American University’s Kogod School of Business breeds the spirit of changemakers at the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship. It’s more than just an academic unit; it’s a thriving ecosystem where entrepreneurial dreams are developed, challenged, and nurtured.
Entrepreneurship is a worldview. Entrepreneurs are risk-taking, resilient, innovative problem-solvers and dreamers with the fortitude to execute their vision of bringing to market products and services not previously created yet ultimately desired by customers, even when doing so challenges social and economic norms.
Pushing Boundaries, Embracing Risk-Taking
The Veloric Center serves as a cross-campus catalyst, offering programs encouraging curiosity, risk-taking, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and resilience. The Center empowers students through a spectrum of experiential learning opportunities, including entrepreneurship classes, competitions, workshops, panels, events, and the AU Business Incubator.
“This isn’t about being an entrepreneur or not; it is a way of thinking and processing information,” explains Professor Tommy White, Director of the Veloric Center. “We dial into the concepts of getting students out of their comfort zones, taking risks, thinking more critically, and identifying and solving real business problems. By demonstrating curiosity and asking questions, students can position themselves with confidence to follow through on those creative ideas.
Nurturing Changemakers
Through the AU Business Incubator, students and recent alumni access support, mentorship, and resources to transform their ideas into viable business ventures. Professor White shares: “The best way to learn about business is to start one. We support students and recent alums who want to launch companies. In our incubator program, education is first, and commercialization is second. We’re about the experience and learning that comes with that; it’s invaluable.”
While not all businesses launched in the program survive, the Veloric Center values learning through experience and accepting failure as a vital step toward success.
Professorial Lecturer Danielle Vogel, Assistant Director at the Veloric Center, notes: “We serve as a resource for students, coaching, mentoring, connecting, inspiring, and even providing funding to help them advance their ideas.”
Neither the Business Incubator nor AU takes an ownership stake in the ventures it fosters. That’s a unique aspect of the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship at American University.
Inspiring Innovation And Creativity
The Veloric Center enhances its impact through annual campus-wide competitions. “Students are competitive; they want to win; they want to be successful,” says Professor White. These events include pitch challenges, prototyping competitions, and investment practicums. They serve as platforms for students to demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills, encouraging effective communication and confidence building. For example, the annual Changemaker Challenge allows first-year students to develop public speaking skills while focusing on solving social impact problems. Through the annual Sustainability Invent-o-Thon competition, students work in teams to create physical prototypes for board games to teach sustainability concepts to children. Additionally, the Venture Capital Investment Competition and the summer Startup & Standout Pitch Challenge provide practical experience in business evaluation, networking, problem-solving, and pitching ideas.
“The experience students get from these competitions is engagement, confidence building, team building, and networking,” says Professor White. “It’s amazing to see students when they participate and engage. They always start a little bit apprehensive, but they come out of the experience and go, ‘Wow, that was amazing! I met all these new people, I learned how to communicate, and built self-confidence I didn’t know I even had in me.’” Professor Vogel adds: “This whole idea of the entrepreneurial mindset and promoting critical thinking, risk-taking, and problem-solving – both within the startup context and beyond — is a major part of what we do through all of our cross-campus activations.
Real-World Impact
Despite an education-first approach, the Veloric Center has launched a number of commercially successful ventures. To date, the program has propelled over 150 ventures with 250 founders, emphasizing a solid commitment to diversity, with over 65% of founders being women and/ or minorities. Engaging over 750 students, these student ventures have secured $250,000 in awards, $5.9 million from investors, and generated $10.2 million in revenue. Ventures that have successfully graduated from the incubator program have earned a remarkable $40 million in lifetime revenues, showcasing the program’s success in fostering impactful and sustainable businesses.
A Legacy of Change And Innovation
The support from Gary Veloric, an American University alumnus and successful entrepreneur, has been instrumental in paving the way for generations of changemakers. His family’s generous donation signifies the recognition of the Center’s vital role in nurturing future leaders and entrepreneurs.
The Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship is a beacon of inspiration at American University. It’s a place where risk-taking is encouraged, creativity is cultivated, and entrepreneurial thinking is refined. Through its comprehensive programs and visionary leadership, the Center is not just educating students; it’s preparing the world’s next generation of leaders and innovators. It carries forward the legacy of innovation and entrepreneurship that defines American University’s Kogod School of Business.
