15. Jerry Valentine on social enterprises and solving affordable housing problems

Jerry Valentine is the Founder and CEO of Renter Mentor, a for-profit social enterprise IT and consultant services company that helps connect people to affordable housing.

The idea of Renter Mentor was first pitched at Give Back Hack Columbus, a weekend hack-a-thon for social good, in April of 2019, where the team won the competition and received seed money for the idea.

Jerry and the team then took the idea to the 2019 SEA Change Signature Cohort, a 14 week startup accelerator for social entrepreneurs, that allowed them to develop the concept, business plan and product. At the conclusion of the program, Renter Mentor was named a Top Three startup and won additional seed money.

The idea of Renter Mentor was born during Jerry's time working at the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and where he experienced firsthand the challenges and problems that existed in the space.

Jerry is a graduate of Ohio University and currently resides in Columbus. 

Learn more about Renter Mentor: https://www.rentermentor.net/

Connect with Jerry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-valentine-24610b194/

Follow Jerry on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JerryV513_