International Journal of Education and Social Science www.ijessnet.com Vol. 3 No. 11; November 2016 82 Increasing Social Media for Women & Minority firms Dr. JoAnn Rolle Dean School of Business Medgar Evers College, City University of New York (CUNY), 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn New York USA Dr. Iris Billy Director Entrepreneurship & Experiential Learning Lab Medgar Evers College (CUNY) 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn New York Aliza Carter Student Entrepreneur Medgar Evers College (CUNY) 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn New York Anika McInnis Student Social Entrepreneur Medgar Evers College (CUNY) 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn New York Abstract Medgar Evers College is located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn New York. While Brooklyn continues to experience unprecedented economic growth, many small businesses in Crown Heights are not surviving. CUNY, Santander Bank Foundation and Carnegie Mellon funded several entrepreneurship and experiential learning projects to be implemented at the College. The Social Justice and Social Entrepreneurship project launched with participants completing the Hootsuite certification in social media. Once participants received certification, they were tasked with completing Social Audits and Social Media strategies for women or minority businesses. Participants were encouraged to grow the firm's social impact using the Klout measurement. Key Words: Social media, marketing, networking, specialists training, social dynamics The project was implemented during fall 2015 as to have optimal impact during the peak retail season. Contents: 1. The Demand for Social Media Skills 1.1. Hootsuite executive interview 1.2. Hootsuite training and Certification program 2. Comparison of Women and Men Business Utilization of Social Media 3. Participants and outcomes 3.1. Summary of Cohort Outcomes 3.2. Selected Participants Social Media Experiences 4. Summary and Conclusions I. The Demand for Social Media Skills ----------------- Institutional sponsorship by grants from Santander Bank Foundation and Carnegie Mellon