Coleman Foundation Blog

Gateway Conference Targets Tech Commercialization

Since its start in 1987, Saint Louis University's Gateway Series for Entrepreneurship Research has promoted advances in scholarship on entrepreneurship and related disciplines. At the Gateway conference, a general foundation is laid by the keynote speaker. The keynote address starts the meeting and provides a common frame of reference and point of departure. Then work will take place in small to medium sized groups exploring research and techniques applicable to the theme. The goal is to create an environment that maximizes opportunity for informal group discussion and provides connections and research opportunities for the participants. Other than the keynote speaker, no other Gateway participant needs to submit a paper to attend the conference.

The topic for the 2012 conference is: Technology Commercialization:  Have we learned anything? Keynote address will be given by Kathleen Allen, of the USC Marshall School of Business.

Economic growth happens when innovation meets entrepreneurship. With the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, universities were permitted to commercialize their federally funded research. But it wasn’t until the mid-1990's that universities began in earnest to develop programs to facilitate commercialization and technology entrepreneurship. Despite this effort, today we still have not figured out how to best move more of our research into the market to benefit society. In fact, the private sector struggles with many of the same issues as universities do. What have we learned?  What is the role of education in facilitating technology entrepreneurship, commercialization, and economic development? Where are the gaps in research and where should we focus our efforts now? The entrepreneurship teaching and research communities have vital roles to play in the economic growth of any region and every country. We will identify what those roles are and how we can accelerate more effective technology commercialization going forward.

Kathleen Allen, PhD, is a professor of entrepreneurship at the USC Marshall School of Business and founding director of the Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization.  Allen works with scientists and engineers to identify markets and applications for their technologies, develop commercialization teams, and prepare them to seek funding. She is on the advisory boards of the USC Center for Scientific Translation, the USC Regulatory Science Program, and the USC-CHLA Center for Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics.   She is the author of more than 15 books in the field of entrepreneurship and technology commercialization including the leading texts Launching New Ventures, 6th Ed. and Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers.  Her personal entrepreneurial endeavors include two successful companies in commercial real estate brokerage, development, and investment, and two technology-based businesses. She is president and co-founder of N2TEC Institute, a nonprofit organization that was inspired by work she conducted under an NSF grant to develop a model for a technology commercialization ecosystem.  The institute focuses on driving the launch of new technology ventures, particularly in life sciences and medical devices in rural and underserved regions of the U.S. Allen serves as an advisor to two life sciences companies, is entrepreneur-in-residence at a major aerospace company, and is director of a NYSE company.

For doctoral students and faculty facing travel hardships, there are scholarships available from the Coleman Foundation. Those who need a formal role in order to receive institutional support can serve as facilitators or correspondents. If either of these apply to you, please contact us as soon as possible to make arrangements.

Questions about the registration process or Coleman scholarship may be directed to Jeanne Rhodes:rhodesja@slu.edu or 314-977-3850. Questions regarding conference content may be directed to conference organizers Jintong Tang (jtang3@slu.edu), Sridhar Condoor (condoor@slu.edu) or Jerome Katz (katzja@slu.edu).

Registration and hotel information can be found at: http://www.slu.edu/x57745.xml.

Aspiring Education Entrepreneurs Advance their Ideas

In September, 2011, The Coleman Foundation made a grant to The Idea Village in support of The Education Entrepreneur Challenge which encourages individuals to develop and start ventures that provide commercial solutions to improving education.  The Idea Village manages the program in partnership with Teach for America's (TFA) Greater New Orleans Region to promote self-employment to TFA members, provide skills and educational training as well as technical support and pre-development funds to up to 50 TFA current corps members and alumni.

This past weekend, four entrepreneurs participating in The Idea Village’s Education Entrepreneur Challenge cohort traveled to NYC to participate in Startup Weekend NYC EDU.  Of the four Education Entrepreneur Challenge entrepreneurs sent by The Idea Village, two won 1st and 2nd place. 

See The Idea Village's recent newsletter for more details.

