Built for leaders Who've Tried the Other Programs
ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
Every Leader, Equipped with Vision, Accountability, Training, and Excellence
for Business Owners Who've Outgrown Startup Advice
ELEVATE is a 9-week in-person cohort that changes that. Every session is led by a San Antonio practitioner, not a generic trainer. You'll leave with real skills in financial literacy, AI tools, marketing, procurement, public speaking, and capital access, plus a peer group that keeps meeting long after the program ends.
This is not a workshop series. It's a community of business owners who are done figuring it out alone.
Cost: $250. Scholarships available.
Format: In-person, San Antonio. 15 participants per cohort.
Next cohort: September, 2026
The Program
9 Weeks. Real Practitioners. San Antonio.
Every session is led by someone who works in the field, not a trainer covering theory.
Regulated Leadership: Mindset & Community
- Why entrepreneurial isolation is predictable, not personal
- Abundance vs. scarcity thinking in real business decisions
- Forming your peer cohort group
EQ in Practice: Leading People, Not Tasks
- Emotional intelligence as a business competency
- What your team already knows that you're not asking
- Leadership + Systems: turning intentions into structure
Reading the Numbers Without an Accounting Degree
- P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow; what they actually mean
- How to spot gaps in your financials before your CPA does
- What to ask when you review reports with your bookkeeper
AI as a Business Tool: What's Actually Worth Your Time
- Practical AI tools for businesses your size; no code required
- What to automate vs. what to keep human
- Hands-on: three use cases matched to your business
Marketing & Brand in the AI Era
- What AI has changed about SEO, content, and visibility
- Building a marketing system you can actually maintain
- Live audit of your digital presence
Your Voice Is Part of Your Brand: Public Speaking
- Structure over improvisation: how to organize any talk
- The 60-second introduction that doesn't sound scripted
- Live practice; every participant speaks
Procurement: The Revenue Channel You're Not Using
- City of SA, JBSA, UTSA, hospital systems; real buyers
- HUB, SDB, SBA 8(a) certifications; what applies to you
- Register in vendor portals during the session
Capital Access: What Banks & Lenders Actually Want
- Lines of credit, SBA loans, CDFIs, revenue-based financing
- What "bankable" actually means, and how to get there
- Anonymous Q&A with real lenders in the room
The Owner Independence Framework: Where You Are, Where You're Going
- Map your business across the four anchors: Empower, Equip, Educate, Elevate
- Present your 90-day action plan to the cohort
- Peer feedback and accountability commitments
- Graduation + transition to monthly peer roundtable
Meet the Facilitators
-
![]()
Jeri-Ashley Bremer, M.S. Ed.
Executive Well-being & Mindful Leadership Strategist
Jeri-Ashley spent nearly two decades inside high-responsibility environments before a health crisis forced her to reckon with what sustained high performance actually costs. That experience reshaped how she thinks about leadership capacity, and she's been working at that intersection ever since. She now partners with leaders navigating complexity and consequence, helping them build the internal infrastructure that makes ambitious leadership sustainable. She opens Week 1 by noting that regulated leadership isn't a soft skill; it's the foundation everything else runs on.
-
![]()
Dr. Marisol Weymouth, PhD
Leadership Expert & Keynote Speaker
Dr. Weymouth has spent 30 years inside organizations studying what actually separates effective leaders from busy ones. A first-generation Latina with a PhD in Leadership Studies, she works at the intersection of people strategy and operational execution, helping leaders build the internal systems that turn good intentions into consistent results. Her session in Week 2 goes straight at the thing most growing businesses struggle with: the shift from managing tasks to leading people, and what your team already knows that you haven't thought to ask.
-
![]()
Mihir Shah
Co-Founder, Learn2AI | AI Solutions Engineer
Mihir Shah has spent 14 years at the point where a client's hardest problem meets the technical solution — running discovery, building the architecture, and making sure the thing actually gets used after the sale. He co-founded Learn2AI as a civic initiative with one goal: make San Antonio one of the most AI-literate cities in the country. So far, the organization has trained 100+ participants across youth, professionals, and developers, and secured an approved partnership with the City of San Antonio's $200M+ Ready to Work program. In Week 4, Mihir skips the theory and works through practical AI tools matched to your specific business, what's worth paying for, what to automate, and what to keep human.
-
![]()
Christopher Fairbank, DBA
Forbes Coaches Council Member | Business Speaker & Communication Coach
Dr. Fairbank is not a typical business speaker. He's a former principal ballet dancer who performed internationally and danced for three consecutive U.S. presidents before retiring from the stage in 2012, then graduated from the Bexar County Sheriff's Police Academy. He now speaks and coaches on business communication and sits on the Forbes Coaches Council. His methodology, "reshape the box of business," draws directly on that trajectory, the idea that how you show up and how you communicate is as strategic as any financial decision. In Week 6, he skips the speaker-training playbook and helps participants find a voice that's actually theirs.
"We built ELEVATE Program because I kept meeting business owners in San Antonio who were smart, capable, and completely alone in their growth. Not because resources don't exist, but because nothing brought them together in a room and treated them like they already knew what they were doing. That's the gap this fills."
— Dr. Lina G. Rugova, DBA (Emerge and Rise)
Empower Dreams: Join Us in Building Business Futures
Every donation fuels the journey of aspiring entrepreneurs in our community. Your support enables Emerge and Rise to provide essential resources, mentorship, and training to those who need it most. Together, we can transform potential into success. Invest in a brighter future today—every contribution makes a difference!