Desh Deshpande (below) made a name for himself — and a fortune — in the telecom industry. But he could end up having a more lasting impact in philanthropy and entrepreneurship.
The latest example: The Lowell nonprofit he backed nearly decade ago, now known as Entrepreneurship for All, has expanded to Roxbury. EforAll offers a free accelerator program that includes business training, networking, and mentoring. On Monday, the nonprofit hosted a kickoff event at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Dudley Square, where the local version of the program is now based.
Deshpande’s foundation funded the launch of what was then called the Merrimack Valley Sandbox in 2010. In recent years, EforAll has grown beyond its roots in Lowell and Lawrence to expand to Hyannis, Fall River, New Bedford, Holyoke, Lynn, and Pittsfield, as well as Longmont, Colo. The Roxbury program started on a pilot basis in June, but EforAll hopes to expand from eight entrepreneur members to 15 by December. Kofi Callender, executive director of Smarter in the City, has been tapped to run the Roxbury initiative.
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