Connect and Engage During Global Entrepreneurship Week!

During November 18-24, 170 countries and 10 million students will take part in 39,000 events, activities, and competitions in observance of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), a weeklong celebration of innovators who dream big and bring ideas to life. Across the United States alone, nearly 5,000 events, activities, and competitions are planned in all 50 states by a wide variety of organizations including: colleges and universities, entrepreneurial support organizations, government agencies, economic development groups, and more.

These activities range from large-scale start-up competitions and workshops, to small community discussions. Each year, GEW reaches new audiences and connects participants to a network that can help them take the next step, no matter where they are on their entrepreneurial journey.

GEW introduces entrepreneurship and innovation to those who otherwise might not have considered it as a career path or as a way to solve real-world problems. Through these events and activities, GEW shares uplifting and informative experiences that motivate participants to take action.

Connecting Ecosystems

Made possible by the Kauffman Foundation, GEW provides an opportunity for individuals and organizations to connect and strengthen their entrepreneurial ecosystems. It also provides an opportunity to expand your organization’s reach beyond traditional audiences and energize new partnership or increased membership. It also can open doors to an international audience and connect your local network to a global community.

As an organization, NACCE will observe GEW 2019, in a number of ways including:

On November 18, NACCE will be in Maryland to lead the Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) Pre-Launch Event, “Community Colleges as Incubators of Innovation Panel Discussion,” presented by PGCC’s Innovation Hub. This is an educational event that endeavors to create a broader awareness of the transformation of the role of community colleges. Following this keynote  address will be a panel discussion themes around community colleges as incubators as presented in NACCE’s new book, Community Colleges as Incubators of Innovation: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Communities and Students.

Also on November 18, NACCE will host a special luncheon focused on how community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can collaborate to increase diversity in the technology fields. The luncheon kicks off of NC IDEA Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is hosted by NACCE and Jeff Smith, NACCE director of Innovation and Equity, and Katie Gailes, director of Entrepreneurship Initiatives.

The following day at the NC IDEA Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Summit, in Raleigh, NC, NACCE will lead the presentations with a keynote address on entrepreneurship and how we can maximize economic potential by supporting entrepreneurial endeavors through strategic alliances and programs that support entrepreneurs. The goal of this inaugural summit is to catalyze entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy for the state of North Carolina. During the summit, we’re giving away 150 copies of NACCE’s new book, Community Colleges as Incubators of Innovation: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Communities and Students.”

GEW is the ideal time to make new connections and expand networks, which NACCE is doing as we make plans to move our headquarters to North Carolina’s Triangle area in 2020.

I encourage each of you to connect and engage during GEW. You can do this in any the following ways:

-Attend an event

-Host an event

-Become an organizing partners

-Make global connections

Be sure to let us know what you’re doing so we can add it to the list of events that NACCE members are undertaking to make a difference in their local entrepreneurial ecosystems. Visit GEW’s website for more information.