Entrepreneurship at JCU cultivates a community of confident creators and thinkers. We exist to inspire action and explore possibilities. To challenge students to use their innate creativity to solve big problems and launch big solutions. To recreate what higher education can be.
This strategic plan is our roadmap. It outlines the programs, partnerships, and priorities that will define the next chapter of entrepreneurship at John Carroll University. Every initiative here is designed to do one thing: prepare students to create meaningful change in their careers, their communities, and the world.
If you’re interested in investing your time, talent, or treasure into any program, reach out to Doan Winkel.
About what entrepreneurship education should look like, who it should serve, and the impact it should create.
The traditional model of higher education is overdue for reinvention. We are building academic and extracurricular programs that meet students where they are, reach learners around the world, and prove that rigorous entrepreneurship education can be accessible, scalable, and transformative.
Designed first for developing countries, then scaled globally. Three cohorts already delivered in partnership with universities in India and Pakistan, with active conversations across multiple countries.
A year-long fellowship for one or two MBA students or standout undergraduate seniors. Fellows design and execute practice-based, community-focused research on social innovation in Greater Cleveland.
Competition for high school students, built on proven innovative models. Teams receive a challenge, work through a structured curriculum, then compete on campus. Scales to an online format for high school and college students worldwide.
Immersive summer course to the most innovative companies in the U.S., then eventually Vietnam, Sweden, Honduras, and Ghana. Students learn directly from the people building and leading these organizations.
Each year, a cohort of five JCU faculty members across disciplines receive funding to develop self-sustaining experiential learning projects. Over five years, 25 champions embed entrepreneurship across the university.
Women are underrepresented in entrepreneurship. We are building a suite of programs that starts with high school students and extends through college and into the Cleveland community, creating an unbroken pipeline of support, mentorship, and funding for women who want to build something that matters.
A dedicated 12-month track for female JCU students. Mirrors our co-ed apprenticeship — labs, events, networking, mentorship, personal board of advisors — designed for the unique challenges women face in entrepreneurship.
Six-day, five-night immersive experience in inspiring locations across the U.S. Built on a methodology developed through research and interviews with 500+ female entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Five annual scholarships for high school or college women in Cleveland developing social entrepreneurship solutions to real community needs. Direct investment in the next generation of women creating sustainable impact.
Intensive weekend bootcamp for female high school students. Teams led by standout female JCU entrepreneurship students iterate ideas and build prototypes for pressing global challenges. This is where the pipeline begins.
Entrepreneurship is learned by doing. Our experiential programs put students in the middle of real ventures, real problems, and real communities. They pitch, prototype, consult, and build. They fail forward with confidence. And they graduate with a portfolio of work that proves what they can do.
An intensive accelerator for JCU student entrepreneurs and social innovators. Teams work through deep customer discovery, experimentation, prototyping, and financial modeling. Selected teams get intensive coaching and the chance to pitch for seed funding.
Funds student travel to regional and national pitch competitions, plus coaching support and stipends. Exposure and experience that come only from competing on a national stage.
Three established student-powered programs where Boler students work directly with community partners. Graduate students consult on business challenges for local startups. Student marketers deliver real digital marketing services. Student consultants take on high-impact projects.
Entrepreneurship at JCU does not stop at the campus gates. We believe the same skills we teach our students can transform the communities around us. These programs extend JCU’s reach into Greater Cleveland and beyond, creating lasting economic and social impact.
An 11-month cohort program that leads under-resourced side hustlers and entrepreneurs from idea to scalable business. Six-week bootcamp + three-month mentorship + student consulting. Four cohorts completed; scaling to two to three per year.
JCU students visit a regional prison weekly to work with incarcerated individuals on developing entrepreneurial ideas. Two-semester vision: build the skills, then launch the venture so individuals step into a business upon release. Goal: a national program other universities can license.
A paid fellowship that empowers up to five JCU students annually to become agents of change in Northeast Ohio. Fellows propose a social need, identify the right community partner, and execute a metric-driven plan for lasting impact.
We are a Jesuit university grounded in the pursuit of justice and the development of the whole person. That foundation makes our approach to entrepreneurship different. We are not just teaching students to start companies. We are challenging them to ask better questions, confront harder problems, and build solutions that serve communities beyond themselves.
This plan is ambitious by design. The programs outlined here will extend JCU’s entrepreneurial reach from Cleveland to the world. From the classroom to the prison yard. From undergraduate education to lifelong learning.
Pulled directly from our brand: who we are when we teach, when we build, and when we show up in community.
We have no limits or ceilings. We don’t wait; we are confident in the face of risk.
Our voice is daring and unafraid. We inspire action on what matters.
There’s always a better way to solve a problem. It’s up to us to find it.
We walk with you as you fail forward with confidence. Every reflection compounds.
The best way to change the world is to build something. If that sounds like you, let’s talk.
Doan Winkel · Director, Entrepreneurship at JCU