TO THE EDITOR:
In response to the editorial, “UNC entrepreneurial community needs greater inclusion,” we thank you for raising this important issue, which plagues entrepreneurial efforts nationwide.
Innovations thrive in environments where a diverse range of people can share and develop ideas. The Chancellor’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs are working to lower barriers between disciplines and groups to encourage new solutions and unexpected collaborations.
The UNC Innovation and Entrepreneurship effort supports campuswide initiatives that bring together faculty and students across disciplines. UNC has several targeted programs in place to attract all students to our innovative community.
To name a few: the Chancellor’s Student Innovation Team, led by a cross-section of students since its inception; the Campus Y’s Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, increasing student participation and awareness; Women in Entrepreneurship, an extension of the entrepreneurship minor; e51, supporting young female entrepreneurs; UNC’s all-female hackathon, attracting 500 high school and college students from across the region; and NCGrowth, reaching minority-owned businesses in our community.
Our offices recognize the continued need to actively promote inclusion in entrepreneurship. We will share new opportunities with the University community in the future.
Judith Cone
Special Assistant to the Chancellor, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Taffye Benson Clayton
