Winston-Salem based startup incubator Winston Starts has announced a partnership with Winston Salem State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (CFESI) to sponsor a student for a semester.
This partnership was coordinated by Betsy Brown, director of Winston Starts, and Notis Pagiavlas, the founding director of CFESI and an entrepreneurship and innovation professor at WSSU.
“The goals of this partnership are to strengthen the operations of Winston Starts and to provide high impact learning opportunities to our students. It is the highest and most critical strategic priority of our institution,” Pagiavlas said.
The first student to be a part of the program is Tonia Edwards, a junior double majoring in psychology and business administration.
Edwards is currently working with Winston Starts on various marketing and research projects. She has plans for starting her own business related to health and wellness called Naturally Sweet.
“We are thrilled to partner with WSSU to build a pipeline between students and our incubator. It is invaluable to get hands-on experience for students to apply what they learn in the classroom. We have many exciting projects here in our incubator to give them that exposure to all aspects of business and specifically to the entrepreneurial mindset.” Brown said.
“We hope the partnership provides on-going opportunities for many students at WSSU to learn and develop their skills while lending their talents to our initiatives.”
Brown said this initiative ensures students gain something more than just experiential learning.
“The networking in the learning and the opportunities here are great but funding to help pay their bills and help you know put something in their pocket. In exchange, we need to work on a scholarship or some sort of a fund to help support them and give them something tangible,” Brown said.
The scholarship will be available to one student per fall, spring and summer semesters. It will be available to students in different majors such as business, finance, communications and public relations.
Brown hopes to continue growing the partnership and have this initiative with several universities in the Triad but said she has a focus on the minority student population.
“I'd like to help all students… but we definitely have a focus and a passion for providing opportunities for women and minorities, and students that, that don't have the same opportunities that others have,” Brown said.
“Now, it's a matter of linking with schools like Winston Salem State to make sure that if they don't have an alumni here and they don't have a pipeline here, [we’re] doing that for them and trying to be able to get those opportunities in the right hands.”
The CFESI was founded in 2008 and was a catalyst in creating and disseminating entrepreneurial knowledge through education, research and community outreach programs.
It continuously contributes to the community’s economic transformation and the broader region, primarily focusing on the needs and circumstances of urban, minority and economically disadvantaged populations.
