For a city full of stoic institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, USAID, and not to mention the US government, it is hard to see Washington, DC as an entrepreneur’s playground or home of tomorrow’s innovation. New York and San Francisco have traditionally reserved the title for entrepreneurial “make your dream come true” cities. These are locations where entrepreneurship is expected, encouraged, and fostered. Going against the status quo is seen more as invigorating than “politically or strategically risky”. However, in the few weeks that I have been back in Washington, DC, I have been blown away by the emerging entrepreneurial culture that is quietly emerging among young and ambitious rising stars that want to dramatically shake the status-quo here and around the world.

There is no reason Washington shouldn’t be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship — especially social innovation and entrepreneurship! After all, it is the seat of power for arguably much of the world — playing host to governmental organizations both foreign and domestic, a slew of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and thousands of private sector companies including representation from every single Fortune 500 business. The DC-metro area is home to American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and University of Maryland just for starters. But beyond that, dozens of top universities from around the country have satellite campuses in or around the city. Within the beltway, there is a massive brain-trust, access to enormous resources, and expansive representation of global power and authority. And if you can’t find it in DC, all you need to do is hop on the BoltBus for $15 to New York! And the freakin’ bus has WiFi!

The only things that is missing from the equation is the “culture” of entrepreneurship. Nathaniel Whittemore said it best to me a couple of weeks ago in Miami when describing San Francisco as “One of the only places in the country where failure can actually increase your net-worth.” — essentially that everybody understands and appreciates the risk, process, and learning experience associated with entrepreneurship. DC is a city known for its “red tape”, inefficient systems, lack of dynamism, and any interest in really shaking things up. But this seems to be slowly changing.

A program that I recently learned about and I think embodies this culture shift is Compass Partners. Compass is an absolutely amazing program started by Neil Shah, a Georgetown University student, who wanted to create a way to connect entrepreneurial students with the vast resources that exist in the city. Through a mentorship program, an amazing lineup of speakers, and a business incubation process started during a student’s Freshman year, COMPASS Fellows are graduating college ready to run their own companies! This is a program that has succeeded at Georgetown and has ambitions to expand nationally in the near-future.

DC is also home to a growing number of entrepreneurs with a broad range of interests and passions. I’m continually running around meeting new people in this entrepreneurial space, and I’m seeing for the first time this growing and emerging culture here. DC could very well be the next major hub for entrepreneurship and innovation, and this could potentially be really huge!