I just returned from attending the annual Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers conference, hosted this year by Rice University in Houston.
GCEC was founded in 1996 (as NCEC at the time) to provide a coordinated way for participating members to communicate on the issues and challenges confronting university-based entrepreneurship centers. GCEC now has over 200 university members -- including the top universities in the United States and around the world. Conference attendance was close to 400 and attendees were able to select from 42 different sessions on an amazingly diverse and interesting set of topics.
Every time I attend and participate, I am inspired by the popularity and demand for entrepreneurship education at universities everywhere and by the creativity and breadth of what is happening at other schools. On the other hand, I'm always jolted by the feeling that we've only scratched the surface in our own program and that it's time to get back to the work of delivering on our mission.
Keynote speakers included Dr. Ed Roberts, Founder/Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Catherine Rohr, Founder, Prison Entrepreneur Program (everyone was emotionally affected by her talk); and Dr. Jack Gill, Founder, Vanguard Ventures. Perhaps the runaway favorite, however, was Michael Holthouse, formerly the founder of Paranet, Inc., who spoke about his new passion as Founder of Lemonade Day.
Take a look at these websites:
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/09/11/story5.html
http://www.lemonadeday.org/public/pag219.aspx
I have a new appreciation for the curbside lemonade stand as a wonderful platform for entrepreneurship education for children (the investor pitch item in the checklist is particularly informative!). Having begun a few years ago as a program for at-risk kids, with (only!) a couple of thousand lemonade stands in Houston opening on the same day.........the program has grown to over 27,000 lemonade stands nationwide. Lemonade Day opens up a whole new world to young, at-risk kids, who have never imagined the enabling power of entrepreneurship and possibilities for self-directed opportunities.
I co-presented with Connie Bourassa-Shaw, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at the University of Washington-Seattle's Michael G. Foster Business School at a session entitled University Programs Making an Impact: Environmental Innovation/Clean Tech Entrepreneurship.
Other selected sessions of interest included: Alliances and Partnerships Across Institutions, Incubators & Collaborative Environments, Social Entrepreneurship, Life Science Entrepreneurship, Graduate Masters Programs in Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, Going Global, and one of the most provocative - What Will Entrepreneurship Programs Look Like in 2019?
Consistent themes included student demand for entrepreneurship education, the desire from the corporate world for more entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary skills among graduates, and the requests on campuses from other departments/schools to bring entrepreneurship education into their programs.
In other words - evidence shows that demand is high from several directions, while entrepreneurship centers are seen as enabling go-to organizations. Meanwhile, we commiserated together on how difficult it is to create and support interdisciplinary and collaborative missions. A value of the conference was associating with like-minded colleagues facing similar challenges.
The shared vision of leaders in entrepreneurship education recognizes the simple fact that large companies don't innovate. For years, large companies have seen declines in their employment. Large companies that are unable to change and redefine themselves fail. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leaders have driven economic development and job creation in the U.S. for years.
Additionally, the U.S. has maintained its leadership in the world through innovation and entrepreneurship. We accept risk and tolerate failure to a degree that is rare in many developed countries. What's changing dramatically on a global scale is that countries like China, India, Brazil and many others share our same characteristics of risk tolerance. Their arrival as major economic forces in the world economy has transformed the competitive landscape. It is critical that we do everything we can to foster entrepreneurship education. To fail on this front is to impair the future prospects of today's youth.
GCEC was founded in 1996 (as NCEC at the time) to provide a coordinated way for participating members to communicate on the issues and challenges confronting university-based entrepreneurship centers. GCEC now has over 200 university members -- including the top universities in the United States and around the world. Conference attendance was close to 400 and attendees were able to select from 42 different sessions on an amazingly diverse and interesting set of topics.
Every time I attend and participate, I am inspired by the popularity and demand for entrepreneurship education at universities everywhere and by the creativity and breadth of what is happening at other schools. On the other hand, I'm always jolted by the feeling that we've only scratched the surface in our own program and that it's time to get back to the work of delivering on our mission.
Keynote speakers included Dr. Ed Roberts, Founder/Chair, MIT Entrepreneurship Center; Catherine Rohr, Founder, Prison Entrepreneur Program (everyone was emotionally affected by her talk); and Dr. Jack Gill, Founder, Vanguard Ventures. Perhaps the runaway favorite, however, was Michael Holthouse, formerly the founder of Paranet, Inc., who spoke about his new passion as Founder of Lemonade Day.
Take a look at these websites:
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/09/11/story5.html
http://www.lemonadeday.org/public/pag219.aspx
I have a new appreciation for the curbside lemonade stand as a wonderful platform for entrepreneurship education for children (the investor pitch item in the checklist is particularly informative!). Having begun a few years ago as a program for at-risk kids, with (only!) a couple of thousand lemonade stands in Houston opening on the same day.........the program has grown to over 27,000 lemonade stands nationwide. Lemonade Day opens up a whole new world to young, at-risk kids, who have never imagined the enabling power of entrepreneurship and possibilities for self-directed opportunities.
I co-presented with Connie Bourassa-Shaw, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at the University of Washington-Seattle's Michael G. Foster Business School at a session entitled University Programs Making an Impact: Environmental Innovation/Clean Tech Entrepreneurship.
Other selected sessions of interest included: Alliances and Partnerships Across Institutions, Incubators & Collaborative Environments, Social Entrepreneurship, Life Science Entrepreneurship, Graduate Masters Programs in Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, Going Global, and one of the most provocative - What Will Entrepreneurship Programs Look Like in 2019?
Consistent themes included student demand for entrepreneurship education, the desire from the corporate world for more entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary skills among graduates, and the requests on campuses from other departments/schools to bring entrepreneurship education into their programs.
In other words - evidence shows that demand is high from several directions, while entrepreneurship centers are seen as enabling go-to organizations. Meanwhile, we commiserated together on how difficult it is to create and support interdisciplinary and collaborative missions. A value of the conference was associating with like-minded colleagues facing similar challenges.
The shared vision of leaders in entrepreneurship education recognizes the simple fact that large companies don't innovate. For years, large companies have seen declines in their employment. Large companies that are unable to change and redefine themselves fail. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leaders have driven economic development and job creation in the U.S. for years.
Additionally, the U.S. has maintained its leadership in the world through innovation and entrepreneurship. We accept risk and tolerate failure to a degree that is rare in many developed countries. What's changing dramatically on a global scale is that countries like China, India, Brazil and many others share our same characteristics of risk tolerance. Their arrival as major economic forces in the world economy has transformed the competitive landscape. It is critical that we do everything we can to foster entrepreneurship education. To fail on this front is to impair the future prospects of today's youth.
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