Center for Civic Innovation

AEMI has provided a $50,000 investment to support the Center of Civic Innovation’s first “Civic Lab” focused on increasing healthy food access in Atlanta. A Civic Lab is a six month accelerator program that provides mentorship, collaboration and training to create a sustainable business model for select entrepreneurs focused on specific civic challenges. AEMI’s investment will be used by the entrepreneurs to implement their finalized business plans with a “pay for outcomes” contract.

This contract will establish healthy food milestones and tasks for the entrepreneur to accomplish, with AEMI only paying for the outcomes that the entrepreneur achieves. This provides the entrepreneurs the opportunity to provide increased healthy food options in the community while simultaneously testing their business model in the real world marketplace. This will set the stage for future investment from investors based on successful performance outcomes. AEMI’s investment simultaneously increases food access in distressed communities while supporting early stage companies and entrepreneurs.