Entrepreneurship Center at Bunker Hill Community College Wins National Recognition
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Community Center for Entrepreneurship at Bunker Community College has been named “People’s Choice” by members of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), BHCC President Mary L. Fifield announced. The Center’s programs employing social networking were among those recognized.
“Connecting with today’s Generation Y students requires multiple channels of engagement, and that’s what we have created,” said Bogusia Wojciechowska, dean of Professional Studies and founder of the College entrepreneurship programs. “Our successful efforts so far have included mentor programs with high school entrepreneurship programs as well as virtual discussion forums with the social networking platforms Facebook and twitter.” NACCE has invited Wojciechowska and Erin M. DeCurtis, coordinator of the Community Center for Entrepreneurship, to make presentations on the successful BHCC programs at the 8th Annual NACCE Conference in Orlando, Florida, in October.
The “People’s Choice” recognition is for programs BHCC used to win a NACCE “Elevator Grant” contest last year. Descriptions of those programs, and those by other community colleges, have been on a blog the NACCE sponsors. That blog was the basis of the “People’s Choice” election. Among entrepreneurs the “elevator pitch” refers to the amount of time an entrepreneur may have to pitch an idea to a customer or funder. With NACCE, the Coleman Foundation each year sponsors an “Elevator Grant” competition, where community colleges pitch ideas for entrepreneurship programs. Through this competition BHCC has won a $7,500 grant from the Coleman Foundation to support BHCC programs.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
With more than 50 years of academic excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. The College offers associate degrees and certificates, early college and dual enrollment, community education, corporate training, and industry-specific training programs. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).