Coleman Foundation Statement on Susan G. Komen for the Cure

There has been confusion regarding news reports of a recent decision made by an organization unaffiliated with The Coleman Foundation.   Please note that it was Susan G. Komen for the Cure (previously known as the Komen Foundation) which has made a decision involving its funding arrangements with Planned Parenthood.

While The Coleman Foundation maintains a grantmaking program in the cancer field, it is not affiliated with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Their web site address is: www.komen.org.

Coleman Fellows Program Begins New Academic Season

Over 125 faculty members from 20 colleges and universities have begun work as Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows.  These individuals will be creating new courses or modifying existing ones to incorporate self-employment education concepts and learning objectives or teaching courses similarly developed under prior year fellowships.  The three goals of the program are to:

• Build support for entrepreneurship education in non-business departments across campuses of participating schools;
• Directly advance the Coleman Foundation’s Definition of Entrepreneurship with focus on business creation; and
• Cultivate cohorts of entrepreneurship educators from across the nation in select disciplines

Coleman Fellows are building a community of practice through monthly webinars, ongoing engagement at the program's web site (located at www.colemanfellows.com) and in-person workshops at the national conferences of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization and the Self-Employment in the Arts organization.

Through last year's program, 190 courses were developed or modified and more than 2,300 students were engaged in self-employment education.  As an example of one participating institution in this year's effort, click here to read Canisius College's announcement of their program award.

GRACE Project Profiled on Chicago ABC Affiliate

The GRACE (Generating Resources for Aging through Collaborative Energies) Project, an initiative of the Intersect for Ability network, was recently profiled on Chicago's ABC affiliate.  Click here to watch the report on this effort which is enabling community agencies to better serve aging individuals with developmental disabilities.

Coleman Foundation to Fund Entrepreneur Engagement in Contest at NACCE Conference

On Monday October 10, 2011, as part of the 9^th Annual NACCE Conference, The Coleman Foundation will conduct an elevator grant session to kick-off a $150,000 competition to identify best practices for creatively involving successful entrepreneurs in self-employment education. The session will provide community college faculty members with the opportunity to compete for grants to fund their Entrepreneurship Engagement Plan to identify practicing entrepreneurs in their local community and engage them in educational programs.

Elevator grant winners will compete over the 2011-2012 academic year to receive additional awards for the most effective approaches for entrepreneur engagement.  The Foundation is targeting as many as twenty $5,000 launch grants (totaling up to $100,000) to fund a seven-month implementation of promising Entrepreneurship Engagement Plans with bonus funds of up to $50,000 to be awarded in the spring of 2012 among those with the most impactful achievements during the implementation period.  Applicants may be colleges initiating self-employment education activities as well as those with existing programs.

The elevator grant program highlights activities which are part of NACCE's recommended “Community College Presidents Commitment to Entrepreneurship”, an initiative outlining six actions which college presidents should take to advance self-employment education.  One of the commitments – to “increase entrepreneur engagement in community colleges” – aligns with one of the Foundation’s Bull’s-Eye Entrepreneurship Concepts — that successful practitioners, including local and alumni entrepreneurs, must be part of a student’s learning experience.

The Entrepreneurship Engagement Plan is a roadmap, like a business plan, describing how the college intends to creatively engage with practicing entrepreneurs from their community.  It will state the types of entrepreneurs who will be engaged and why they are the key target for the college.  The Plan will describe how the college will build a team comprised of members of the college and the community focused on self-employment education.   The Plan will outline operational elements which may include development of reciprocal benefits between the college and entrepreneurs as well as the involvement of entrepreneurs in campus-based educational and co-curricular activities.  Creative solutions are encouraged to engage practitioners in campus activities.

The elevator grant method is based upon the business presentation model which involves describing a new business venture in a short pitch that could be given to a potential investor during an elevator ride.  Using these same concepts, the Foundation has conducted similar sessions for secondary, community college and collegiate educators over the past eight years, employing a rapid grant making process to award well-placed, small grants in support of entrepreneurship education.  New this year is the awarding of bonus funds intended to motivate the development of best practices and advance their implementation.

