The Legacy and Future of the Entrepreneurship Club at CCNY
Around this exact time, three years ago, I first stepped foot on my college’s campus and I felt a little out of place. I was at CUNY’s premiere college, the City College of New York, which was famously known for its engineering school (the only public one in NYC) and it’s mathematics and science programs. I was not interested in any of these fields and it made sense that most student-organizations (at least the biggest ones on campus) corresponded heavily with them. In my first year of college, I was heavily involved with the entrepreneurship scene and was the Marketing Director for a small startup — and that was the community I was looking for — entrepreneurs. When I didn’t find it, I thought I should create it. And I did.
After speaking to many students and faculty on campus, I got together with a group of people — Navindra Kewal, AJ Wahid, Radha Priya, Prince Jacklson and along with our faculty advisor,Professor Glenford Patterson — made it a reality. I’ve had the ultimate honor of serving this organization as President for the last two years.
Since ESC started, our mission has been to foster the entrepreneurial mindset within our student body and to be the force of interdisciplinary collaboration on campus. My strong belief was that innovation stems from the intersection of people who come from different walks of life with different perspectives and fields of study. I’m very proud of the work my team and I have been able to do to impact our community and I want to share some of that with you.
Some of The Things We’ve Done
ESC has hosted plenty of events in the past few years — from workshops to conferences, fireside chats, and much more. One of our highlight events has been co-hosting the TEDxCUNY at CCNY events on campus, mainly in collaboration with the Zahn Innovation Center. We’ve brought people like Ben Kassoy, the Editor in Chief of DoSomething.org, Bea Arthur, an entrepreneur in the mental health industry, and Linda Villarosa, Director of Journalism program at CCNY.
Our fireside chats with Forbes 30 under 30 Entrepreneur, Echoing Green and TED fellow Karim Abouelnaga and Jamira Burley, former National Director for Hillary Clinton Campaign, explored entrepreneurship, organizing, and planning for the future. Both events brought so much value to CCNY students.
One of my biggest highlights in leading the entrepreneurship club was getting Gary Vaynerchuk to agree to come, for free, and hosting him on campus with a week and half notice. It was amazing. See the video below:
We also collaborated with helping organize the first ever Harlem Tech Summit, hosting speakers like Ryan Williams, legendary VC Fred Wilson, Manhattan Borough President Brewer, John Henry, and so many more. And other collaborations with clubs like the Egyptian Club on campus, with their Striving for Success event. We’ve done LinkedIn Workshops with folks like Kenny Soto to teach students how to brand themselves.
Our last event in fall of last year was the Intern Panel — an event with two panel discussions, and a keynote speaker, Jessica Santana of New York on Tech, from business and engineering students who interned at companies like NASA, BlackRock, Facebook on how to land internships with big companies.
Aside from successful events, we’ve had a number of failed events that include a Virtual Reality Expo, a series of Movie Ventures, and a huge Entrepreneurship Summit. We’ve learned so much from those failures that have enabled us to improve our work and continue impacting the lives of CCNY students and community.
A Big Thank You!
There’s many people to thank for where ESC is today and where it will go in the future. I’d like to start with my core team, Khandker Ahamed, Danny Tsoi, Anwar Jammal, and Raneem Elsayed. Furthermore, I want to shoutout Kevin Navarra, Andrew Singh, Jacory, and Sonia for supporting the vision.
Thank you to our partners and sponsors over the year who’ve made ESC’s work possible. A special thank you to Glenford Patterson for being our advisor, Lindsay Siegel and Devin Voorsanger for being amazing champions and mentors, and the rest of the Zahn Innovation Center team, including Kesia, Anna, Katie, and Steven.
Finally, I’d like to thank President Vincent Boudreau, Dee Dee Mozeleski, the Interim Executive Director of CCNY’s Foundation, and Kevin Foster, the Dean of the Colin Powell School for always supporting ESC’s vision through partnerships and funding. We’re so thankful for you!
The Future of ESC
Now, it’s time for me to move on to other endeavors! Specifically, I’m focused on teaching teenagers mental health and wellbeing through FloraMind. The future of ESC will be predicated by the new board, which I’m excited to announce. A group of stellar City College students with huge ambitions to take the Entrepreneurship Club to the next level. I’m confident in their abilities, drive and vision to continue impacting CCNY and the greater Harlem communities in ways we’ve never done before.
From right to left, Charles Ramirez, Gabriela Gonjon, Yan Lawrence
Yan Lawrence, President
Charles Ramirez, Vice President
Gabriela Gonjon, Secretary
I wish them the best of luck in their endeavors throughout this upcoming year!
If you’re interested in connecting with ESC, email them at ccnyesc@gmail.com.
Or on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube!
About the Entrepreneurship Student Club @ CCNY: a student-run organization with the mission of fostering a space of interdisciplinary collaboration within the campus and its community. We aim to provide students with the skills, resources, and knowledge they need to compete in the 21st economy. We are looking to expand our reach to City College students so that they may personally and professionally benefit from on-campus events and workshops.
