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CHAPEL HILL – UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Entrepreneurship (Eship) Center, an affiliated center of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, announced Tuesday that affiliated-faculty at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) and the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative (Duke I&E) are participating with the Eship Center, Opportunity Hub (OHUB) and 100 Black Angels and Allies Fund, to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The goal of this collaboration and engagement from multiple institutions is to address issues like DEI at a systemic organizational level, and to create more equitable ecosystems through the delivery of education, best practices, and actionable frameworks.
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As part of the effort, STVP affiliated-faculty and Duke I&E will engage with the DEIS Practicum Certificate and Black Technology Ecosystem Investment Certificate, which will be delivered through The Eship Center’s Scale School starting in August 2021. These new collaborations build on the Eship Center’s commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“In order to address issues like DEI at a systemic organizational level and to address the pervasive issues causing the wealth gap, we need to work together to help make this kind of education more readily available,” explains Eship Center Executive Director Vickie Gibbs. “Together, we are taking action and making progress toward creating a more equitable society and entrepreneurial community.”
“Our collaboration with UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Eship Center has opened the door to expand the reach of these groundbreaking programs to even more universities, and ultimately to more organizations and Black and Ally investors,” elaborated Rodney Sampson, executive chairman and CEO of OHUB and co-founder, general partner of 100 Black Angels & Allies Fund and Keohane distinguished visiting professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. “Engagement with affiliated-faculty from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and Duke provides further validation of the value of making DEI foundational to entrepreneurship and innovation. It also expands the reach of these solutions and insights into the alumni and entrepreneurial communities of these two amazing universities.”
“Connection and collaboration are at the core of everything we do at Duke I&E. Working on programs like these with like-minded organizations complements our efforts to close the wealth gap and create a more equitable ecosystem,” said Jon Fjeld, director of Duke I&E. In partnership with the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and the North Carolina Central University School of Business, I&E recently cohosted the Equity Matters symposium to explore how to achieve equity in venture capital.
“For too long, diversity, equity and inclusion have been an afterthought in entrepreneurship and innovation. I am grateful to be collaborating with thoughtful, action-oriented colleagues to address systemic racism. Together, we’ll be able to create important new network connections between our organizations and to develop learning insights that can be shared with educators and organizations around the world, ” added Tom Byers, Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University and STVP Faculty Director.
The DEIS Practicum Certificate is designed to help organizational leaders (including c-suite, founders, and boards) of high-growth companies create and integrate solutions that bring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into all facets of a company. It features a framework to help identify and implement the actions that will lead to advancing an organization’s DEI efforts and will develop a leader’s strengths in this area. Learn more here.
The Black Technology Ecosystem Investment Certificate program will provide in-depth training on the tactics, nuances and strategies needed to become a knowledgeable investor in high growth technology startups and venture funds. It is uniquely designed for aspiring Black and ally investors that want to specifically invest in Black technology, startup and venture fund ecosystem deal flow. Learn more here.
