Trinity Partners with Future Founders in New Program for College Entrepreneurs

Building on its historical founding by young entrepreneurs in 1959 and burgeoning engagement with local businesses to enhance its vibrant curriculum, Trinity Christian College has become a Founding Partner in a new program developed by the Future Founders Foundation (FFF) that supports college-age entrepreneurs.

FFF, a non-profit organization that inspires youth in Chicagoland to explore and practice entrepreneurship, announced the launch of College Founders on September 17. The program connects students to the best entrepreneurial resources, events, and activities in the Chicagoland community.

College Founders will provide a number of services for college entrepreneurs. The program will also provide opportunities for Trinity to collaborate with other partnering colleges and universities and offer ways for the department to extend its reach even further into the Chicago community. College Founders is seeded by The Coleman Foundation, The John E. and Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation and Capital One and is also supported by Crain’s Chicago Business.

…another way for our students to see and to dream.
Dr. Rick Hamilton

Dr. Rick Hamilton, assistant professor of business, and Kyle Harkema, assistant professor of marketing, voiced deep gratitude and enthusiasm for the invitation for Trinity to be a Founding Partner.

“Being part of this program provides another way for us to build on our rich history and to build a future, not just a present,” said Hamilton, “another way for our students to see and to dream.”

The invitation to participate in this Chicagoland entrepreneurship initiative comes at an opportune time for the College as it rolling out the last stages of curricular revisions in the business major. Trinity is adding two new courses taken as a yearlong sequence during which students create business ideas in Creativity in Business (fall) and build the plans for these ideas in Business Plan Development (spring).

It is exciting to envision that the [projects] students will be creating … could compete in the broader Chicagoland academic environment.
Professor Kyle Harkema

“The start of these new courses coincides perfectly with our participation in FFF’s new program,” said Harkema. “It is exciting to envision that the idea pitches and business plans students will be creating in their classes could potentially be shared via the consortium and compete in the broader Chicagoland academic environment.”

Hamilton and Harkema, along with their department colleagues, have made great strides in broadening and deepening the curriculum and establishing mutually beneficial relationships with local and Chicago businesses to provide hands-on learning for students and complimentary consulting to business owners via student projects.

“These efforts are indicative of the valuable connections that business faculty have made for the purpose of supporting the vocational development of students,” said Interim Provost Sharon Robbert, Ph.D.

In addition to its distinctive and career-building internship opportunities locally and in Chicago, the business department’s recent initiatives have included the creation of an advisory panel made up of professionals who mentor students and the development of the Conversations on Leadership series. This semester begins the Conversations on Vocation series, which will once again welcome CEOs and other professionals to several discussions attended by students and community members.

This partnership represents an exciting venture that builds on the extensive experience and expertise of Trinity business faculty members,” said Interim President Liz Rudenga, Ph.D. “Trinity is an ideal college for future business leaders offering a combination of Christian perspective, top-notch professors, a stellar liberal arts foundation, and connections such as this with influential organizations in the Chicago area.”

Benefits to College Students

According the FFF announcement, the program 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.

Read the official Future Founders announcement here.