Meet the
Collective.

Skopos Collective is a mission-driven financial strategy firm that helps small manufacturers and creative entrepreneurs grow with clarity and confidence. Founded by Elli Papadopoulos after years as an SBA underwriter, Skopos was born out of a commitment to share financial knowledge with business owners who are often left out of traditional systems.  
Through our three service areas—Streamline, Strategy, and Secure Funding—Skopos equips clients to understand their numbers, make informed decisions, and access capital. But Skopos is more than a consultancy—it's a collective. That means clients benefit from shared insights, tools, and relationships across a network of like-minded businesses and partners.

Rooted in humanized finance and the belief that diversity is power, Skopos blends technical expertise with deep empathy, helping clients feel seen, supported, and set up for sustainable growth.

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

1 / 4

Founder, CEO

✦

Elli launched Skopos Collective in 2016 to help small businesses take charge of their financial future and access the capital they deserve. After working with hundreds of business owners—and spending seven years as an SBA underwriter— Elli saw how the right knowledge and preparation can transform outcomes. Today, through Skopos, Elli empowers community-based businesses to understand their numbers, build smart strategies, and secure the right opportunities to grow. Passionate about the spirit and impact of small businesses, Elli finds joy in supporting their success and strengthening the communities they call home.

Elli

Eric

Candice

Lauren

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

1 / 4

Founder, CEO

✦

Elli

Eric

Candice

Lauren

1 / 4

Founder, CEO

✦

Elli

Eric

Candice

Lauren

1 / 4

Founder, CEO

✦

Elli

Eric

Candice

Lauren

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

1 / 4

Founder, CEO

✦

Elli

Eric

Candice

Lauren

The Skopos

Manifesto

Skopos is the Greek word for Purpose: the process of intentional, soul-filling work and the sense of accomplishment that follows it.

Our company name reflects an intentionality in our mission, and our Manifesto guides how we show up for our clients, our communities, and each other.

These principles reflect our belief that business can be a tool for justice, creativity, and interdependence—not just profit.

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

✦

01 America needs you.

In the 1950s, small businesses were a dominant economic force, contributing 58% of total GDP in the United States. By 1977, small business share of GDP dropped to 46.5% of GDP. Today, small business contributes only 33%, dwarfed in the shadows of Fortune 500 mega-corporations that make-up two-thirds of U.S. GDP.

The impacts are devasting for the American Dream: Concentrated wealth & power. Income inequality where executive compensation outpaces typical employee wages 344:1. Extractive industries that grossly pollute our environment. Violent industries that chip away at our personal freedom. And broken dreams that struggle to make ends meet In a system that was designed to reward profits, not purpose.

We believe another world is possible.

The Skopos

Manifesto

Skopos is the Greek word for Purpose: the process of intentional, soul-filling work and the sense of accomplishment that follows it.

Our company name reflects an intentionality in our mission, and our Manifesto guides how we show up for our clients, our communities, and each other.

These principles reflect our belief that business can be a tool for justice, creativity, and interdependence—not just profit.

Brooklyn Based, Community Focused

Humanizing Finance since 2016

✦

01 America needs you.

We believe another world is possible.

The Skopos

Manifesto

Skopos is the Greek word for Purpose: the process of intentional, soul-filling work and the sense of accomplishment that follows it.

Our company name reflects an intentionality in our mission, and our Manifesto guides how we show up for our clients, our communities, and each other.

These principles reflect our belief that business can be a tool for justice, creativity, and interdependence—not just profit.

