There are three key goals associated with improving innovation and commercialization within these schools: promoting Capacity, Capability, and Accountability across partners, technologies, and industry sectors. As we proceed towards those goals, we must frame them in terms that are tangible for students and faculty across the institutions where we can see measurable gains and improvements.

Education – Let’s bring students, faculty, and local businesses together to teach a collective understanding of concepts and business models to foster higher levels of ideation and innovation.

Innovation – We will offer innovation competitions, skills training, networking opportunities, workshops, boot camps, and access to the latest technologies to increase opportunities for researchers to grow and connect with communities.

Acceleration – We must provide a seamless integration for students and local business owners to collaborate and share ideas, successes, and lessons learned.

As we offer these opportunities and move towards bridging the gaps, we can begin to consider what success for the community will look like:

• Support for MBEs – Create an ecosystem that expands the development, launch, and certification opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, and other underrepresented businesses in the community.
• Supplier Diversity – Grow the pool of capable diverse-owned firms that offer innovative products, services, and insights for municipalities and corporations looking to meet their supplier diversity spending targets in a meaningful way.
• Workforce Development – Develop vocational learning opportunities both on the campus and within the virtual community, leveraging joint skilling initiatives to bring more digital and vocational skills to the students and residents of the region.
• Contract Opportunities – Cultivate a next-generation pipeline through programs introducing students and participants to entrepreneurship by enabling partnerships, as member companies can utilize the space to connect with pioneering minority-led startups and small businesses.
• Nonprofit Support – Provide technical, financial, operational, and procurement support for regional nonprofits and foundations to assist with infrastructure, technology, staffing, curriculum development, and other essential components.
• The Next Generation – Establish long-term partnerships and commitments with K-12 school districts to share what is developed on the HBCU & MSI campuses with younger students to foster a strong matriculation pipeline into industry and technology sectors.