New programs connect students with entrepreneurs

By Lacey Jacoby /// Features Editor

“ At Lewis & Clark, we believe that entrepreneurship empowers the liberal arts,” Michael Kaplan, Managing Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, said. To that end, the Center for Entrepreneurship has recently added two new programs: Mentor Connections and the Dinner with an Entrepreneur Series.

Through Mentor Connections, the Center for Entrepreneurship pairs students with one of many mentors from around the world. The mentors come from a variety of backgrounds and careers, and they share personal experiences and advice with students. Mentor-student pairs meet for three 20-minute video-chat sessions over 12 weeks. So far, Mentor Connections has paired 33 students with mentors.

The Dinner with an Entrepreneur Series also began this semester, allowing a small group of students to have dinner with a successful entrepreneur and ask questions in a more intimate setting. According to Kaplan, all featured entrepreneurs have “used entrepreneurial thinking and action to create their own future and do something new.” The next Dinner with an Entrepreneur on Nov. 6 will feature Marshall Kirkpatrick, co-founder and CEO of Little Bird, which provides social intelligence software and services.

Kaplan hopes these programs will support the Center for Entrepreneurship’s goal to encourage “collaborations that engage and utilize entrepreneurial thinking to reframe problems, recognize opportunities and invent solutions.”