Lehigh and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center rang the opening bell of the Nasdaq Market Tuesday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of their unique collaboration in entrepreneurial education through Lehigh@NasdaqCenter.
The ceremony took place at the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center in San Francisco, with students in Lehigh’s summer Startup Academy and Global Entrepreneurial Fellowship programs featured on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square as part of the event.
The partnership, which aims to advance the entrepreneurial mindset of students in any discipline, has resulted in 1,000 students across 65 majors to date experiencing entrepreneurship through Lehigh@NasdaqCenter programs, classes and mentorship.
The programs include Lehigh’s flagship Startup Academy, in which students are placed in start-up internships in Silicon Valley; the Global Entrepreneurial Fellowship, which immerses students in startup internships across the globe; the Silicon Valley Innovation Internship; and resources that include the Lehigh@NasdaqCenter podcast and toolkits.
Samantha Dewalt, managing director of the Lehigh@NasdaqCenter, rang the opening bell, flanked by Lehigh students.
“Our first-of-its-kind partnership serves as an important exemplar for how educational institutions can partner with the private sector to grow an entrepreneurial mindset and create a synergistic and immersive model conducive to student and company growth,” Dewalt said.
“Entering today’s dynamic work environment requires tremendous flexibility, adaptability and creativity,” she said. “Higher education plays a vital role in helping students from all backgrounds, and across disciplines, to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in their chosen careers and to recognize problems as opportunities to create solutions with value.”
Founded by industrial pioneer Asa Packer, Lehigh has a global entrepreneurship mindset as part of its DNA, she said. Project-based learning and partnerships with organizations and companies, such as with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, help to support the development of entrepreneurial ways of thinking. As examples, she said, Lehigh@NasdaqCenter designed and launched a remote internship and online course called the Silicon Valley Innovation Internship in 2020, in response to the COVID pandemic. Additionally, Lehigh’s Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation created virtual and hybrid versions of its flagship LehighSiliconValley entrepreneurship immersion program, further strengthening the university’s connections with its partners in Silicon Valley.
Also on Tuesday, the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Lehigh@NasdaqCenter launched the “Intern Ready Workbook for Managers and Interns.” The workbook contains a set of exercises, reflections, and best practices, as shared from previous intern hosts and students, to help effectively onboard and support student talent working at early-stage companies.
“The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Lehigh believe the entrepreneurial mindset is a powerful force of societal change,” Dewalt said. “An immersive entrepreneurial education helps to activate it.”
Lehigh@NasdaqCenter partners closely with Lehigh's Western Regional Office (WRO) on academic programs, student recruitment, alumni relations, university events, development, corporate and industry partnerships and career services.
The ceremony can be viewed here.
