Agenda Announced for 2019 Deshpande Symposium
Organizers of the 8th Annual Deshpande Symposium for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education have announced the complete agenda for the conference. The Symposium will take place June 10-12 at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. Attendees and those interested can find details at https://www.deshpandesymposium.org/agenda/. Here’s a preview of the highlights:
Plenary Session: “The Six Degrees of Deshpande: The Network Grows and Connections Multiply”
Tuesday morning, June 11. Digital mapping will complement the storytelling of panelists to highlight the connectivity and knowledge sharing the Symposium generates among attendees and the institutions they represent. Story maps will showcase the growth and reach of our entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as the influence of the Deshpande Symposium. Learn more.
Keynote speaker: Amy Nelson, CEO, Venture For America
Amy Nelson was appointed CEO of Venture For America in 2017 after building the organization alongside Andrew Yang, VFA’s Founder, for four years. Amy led efforts that have more than tripled the organization’s fundraising, and drove VFA’s investment in building out its regional efforts. Amy is deeply committed to having VFA become the go-to path for aspiring entrepreneurs, having conceptualized the organization’s Accelerator program and Seed Fund. Amy will deliver her keynote remarks on Wednesday morning, June 12.
Monday Afternoon Workshops
On June 10 between 1:00 and 4:00 pm, the Symposium is offering three intensive workshops for attendees:
- Workshop A: Developing I-Shaped Students
- Workshop B: Collaborating Across Campuses to Build Regional Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
- Workshop C: A Map Through Entrepreneurship: Aha to Exit
Workshop participants can expect lively conversations, participatory learning, and new pedagogic ideas and tools that they can apply immediately.
28 Breakout Sessions
On June 11 and 12, the Symposium will conduct 28 lively breakout sessions led by thought leaders from business and academia. The sessions will be categorized along
four tracks:
· Culture & Ecosystems
· Curriculum
· Research Commercialization
· Emerging Trends
Learning Tours and Social Events
The Symposium’s host city, Lowell, Massachusetts, is known historically as a locus of American innovation during the 19th-century industrial revolution. Nearly two centuries later, the mills that produced textiles to clothe a nation are being transformed by a new generation of entrepreneurs. Symposium attendees not taking part in the June 10 workshops can join our Lowell Innovation Ecosystem Tours to the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub & Fabric Discovery Center, UMass Lowell Difference Maker Central, the IDEA Center at Middlesex Community College, Lowell Makes, and EForAll.
And because networking is as critical to entrepreneurship as great ideas and hard work, attendees can expect both planned and impromptu opportunities for conversation with other entrepreneurs, academics, presenters, business people, and students.
It’s all about what’s working in entrepreneurship—and where it’s going.
“Twenty-first-century entrepreneurship is making tremendous strides in every corner of the globe,” said Deshpande Foundation Executive Director Raj Melville. “What makes the Deshpande Symposium special is the way it pulls together an international assemblage of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship educators to exchange ideas about what’s been proven to work. They then use those ideas to shape best practices to help today’s entrepreneurs do better, and give tomorrow’s entrepreneurs a foundational platform for success.”
About the Deshpande Symposium
Click to Register!
The Deshpande Symposium is a gathering of like-minded practitioners focused on accelerating innovation and entrepreneurship across the college and university environment. The Symposium provides a venue for attendees to learn from each other’s experiences; to gain wider exposure for their ideas, successes and start-ups; and to collaborate on activities that increase innovation and entrepreneurship in their academic communities. College and university faculty, administrators, and students, as well as business people and entrepreneurs, are invited to attend. Register for the Symposium.
All Symposium events will take place at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, where accommodations are available while space lasts. Attendees needing accommodations should reserve rooms at the ICC as soon as possible, as space is limited and there are no other hotels within walking distance of the Symposium.