Bootstrap Economics helps aspiring business owners’ dreams come to fruition

From a 540-credit score to launching her own successful business to mentoring ambitious entrepreneurs, Lynisha Senegal has created transformative change to help local entrepreneurs thrive. Her organization, Vision View, is committed to helping struggling entrepreneurs from the ground up with inclusive learning tools and mentorship to increase local wealth creation and upward economic mobility. 

Vision View is the physical business incubator in Fresno, where small businesses can access resources from legal services to accounting. To date, the organization has helped start up 160 businesses. “Having access to funding is not necessarily something that should hinder us from accomplishing our dreams,” Lynisha said. “You use the resources you have on hand and advance from there. We meet families wherever they are and talk about wealth, credit and pitching their businesses.”  

Vision View evolved after the pandemic to expand its development resources to include a board game called Bootstrap Economics, a learning tool that details the full gamut of entrepreneurship with real-life scenarios of pitching a business, earning income, overcoming setbacks, enhancing financial literacy and more.

 In June 2026, Bootstrap Economics’ film, “Bootstrapper,” premiered at Maya Cinemas to an audience of over 200 people. The film explores the lived experiences of bootstrappers. “Since Bootstrap Economics did not have a pathway to tell our story, we decided to do it through film,” Lynisha said. “I wanted to create a visual medium that is relatable to establish a new evolution of approaches to financial education.” The inspiration for the film came from a group of young filmmakers who played Bootstrap Economics. “The filmmakers thought they were living inside a drama and developed a story about building a legacy while dealing with the financial drama of life,” Lynisha said. In the film, a young man dreams of wanting a job but not having doors of opportunity open to him while struggling with a lack of confidence, having an absentee father and addictions. Both actors and business owners alike have acting roles in the film. Lynisha wants to host another film screening and/or have the film featured on a streaming platform. “The film screening is a way to gather unique perspectives, help people to scale their businesses and convene emerging entrepreneurs and funders together,” Lynisha said.  

Lynisha is proud of launching an intergenerational game night that “transforms how our community talks about legacy.” “It is more of a game night feel; it is a way that we build camaraderie,” Lynisha said. Adults of all ages, from 18 to 91, and children have participated in these game nights. The game nights have helped generate conversations around finances that families typically don’t have on a regular basis – if ever. One of the game night participants, a 91-year-old woman, recalled her father having an insurance policy for her children, and because of the financial discussions at the game night, she was prompted to follow up with her son on the policy after not considering it for decades. They also decided to find paperwork on their home being established in a trust. “It’s sparking these conversations we typically don’t have, especially in the Black community,” Lynisha said. “It’s forcing us to have these intentional conversations about finances and credit.” 

Lynisha is overjoyed when she sees entrepreneurs scale up an economic trajectory through investing in themselves. She recently invested $15,000 in a school for autistic children and $5,000 in a small business to launch a T-shirt business. Vision View’s impact is growing, as it has now expanded to New Orleans and increased its service-base in Fresno. Lynisha has brought together 20 organizations, near the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, for a project called Fresno Play District. The district will be intentional about social infrastructure, providing safe areas where families don’t have to compete with bars and children can play. Fresno Play District will also include a farmers market and help families access jobs. “My long-term vision is to not just have a business that is profitable but to have the ability to invest and give back,” Lynisha said.

To learn more about Vision View, visit www.visionviewca.com and email Lynisha at hopedailyls@gmail.com to support the organization.