Second Cohort of Charlotte Leaders Graduates from Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy
Charlotte, NC- September 19, 2022
Inspire, Motivate and Influence was the objective of the Ventureprise Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and City Startup Labs, Inc as they partnered to impact diversity among mentors, advisors and decision-makers within the Charlotte entrepreneurial community. Through the formed partnership, the Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy (IILA) sought to drive North Carolina’s economic growth while empowering women and underrepresented minorities to leverage their expertise to garner a more inclusive entrepreneurial environment.
Ventureprise and City Startup Labs, Inc hosted the Fall 2022 Cohort gradation and the entrepreneurial ecosystem Match Day at the PORTAL building on the UNC Charlotte campus. The second cohort had 11 participants (eight females/ three males) that spent the previous six weeks completing the Academy training program. The graduation and Match Day event welcomed 12 Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Support Organizations that pitched opportunities to the Academy graduates to serve in leadership positions including mentors, board members, speaker and many more opportunities in their respective organizations.
IILA graduate Abimbola Akintolayo reflected on her time during the Academy and stated, “the greatest idea I learned was the value in having a cohort around you that is like-minded with similar goals. Having individuals as such gives an assurance that you are doing what you are meant to do.” Akintolyo continued with, “there is so much value in networking within the Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy.. the gem is all the great support organizations within the ecosystem.”
Ventureprise and City Startup Labs would like to recognize the IILA graduates and the collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem participants.
Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy GraduatesMalobi AchikeAbimbola AkintolayoJaime BrownVivian CollinsTyrone EllisWalter FerrerErica FrazierDorianny GutierrezChristina JarrettCharles KearseJennifer Moxley
Charlotte Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Partners Boost Pad Flywheel Foundation Innovate Charlotte NXT l CLT Johnson & Wales Pitch Breakfast Prospera Queens University TechWorks Gaston Women’s Business Center of Charlotte City Startup Labs, Inc Ventureprise Read more on the IILA Program and the Inaugural Cohort