This is national Women In Entrepreneurship Week. The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at Florida State University recently launched an initiative to help women create and grow businesses. It encourages the development of business skills and provides resources.
“Students will have the opportunity to not only listen to us as teachers, but to be able to listen to other community partners, listen to their challenges, and then have the students share their challenges,” says Jim Moran College faculty member Shelley Griffin, one of the leaders of the initiative.
Students are already connecting with professionals through mentorships, a monthly speaker series, and networking opportunities in-person and virtually.
“We love entrepreneurship and getting the opportunity to be able to create small businesses especially, which are the backbone of our community, and cultivate and work with students to be able to take their ideas out into the marketplace,” says Griffin, herself an owner of multiple small businesses. “We're really excited to bring the community, bring alumni, bring students together to all learn from one another.”
The Jim Moran College reports the percent of female-owned businesses has increased by 114% in the past 20 years. Of the 4.4 million start-up businesses launched last year, about a third are owned by women.
“What I learned working in corporate America is it's important to give confidence to young women,” says Jim Moran faculty member Britain Riley, who’s also leading the initiative. “So the hope of this program is also just giving them this confidence and those tools to be successful in whatever role they take.”
“This initiative will help establish entrepreneurial role models for women while we acknowledge their accomplishments and work to continually innovate,” says Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.
If you’re interested in the FSU Women In Entrepreneurship initiative, click here.
Small grants are also available to any student at FSU who has an idea for a business. The Moran family allocates $50,000 each year for the grants. Applicants pitch their ideas to a committee, and those selected can receive up to $5,000 in seed money toward starting their own business. Click here for more information about the grants.