✦
01
America
Needs You.
You’re our neighbors, our friends, our family. You're the mom-preneur juggling bedtime and big dreams. The immigrant seeking a better life through new opportunities. The activist turning a cause into a company. The artist coloring outside the lines. The designer refusing to settle.
You’ve chosen to build a life on your terms. That’s becoming more radical these days, and that’s worth honoring.
✦
02
The cards
are stacked against you.
Corporate consolidation, limited access to capital, and economic inequality all make running a small business harder than it should be. The system wasn’t built for you, but we believe you can beat it. We have to try.
✦
03
You can’t compete on price alone.
The idea that we can win as low cost leaders is a race to the bottom. It’s not sustainable. We have to price for a profit, and then figure out how to consistently build value in our products and services. Instead, we tap into a different source: the human spirit. Our work is often rooted in our relationships, how we do business in our community and keep the blood bumping in our business. You’re not just selling a product or a service. You’re selling innovation, values, experience, quality, passion and care. This value you bring should be reflected in your pricing. When this value is clear to the customer, your costs and your customer line up, and you have a profitable business that is capturing your value chain. The whole value chain is part of your story. Tell it.
✦
04
We don’t
believe in the profit motive.
We believe in making money. We don’t believe in maximizing profit at all costs.
The obsession with profit and maximizing shareholder value is gutting communities and destroying our planet, while executive cronyism, cost-cutting, and short-termism have hollowed out the long-term health of our economy.  
We believe that business can do better—must do better. For example, rather than investing profits towards marketing and advertising, we should invest in quality and sustainability.
✦
05
Put your numbers   to work for you.
We believe in making money. We don’t believe in maximizing profit at all costs.
The obsession with profit and maximizing shareholder value is gutting communities and destroying our planet, while executive cronyism, cost-cutting, and short-termism have hollowed out the long-term health of our economy.  
We believe that business can do better—must do better. For example, rather than investing profits towards marketing and advertising, we should invest in quality and sustainability.
✦
06
Be smart with
your money.
Once you understand your numbers, you can plan—not just for survival, but for growth, joy, and longevity. Make long-term decisions with intention. Build resilience into your business. Spend and save in alignment with your values. That’s where freedom lives.
✦
07
We are people who believe in people.
We believe in those who show up and give a damn. We believe in the ones who lift others as they grow, and who believe in progress, even when it’s slow. In small wins, even when the world feels heavy.
✦
08
The old way doesn’t work anymore.
Small business contribution to the US's GDP has diminished significantly— we can't pretend like we're in a post-war economy where small businesses were supported by a strong social safety net and a more equitable cost of living for working-class business owners.

The Skopos

Manifesto

Skopos is the Greek word for Purpose: the process of intentional, soul-filling work and the sense of accomplishment that follows it.

Our company name reflects an intentionality in our mission, and our Manifesto guides how we show up for our clients, our communities, and each other.

These principles reflect our belief that business can be a tool for justice, creativity, and interdependence—not just profit.

✦
01
America Needs You.
You’re our neighbors, our friends, our family. You're the mom-preneur juggling bedtime and big dreams. The immigrant seeking a better life through new opportunities. The activist turning a cause into a company. The artist coloring outside the lines. The designer refusing to settle.
You’ve chosen to build a life on your terms. That’s becoming more radical these days, and that’s worth honoring.
✦
02
The cards are
stacked against you.
Corporate consolidation, limited access to capital, and economic inequality all make running a small business harder than it should be. The system wasn’t built for you, but we believe you can beat it. We have to try.
✦
03
You can’t compete on price alone.
The idea that we can win as low cost leaders is a race to the bottom. It’s not sustainable. We have to price for a profit, and then figure out how to consistently build value in our products and services. Instead, we tap into a different source: the human spirit. Our work is often rooted in our relationships, how we do business in our community and keep the blood bumping in our business. You’re not just selling a product or a service. You’re selling innovation, values, experience, quality, passion and care. This value you bring should be reflected in your pricing. When this value is clear to the customer, your costs and your customer line up, and you have a profitable business that is capturing your value chain. The whole value chain is part of your story. Tell it.
✦
04
We don’t believe in the profit motive.
We believe in making money. We don’t believe in maximizing profit at all costs.
The obsession with profit and maximizing shareholder value is gutting communities and destroying our planet, while executive cronyism, cost-cutting, and short-termism have hollowed out the long-term health of our economy.  
We believe that business can do better—must do better. For example, rather than investing profits towards marketing and advertising, we should invest in quality and sustainability.
✦
05
Put your numbers   to work for you.
We believe in making money. We don’t believe in maximizing profit at all costs.
The obsession with profit and maximizing shareholder value is gutting communities and destroying our planet, while executive cronyism, cost-cutting, and short-termism have hollowed out the long-term health of our economy.  
We believe that business can do better—must do better. For example, rather than investing profits towards marketing and advertising, we should invest in quality and sustainability.
✦
06
Be smart with
your money.
Once you understand your numbers, you can plan—not just for survival, but for growth, joy, and longevity. Make long-term decisions with intention. Build resilience into your business. Spend and save in alignment with your values. That’s where freedom lives.
✦
07
We are people who believe in people.
We believe in those who show up and give a damn. We believe in the ones who lift others as they grow, and who believe in progress, even when it’s slow. In small wins, even when the world feels heavy.
✦
08
The old way doesn’t work anymore.
Small business contribution to the US's GDP has diminished significantly— we can't pretend like we're in a post-war economy where small businesses were supported by a strong social safety net and a more equitable cost of living for working-class business owners.