Who are the ecosystem enablers?

Laura I.H Bennett, Don J. Webber and Chay Brooks

Chapter 7 in Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, 2026, pp 112-129 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter presents the case that ecosystem development work is undertaken by people who we term ecosystem enablers. These ecosystem enablers play a vital role by ensuring that entrepreneurs are accurately signposted and by joining the dots between institutional elements within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, ecosystem enablers are typically invisible to entrepreneurs and, to a lesser extent, also to policymakers. This chapter draws attention to these unseen, unnoticed, and undervalued people who facilitate and enable the success of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and cautions that this invisibility may result in the entrepreneurial ecosystem being underdeveloped. Analysis of our data also reveals that ecosystem enablers, whether paid or unpaid, share common attributes as they are trusted, they enjoy a high level of social capital, and they are embedded. We depict this information diagrammatically within a conceptual model.

Keywords: Dealmakers; Ecosystem enablers; Motivations; Networks; Policymakers; Social capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035367009
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