Interested applicants must be NACCE members and must submit a three-page Entrepreneurship Engagement Plan, including a plan budget, which will be evaluated in advance of the elevator grant session by the Foundation and NACCE.  Select applicants will be invited to participate in the session.  At the session, the Project Director from each invited community college will present an overview of their proposed project, 3 minutes in duration, to a panel of representatives of the Foundation and NACCE.  Questions from Foundation and NACCE representatives will follow.  Launch grants, including funding to develop a video report of implementation results, will be awarded during the NACCE conference.  Presentations must be made by the Project Director.  Winners may be invited to present their project at future NACCE events.

Registration materials must be received by 8 a.m. Central Time on Monday, September 19, 2011.  Late entries will not be accepted.  Registration forms are available on the NACCE web site. 

Twenty Colleges and Universities to Award Coleman Fellowships for 2011-2012 Academic Year

The Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows program will continue into a third year in an effort to extend self-employment education across 20 university and college campuses.  Including funding for new and returning Fellows, the Coleman Foundation has committed $342,000 to this year's program. 

Faculty Fellows are typically educators from outside the school of business at their institution.  They engage in projects in support of entrepreneurship education on their campus which inspire students in non-business disciplines to gain self-employment skills and experience.  For the 2011-2012 academic year, 57 new Fellows from across the Arts and Sciences, ranging from Dance to Design and English to Engineering, will create new courses within their disciplines or modify existing ones to incorporate elements of self-employment education.

The 2010-2011 Class was comprised of 56 faculty members from 20 colleges and universities.  This year, 16 of these schools received new Fellows grants and are joined by four additional campuses which will receive Fellowship funding for the first time.  In addition, limited funding will be provided to support the continuing efforts of 64 faculty members who received Fellowships in prior years.  The 2009-2010 Class was comprised of 38 faculty members from 14 colleges and universities. 

Colleges and universities continuing their participation in the Coleman Fellows Program include:

• California State University, Fresno (CA)
• Canisius College (NY)
• DePaul University (IL)
• Finlandia University (MI)
• Illinois State University (IL)
• Juniata College (PA)
• Lawrence Technological University (MI)
• Lawrence University (WI)
• Millikin University (IL)
• Qunicy University (IL)
• Saint Louis University (MO)
• Texas Christian University (TX)
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro (NC)
• Western Kentucky University (KY)
• Wichita State University (KS)
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

Colleges and universities joining the program in 2011-2012 include:

• Mesa State College (CO)
• North Central College (IL)
• Northern Illinois University (IL)
• Simmons College (MA)

The Coleman Foundation has awarded Coleman Fellowship grants totalling $800,000 during the first three years of this program.

Coleman Foundation Announces Spring 2011 Grant Awards in Entrepreneurship Program

California State University, Fresno, CA
$80,600 for renewed funding for the chair position in Entrepreneurial Studies at California State University, Fresno, currently held by Timothy Stearns, Ph.D. As part of a two-year grant, the Coleman Chair will be engaged in the formulation and execution of programs on and off campus that further advance entrepreneurship training and education in California's Central Valley.

North Central College, IL
$76,177 for continued support of the Self Employment in the Arts (SEA) Program. The program consists of an annual conference for art students, faculty and practicing artists, and provides resources to assist artists in becoming self employed. The twelfth annual conference will be held in February 2012 in Lisle, IL. 

Women's Initiative for Self Employment, CA
$50,000 to support the Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, a community-based, education organization which has provided self-employment training, support and financing to more than 22,000 women over the past 22 years. Services are provided in English and Spanish to help low-income women achieve economic self-sufficiency and create jobs in their communities. The organization is expanding from California to Chicago and will partner with local non profits to identify and then train current and aspiring entrepreneurs. The organization anticipates serving 2,700 women during a three-year expansion project, creating more than 1,250 jobs.

 

Hanlon named Coleman Chair at North Central College

North Central College recently announced that Brian Hanlon, assistant professor of marketing, was named the new holder of the Coleman Foundation Professor of Entrepreneurship endowed chair. He succeeds retiring faculty member Gary Ernst, professor of international business and marketing, who held the chair since it was endowed by the Coleman Foundation in 1998.

The Foundation congratulates Gary Ernst on his years of service and welcomes Brian Hanlon to his new role.

