. Victor Hwang lived for many years in Greater Kansas City. Two key members of Right to Start’s leadership team live in Kansas City: Jason Grill, Chief Government Affairs Officer, and Jason Wiens, Senior Policy Specialist. Right to Start also has three Ambassadors in Missouri: Rachel Munday in Springfield; Melissa Roberts Chapman in Kansas City; Natalie Self in St. Louis. Kim Lane, Right to Start’s Chief Operating Officer, worked in various capacities with the Kauffman Foundation over nine years.
Jason Grill plays a central role in helping to build awareness, education, and support around the importance of entrepreneurship and new businesses in Missouri and across the country. Recently, Missouri enacted a Right to Start Act and created a statewide office of entrepreneurship. These policies, which were spearheaded by Senator Travis Fitzwater, passed in the Missouri House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2024: by votes of 117-7 in the House and 31-1 in the Senate. The legislation was signed into law by Governor Mike Parson in July 2024 and took effect that August.
“This expansion of Right to Start’s presence in Missouri is especially meaningful to me,” said Victor Hwang, Founder and CEO of Right to Start, “since Right to Start is very much an outgrowth of my previous work in Kansas City for the Kauffman Foundation. The statewide coalition will build on the extraordinary momentum and support for entrepreneurship in Missouri and will work to accelerate that further, providing a model to be replicated in states across the nation.”
“As a lifelong Kansas Citian, entrepreneur, and former member of the Missouri House of Representatives, it gives me great joy to see Missouri embracing the importance of new, young businesses to the economy and well-being of the state,” said Jason Grill, Chief Government Affairs Officer of Right to Start. “Entrepreneurship-led economic development leads to higher lifetime incomes, more homegrown jobs, and more opportunity for all.”
New and young businesses create virtually all net job growth in America. They are leading indicators of GDP growth, and they increase community wealth and diversify goods and services.
Every new business per 100 people adds nearly $500 to average household income in a county, according to data from the GoDaddy Small Business Research Lab. Every 1% increase in entrepreneurial activity in a state correlates with a 2% decline in poverty.
Right to Start’s expanding presence in Missouri is supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth through their Mastercard Strive USA program, which is funding similar work by Right to Start in three other states: California, Michigan, and North Carolina. Mastercard Strive USA supports small business resilience and growth in a changing digital economy by unleashing the potential of small businesses as catalysts of inclusive growth.
For more information, contact Henry Miller at hmiller@highimpactpartnering.com or 917-921-8034.
Right to Start is a national nonpartisan movement to advance entrepreneurship as a civic priority throughout the United States. Entrepreneurship has long been viewed as a solitary endeavor – the lone starter in a basement or garage. Right to Start’s vision is to transform America so that all communities prioritize entrepreneurship, clearing away obstacles to ensure that every American has an equal right to start and a level playing field on which to embark.
About the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company’s core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise, and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs, and empower a community of thinkers, leaders, and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth. For more information and to receive its latest insights, follow the Center on LinkedIn, Instagram and subscribe to its newsletter.
About Mastercard Strive
Mastercard Strive is a portfolio of philanthropic programs supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and funded by the Mastercard Impact Fund. With programs around the world, Mastercard Strive has reached more than 18 million small businesses to go digital, get capital, and access networks and know-how. Follow Mastercard Strive on LinkedIn and subscribe to its newsletter.