In 2020, WFSTL funded a program called the Elevate/Elevar Accelerator, an initiative of WEPOWER. WEPOWER is a local nonprofit committed to solving our region’s biggest systemic challenges. They activate community power to re-design education, economic, health, and justice systems to be just and equitable for all. WEPOWER’s Elevate/Elevar Accelerator program is a 6-month program that provides for-profit companies the funding, training, and connections to support business growth. The program aims to spark economic development and work to develop living wage jobs in North St. Louis City through entrepreneurship. Elevate/Elevar is the only business accelerator exclusively for Black and Latinx founders in St. Louis.