HER Stories: A vital visionary

This story first appeared HER Stories - Fall 2024, a biannual special section that features Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

Kaitlin Byers wants to unlock the economic potential of communities across the Hawkeye state in a way that builds bridges across racial, gender and socioeconomic lines. That is what she continues to strive for in her role with NewBoCo.

Byers, 37, is NewBoCo’s first and only capital access manager, but that title does not do her justice. She is much more for the nonprofit organization that connects entrepreneurs with the training and capital they need to get their businesses up and running.

NewBoCo is Iowa’s statewide hub for the national and international microlending organization Kiva. It was the first hub to serve an entire state in Kiva’s 19-year history. It has since served more than 80 entrepreneurs across the state by distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital along with coaching.

Byers describes her role as a “connector” to Kiva’s global lending network.

Lyndsae Peele, entrepreneurial ecosystem manager for Kiva U.S., describes Byers as a visionary and more.

“When I say she has been my backbone since I’ve been here, that has been absolutely true,” Peele said. “She has shown me that she is OK with having a vision. Some people are afraid of being visionaries. She embraces it. She understands what it means to create that support for the small business community. She gets it.”

Kiva gives new business owners access to a global pool of funds that are contributed to with small and large donations and grants. They may apply for funding with no credit, revenue or time in business requirements.

“Once they are fully funded, I am right alongside them with any resources they need to continue growing their business,” Byers said. “We’re pretty heart centered. We want to make sure we are setting people up for success.”

About 95 percent of businesses that work with Kiva are fully funded.

Virginia born and Iowa raised, Byers has long been a problem solver with a focus on helping people. She got her start in elementary education, taking her skills learned at Drake University to Guatemala City to teach first grade. She then became a development officer for the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, her first community-centered role.

While she returned to education, her own entrepreneurial spirit would bring her a new opportunity focused on strengthening her community.

Byers pitched a startup business to the Iowa Startup Accelerator before it became NewBoCo. Her pitch was not accepted but she was offered a job with NewBoCo as director of development.

“I bargained with them and asked if I could sit in on educational sessions in tangent with serving as director of development,” Byers said.

In the span of five years, Byers helped the Iowa Startup Accelerator grow its budget to $2 million while establishing itself as a major entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state.

“She helps drive forward where she thinks the work should go. Because of that, she can be very intentional with her work,” said Jill Wilkins, executive director of NewBoCo. “She’s not afraid to go after finding the solution. She definitely understands the value in a strong community and how that impacts the individual and their personal life.”

As Byers was helping startup businesses open their doors, she noticed that the startup space was largely occupied by young white males and high-growth tech companies.

“They didn’t represent the entirety of the entrepreneurial community or weren’t tapped into this growing and budding entrepreneurial space,” Byers said.

This inspired Byers to seek a partnership with Kiva.

“I knew from the moment of writing a grant to fund a partnership that I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “The concept of building trust across racial and socioeconomic lines was something I wanted to throw myself into.”

Byers maintains an overarching goal in her work with NewBoCo. She wants to ensure otherwise underserved communities are given the economic opportunities they need to succeed in the business world.

“Major gaps exist when it comes to women-owned or Black- or Brown-owned businesses. It’s the right thing to do to shine a light on this,” Byers said. “Success is really the ability to unlock the economic potential of communities when pouring resources into a wider swath of people and communities. Ensuring everybody — no matter the circumstance, background or education around starting a business —has the opportunity to start their dream business.”

This mindset extends beyond Byers’ role with NewBoCo.

Dr. Tawana Grover, superintendent of Cedar Rapids Community School District, said Byers has been at the forefront of engaging with the community in her role as a school board member. Elected in November 2023, Byers has since championed a community feedback survey on how bond funding should be used, receiving nearly 10,000 responses.

“She feels like everybody deserves a space to be heard,” Grover said. “That’s been a huge gamechanger that allows us to break down some of the walls and barriers that exist between our institutions and the community.”