Designing Entrepreneurship Programs That Work for Everyone — An Introduction to the Inclusive Economic Mobility Framework Webinar
Designing entrepreneurship programs that empower underserved founders.
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Event Details
Most entrepreneurship programs are designed for the students who were going to succeed anyway. The students who need it most — first-generation founders, justice-impacted individuals, adult learners, entrepreneurs of color — are too often an afterthought in program design, if they're considered at all.
This session introduces the Inclusive Economic Mobility Framework™, a five-phase pathway developed over two decades of practitioner experience that integrates entrepreneurship education, equity-by-design delivery, structured mentoring, and direct capital access into a single sequenced model. Dr. Matt A. Connell will share the framework's structure, the documented outcomes from career practice — including a 2% two-year recidivism rate among justice-impacted graduates against a national baseline of 44%, and 85+ confirmed business launches — and what it actually takes to design a program that produces durable results for the students most programs were never built to reach.
Whether you're launching a new entrepreneurship initiative or rethinking an existing one, this session offers a practical lens for what equity-centered program design looks like in practice — not in theory.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Matt Connell
Matt Connell, Ed.D., MBA, is a senior higher education leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing student success, institutional effectiveness, and innovation across public and private colleges and universities. Currently, he serves as Director of the Werth Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Connecticut State Community College System, where he provides statewide leadership across twelve campuses. Matt has overseen academic programs, faculty, and multimillion‑dollar budgets, secured significant external funding, and designed equity‑centered initiatives that improve access, retention, and outcomes for diverse learners. He is recognized for translating strategy into impactful academic and workforce programs through collaboration, data‑informed decision‑making, and inclusive leadership.