Future Founders Announces Program Expansion to Accelerate Success of College Entrepreneurs

September 17, 2014

New Program Includes Free Benefits for College Students, $10,000 U.Pitch Competition & Selective Founders Fellowship

The Future Founders Foundation, a non-profit organization that inspires youth in Chicagoland to explore and practice entrepreneurship, today announced the launch of a program for college-age entrepreneurs, College Founders. College Founders connects students to the best entrepreneurial resources, events and activities in the Chicagoland community.

Seeded by The Coleman Foundation, The John E. and Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation and Capital One, College Founders fills a pressing need in the Chicago region. For many college-age entrepreneurs, the transition from school into the real world can be challenging. After graduation, the continual guidance from professors, classroom structure and school resources diminish, leaving many students unaware of how to navigate the community. College Founders bridges this gap by engaging students in community activities while they are in school. The program is also supported by Crain’s Chicago Business.

“With the addition of College Founders, the Future Founders Foundation is providing an unparalleled pipeline of entrepreneurship programs to empower students from elementary school through college and beyond,” said Scott Issen, President & CEO, Future Founders Foundation. “Through this program, we will leverage the tremendous resources that exist in Chicagoland and package them in a way to best engage and support the area’s talented up-and-coming entrepreneurs. By investing in college entrepreneurs, we hope to retain regional talent and ensure the Chicagoland ecosystem remains vibrant and competitive.”

College Founders brings together dozens of universities, incubators, community organizations and businesses to provide a dynamic suite of services for entrepreneurs. The program promotes cross-school collaboration and increases the capacity of university programs by broadening their reach into the community.

“College Founders is the result of numerous conversations with stakeholders and old fashioned hard work by Future Founders. We are thrilled Future Founders decided to pursue developing this program and are excited to support the program launch,” said Michael Hennessy, President and CEO, The Coleman Foundation. “This effort will build further links between academic and community-based programs and offer emerging student entrepreneurs greater access to those local resources.”

“As entrepreneurship continues to expand beyond the business school, the College Founders program will provide another vehicle for students from varied disciplines and campuses to collaborate and share experiences,” said Jon Hennessy, Director, The John E. and Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation.

“Entrepreneurs are the backbone of the national economy, and connecting ambitious students with resources that can help propel their ideas is a win for us all,” said Leslie Tieszen, Senior Manager of Community Relations, Capital One. “Capital One’s support of College Founders could not be more aligned with our national and local strategies as we seek to set our young adults on a path to economic empowerment and opportunity.”

College Founders has three components: Founders E-Pass, Founders Fellowship and the U.Pitch Competition.

The Founders E-Pass is a free virtual all-access-pass to curated entrepreneurial experiences in the Chicagoland community. Student benefits include free tickets to community events, field trips to entrepreneurial companies, peer meetups, networking, office hours, a job board and more. Once E-Pass holders attend one community event, they will qualify for a free online subscription to Crain’s Chicago Business.

The Founders Fellowship is a selective year-long program designed to accelerate the development of rockstar student entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial-minded individuals. Founders Fellows will have priority access to all E-Pass services plus benefit from mentoring, job shadowing, internships, legal office hours and volunteer opportunities through other Future Founders programs. They can also tap into our scholarship pool to attend specific programs and/or to support professional services for their new businesses.

The U.Pitch Competition will bring together the best students from a cross-section of Chicagoland universities in the ultimate elevator pitch competition. Finalists will compete to win a portion of a $10,000 prize pool. The event will take place on Monday, November 17 from 5:15pm – 8:30pm at The Mid-America Club.

Students can register for the Founders E-Pass and U.Pitch Competition beginning today. Applications for the Founders Fellowship will become available on Wednesday, October 1.

For more information, contact Katie Sowa, Director of Community Engagement, Future Founders Foundation at katie@futurefounders.com.

Founding Community Organization and University Partners include:
1871, Business Enterprise Law Clinic at The John Marshall Law School, Catapult Chicago, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago Ideas Week, Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul University, College Startup, Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Columbia College Chicago, Desai & Patel, LLP, Entrepreneurship Law Center at Northwestern University School of Law, Experience Institute, George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Illinois State University, Goodcity, Hoeft Technology and Management Program and the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois Science & Technology Coalition, Illinois Technology Association, Javelin, Lewis University, Lightbank, MonkeyBars, Network and Social, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, nuphoriq, Oakton Community College, Sandler Training, Self-Employment in the Arts, Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Technori, Trinity Christian College, Uncubed, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Urban Brain and Body, LLC, Year Up Chicago, and Your15Minutes Radio Network.