Universities around the country are recognizing the importance of providing entrepreneurship-related education for their undergrads. Students that engage in entrepreneurship during their time in college emerge with the soft skills and drive necessary to lead companies and bring growth wherever they land. Maryland is fortunate to have a number of great higher education institutions that recognize this importance. We'll meet representatives from 4 of them -- University of Baltimore, Towson University, MICA, and the University System of Maryland -- to hear what they're doing to support the next generation of startup and entrepreneurial leaders.
Exclusive application for 1:1 Mentorship with an AWS expert
As a Startup Grind community member, you are invited to apply for our exclusive AWS + Startup Grind Mentorship Program as part of Mentorship Month.
Selected applicants will have the opportunity to participate in a one-on-one mentor session to get guidance on how to grow and develop your business and allow you to get first-hand advice from experts in your field. We offer 5 distinct mentoring tracks that you can choose from, including Fundraising, Product, Marketing, Sales, or Strategy & Ops, and you will get paired with an AWS expert in the field of your choice. All sessions are held remotely, and the program is completely free for all participants.
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship
Venture Development Director
University System of Maryland
University of Baltimore Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Director
Towson University Incubator
Assistant Director of Venture Creation
Stephanie Chin brings a unique mix of business incubation and higher education experience as the Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Known across MICA's campus as the Entrepreneurship Evangelist, Stephanie is an alumna of Towson University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, concentration in International Business, and a Spanish language minor. In her former role as Program Manager of the Towson University Incubator, Stephanie organized educational initiatives and the annual Business Plan Competition and served as a Specialist with Towson's Student Launch Pad. At MICA, Stephanie is committed to fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship through one on one advising support to student entrepreneurs and alums and coordination of the UP/Start Venture Competition and MICApreneurship programming. Stephanie is also a Board Member of Baltimore Business Lending, a nonprofit organization that provides small business loans in Baltimore City, Open Works Baltimore, a makerspace whose mission is to make tools, technology, and the knowledge to use them accessible to all, and Innov8MD, committed to furthering student innovation across the state of Maryland.
Lindsay Ryan is Venture Development Director for the University System of Maryland, which coordinates among 12 public institutions and 3 regional higher education centers throughout Maryland. Lindsay leverages the collective expertise and resources of the System to provide even more support for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development throughout the System and State. Previously, she was the Founding Manager of Harbor Launch at IMET, a business incubator within a University System of Maryland research institute in Baltimore, Maryland. Lindsay began her career at the National Science Foundation, leading program assessment and communications for the Small Business Innovation Research program and working with other innovation programs such as I-CorpsTM. Lindsay received a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland - College Park in 2009 and an M.S. from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill in 2011 studying Marine Microbiology.
Henry Mortimer serves as the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Baltimore. He oversees the support and assistance to all UB undergraduate and graduate students and alumni who are intent on establishing an enterprise. An entrepreneur, strategic advisor, and storyteller, Mortimer has been distilling noise into compelling narratives for 30+ years. In 2008, he founded Mortimer Communications Inc. to help growing companies create messaging that is meaningful and memorable by ensuring that the story they tell resonates with their target audience. Prior to founding his company, Mortimer handled marketing, communications, and business development services for a medical education company that helped major pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including AstraZeneca, Glaxo-Smithkline, and Pfizer, share their stories with healthcare professionals. Mortimer also spent more than two decades in the publishing industry, providing targeted content and editorial direction for a variety of business-to-business, academic, and consumer publications in the Baltimore-Washington region. Henry Mortimer is also a published author who has written everything from poems, short stories, songs, screenplays, and novels-in-progress, to essays, reviews, criticism, and several books, including a sales and marketing how-to manual.
David joined Towson University in 2016 as assistant director of Venture Creation. In this role, he manages the daily operations and programming of the Towson University Incubator and fosters an environment that promotes innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship with the University, TU Incubator, and the wider entrepreneurial community.
David has 30 years of experience in economic development, technology transfer, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. After obtaining an M.B.A., David spent nearly 10 years in small business development centers in Georgia and Florida.
After moving to Scotland, he was responsible for managing the funding and support of the award-winning Hillington Park Innovation Centre, a business incubator just outside Glasgow, Scotland, which provides support to over 170 innovative new companies.
As project manager at Scottish Enterprise, David worked on proof of concept projects with major Scottish research universities. He was part of a team that created the Wellness and Health Innovation project, which provides business development, marketing, and technical support to innovative entrepreneurs creating new products and services in the health and wellness sectors.
Kapowza
Director of Accounts
Hey, my name is Sean Sutherland, Director of Accounts for Kapowza, a creative agency located in Baltimore that specializes in graphic design, website, and video marketing services for startups to mid-size companies.
My professional career in marketing began in July 2009 when I moved to Baltimore and worked for a local public relations company, honing my skills in persuasive writing and pitching. In 2010, I began to develop skills in sales, leadership as well as transitioned into advertising. Since 2016, I've worked for Kapowza, expanding into a business development role with a strong emphasis on networking. I really enjoy connecting to and assisting my professional network meet the people they're looking for. I've also really enjoyed working with Startups and Non-profits, some of the most deserving of quality creative.
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