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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
Several years ago, I was invited to help judge the Rice Business Plan Competition, the largest pitch contest for student founders. These weren't ad hoc groups of kids cooking up the next Facebook in their dorms. Many of the teams were clearly organized by their universities, with MBA candidates assigned to marketing and operations roles and engineering or medical school students in technical positions.
These schools weren't just thinking about their students' academic enrichment. They likely were thinking about boosting their own fortunes. When startups built on academic research are spun out of universities and colleges, the schools often get some combination of equity, licensing fees, and other compensation.
The schools aren't the only ones who benefit, of course. According to the Association of University Technology Managers, technologies birthed at academic institutions contributed $1 trillion to American GDP and supported 6.5 million jobs from 1996 to 2020. "Universities are some of the nation's strongest innovation assets," says Joseph Parilla, a senior fellow and director of applied research at Brookings Metro. "Part of why the United States has been a technological leader is that we made an investment 150 years ago in research universities."
For the first time, Inc. Business Media and Fast Company are teaming up to recognize these Ignition Schools--colleges and universities whose breakthrough research and teaching programs make outsized contributions to businesses and economies.
Stanford University's impact on Silicon Valley--and the world--has been well-documented, but schools needn't be famous for their technology prowess to make a difference. Parilla along with Glencora Haskins, a senior research analyst and applied research manager at Brookings Metro, published a piece earlier this year highlighting the role of federal economic policies in aligning research universities, industry, and government around shared economic goals. One of the awardees of a grant from the regional Build Back Better Regional Challenge is Accelerate NC, which aims to expand biotech jobs to underserved populations. North Carolina Central University, an historically Black university, is collaborating with other schools in the state to create training hubs.
Parilla says the regional challenge, which awarded $1 billion in grants, encouraged universities to think about economic impact in a different way. "It allowed them to basically say, 'If we want to create a scaled economic strategy, we have to think about the innovation pipeline, but we also have to think about workforce and entrepreneurship ecosystems,'" he says.
Parilla says private sector leaders have a role to play, too, helping schools understand the specific skills that will be in demand. "Corporations will need to ask universities to evolve a bit," he says. "That will only become more important as some schools see their mandate as upskilling and reskilling."
Does your company have a partnership with a school that is helping you innovate or hire the right talent? Is your alma mater making an important impact in business? Encourage them to apply for our Ignition School program, and please send examples of how you're working together to stephaniemehta@mansueto.com.
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A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta
Privacy Policy
Why Business Needs "Ignition Schools"
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04.12.2023
The Tech Founder Who Wants to Fix Small-Town America
This Entrepreneur Grew His Company Nearly 300 Percent in 3 Years by Sending Cold Emails
When and How to Curse at Work
Here Are the Top DEI Trends of 2023 -- and What They Mean for the Year Ahead
How to Better Support Mental Wellness at Work
The Biggest Business Fails of 2023
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
Several years ago, I was invited to help judge the Rice Business Plan Competition, the largest pitch contest for student founders. These weren't ad hoc groups of kids cooking up the next Facebook in their dorms. Many of the teams were clearly organized by their universities, with........
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