Supporting Innovation’s Future
Supporting Innovation’s Future
A recent $5 million gift from the Kelson Foundation will support programs and staff and the future of the Innovation Hub, home to Middlebury’s programs on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It also honors Elizabeth Hackett Robinson ’84, a longtime campus leader.
Robinson founded the Programs on Creativity and Innovation in 2007, and over the next 13 years, led its development and expansion. Those programs and others focusing on internships, leadership and professional development, public speaking, social entrepreneurship, and global health are now known collectively as the Elizabeth Hackett Robinson ’84 Innovation Hub.
Jake Moritz ’11, president of the Kelson Foundation, remembers Robinson as a transformational mentor.
“Liz created a space where students could do unexpected and unconventional projects that complemented our time in the classroom,” he says. “These experiments became the foundation for ideas, collaborations, and companies formed by Middlebury students after graduation.”
Moritz says it’s more essential than ever to help Middlebury graduates develop the curiosity, knowledge, resilience, and skills to engage the world successfully.
Jake’s generous gift means more students will embrace creativity and learn from failure.”
“Students at the Innovation Hub have to experiment, try, fail, rebuild, and share their ideas. These are the real-world skills needed to thrive in, enjoy, and lead projects,” Moritz said.
More than half of Middlebury College students participate in a Hub program, which offers leadership opportunities, internships, grants, and coursework and supports academic projects and many other creative endeavors. Many ideas fostered at Middlebury have led to new businesses and exciting careers for participants. All students can benefit from participating in these innovation programs, President Laurie Patton notes.
“Jake’s generous gift means more students will embrace creativity and learn from failure—supported, and this is key, by mentors. The Innovation Hub has shown that liberal arts and place-based experiential learning complement each other. I can’t wait to see what our students do next.”