Latinx and first-generation students making it at Lake Forest College.
The Latinx Entrepreneurial Advancement Program (LEAP) connects successful entrepreneurs of color with emerging entrepreneurs. The goal is to empower Latinx and first-generation students to see entrepreneurship as a viable path. This is achieved both in the classroom and in the community, learning and applying design-thinking, the entrepreneurial resilient mindsets, and business skills as well as gaining exposure to real-world entrepreneurial experiences.
Connecting students with the local community, LEAP creates opportunities for our students and our community.
Lake Forest College is a trusted institution in Lake County with a large Latinx student population and a reputation for graduating students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds according to U.S. News and World Report. Surrounding the college is a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem comprised of a significant and growing Latinx population. This makes Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lake Forest College uniquely positioned to be a collaborator and force multiplier in our local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
LEAP teaches Latina and Latino students about entrepreneurship, innovation, and how to launch a business or social impact venture through self-discovery, peer-to-peer engagement, failure resilience, rigorous coursework, experiential exercises, and pitch competitions and storytelling. Interactions with local founders allow Lake Forest College students to learn from and lift up the greater Lake County area.
LEAP improves outcomes for our first-gen students. According to Inside Higher Ed, first-generation students outscored their peers in educational commitment, self-efficacy, academic and campus engagement, but lagged behind multigenerational students in resiliency.
Inclusive innovation leaders taking action
Inclusive Pop-up Shop (I-POP!) 2022
A celebration of small business owners in our local community
I-POP is a student-led, inclusive retail experience featuring the best of Lake County
Lake Forest College students making a real impact in their community
At Lake Forest College community engagement meets experiential learning
ENTP students work to address disparities in resource access in our local entrepreneurial ecosystem
Students take purposeful action and get involved with real life issues that matter to them and their community
College students and local residents come together to support local business founders
...making a meaningful impact in and giving back to the community that surrounds our campus. This includes but is not limited to courses like ENTP 340: Inclusive Innovation and experiential retail activities like I-POP (the student-led inclusive pop-up shop). It also includes:
Research shows that representation impacts historically under-resourced and under-estimated founders. We need to see it to be it. The biggest difference between non-white and white success rates is not intelligence, work ethic, or values but rather access to contacts, networks, and resources. Seeing others who look like you, or share your background, succeed makes all the difference in starting up, scaling up, and building a sustainable business. We will continue to explore and test ways to connect successful entrepreneurs of color with emerging entrepreneurs, including via our inclusive pop-up shop (I-POP!), First Fridays in the Forest, and other opportunities. It matters to our students, it matters to our community, it matters to our future.