NFTE Chicago announces winners of the 8th Annual Citywide Business Plan Competition

“Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) uses entrepreneurship education to engage young people in school, teach them about the market economy and give them an entrepreneurial mindset to be successful in life,“ said Christine Poorman, Executive Director, NFTE Chicago.

The work of the NFTE Chicago office is funded by the Coleman Foundation as part of the Entrepreneurship Pathway program. The program is an effort that promotes and encourages the application of entrepreneurship education in high school, community college and university settings to build entrepreneurship knowledge, skills and action.

NFTE offers training and support for educators who teach high school students about real life business skills, including how to build and run a business. The NFTE Chicago youth entrepreneurship program is taught at 32 Chicago Public High Schools, reaching 1,500 students. Teachers and volunteers from Chicago’s business community work with students on the process of creating a business plan and sell their products and services. 

High school students work year-round to develop business plans for revenue-generating businesses to enter NFTE Annual Citywide Business Plan Competition. Six young entrepreneurs selected from 1,500 current NFTE students presented their business plans to a panel of ten judges from Chicago’s business community. The two finalists will advance to NFTE’s National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New York and compete for $10,000 in venture grants.

 

Following is a description of the student presenters along with a description of their business concept.

First Place (advancing to national competition in NYC)

Attallah Wilson, Junior, Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep -- Founder: Stick and Zips

Stick and Zips is a manufacturing/retail business that sells a food bag sealer to help customers avoid wasting food and save them money. The inspiration for her idea came through her entrepreneurship class at her school in the Roseland community area on the far south side of Chicago.  Learning about entrepreneurship has taught her the skills necessary to run a business, and she plans to pursue a degree in Business Management after high school.

Second Place (advancing to national competition in NYC)

Karalyn Kelley, Junior, Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep -- Founder: Food Girl

Food Girl is a lunch delivery service that functions at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep in the Roseland community area of south side of Chicago.  Karalyn believes that learning about entrepreneurship has changed her view on what she wanted to do in life, and has made her excited to start her own business.

Third Place

Tia McClellan & Renita Williams, Seniors, Whitney Young Magnet High School -- Co-Founders: iCollegeProcess

iCollegeProcess, co-founded by Tia McClellan and Renita Williams, is a software “app” that allows college-bound students to organize and track college application process for multiple schools to avoid missing deadlines and submissions. Tia & Renita attend school in the Near West Side community area of Chicago, where their own challenging college application processes inspired this idea. Growing up in a predominantly low-income neighborhood, Renita believes everything in life must be earned, and that with entrepreneurial knowledge she will always the opportunity to turn any idea into a source of income. 

Honorable Mentions

Anthony Driver, Jr., Senior, Chicago International Charter Schools -- Founder: Charge ‘n’ Go

Charge ‘n’ Go is a service that provides a secure mobile device charging locker.  Customers can conveniently and quickly re-charge their electronics away from home.  Attending school in the Auburn Gresham community area of the south side of Chicago, Anthony feels his greatest obstacle to overcome to be successful was going to school with some “rough surrounding neighborhoods.” 

Tracy Nunnery, Senior, School of Entrepreneurship at South Shore Campus -- Founder: Creative Desire

Creative Desire provides customized pastries as a healthy snack-alternative for customers with dietary restrictions. Overcoming numerous obstacles, including homelessness, Tracy believes learning about entrepreneurship has made her view life more opportunistically, and has given her a chance to live out her dream of being successful.

Michael Padilla, Freshman, EPIC Academy -- Founder: Off the MAP Tutoring

Off the MAP Tutoring is a tutoring service that hopes to decrease the rate of youth criminal activity by increasing students’ performance in school.  Inspired by his social entrepreneurship class at EPIC Academy, Michael saw an opportunity to better his community through offering his tutoring skills as a service.

About Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) mission is to provide programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to stay in school, to recognize business opportunities and to plan for successful futures. NFTE provides entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities. Since 1987, NFTE has worked with more than 350,000 young people. NFTE currently operates programs in 21 states and 9 countries, and has more than 1,500 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers. For more information, visit www.nfte.com.