The Elizabeth Hackett Robinson ’84 Innovation Hub has cultivated partnerships across the college, the Vermont innovation ecosystem, and the country. Check out some of those partners here and see how you can connect. For further guidance, schedule an appointment any time with an advisor at the Innovation Hub by emailing innovationhub@middlebury.edu

Hub Partnerships:

  • Global Health 

    The Innovation Hub has strong ties to Middlebury’s Global Health Minor where our faculty affiliates, Pam Berenbaum and David Torres, are available to mentor and advise social innovation projects. They also help to judge student competitions like MiddChallenge and Projects for Peace and keep Hub students up to date on best practices for working in communities across the globe.

     
  • Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies

    Burlington’s business incubator serving entrepreneurs, innovation leaders & startup businesses from start to scale through business consulting, mentorship, coworking, and seed investment. President David Bradbury and Vice-President Sam Roach-Gerber teach the Middlebury Entrepreneurs Winter Term course in partnership with the Hub. VCET also partners with us in the summers on Vermont Innovation Summer, our Burlington-based innovation internship cohort.

     
  • Clinton Global Initiative University

    Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) is a dynamic community of students committed to developing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI U is a unique opportunity to connect aspiring leaders with leading experts in business, technology, and social impact. Each year, thousands of undergraduate and graduate students from across the country and around the world apply to participate in CGI U’s year-round community of learning, leadership, and action.

     
  • Launch Vermont

    LaunchVT accelerates outstanding early-stage, Vermont-based startups with world class business curricula, networking opportunities, and industry-specific mentorship to help their ventures scale. 

     
  • Vermont Small Business Development Center

    A center dedicated to advising small business or social enterprise owners in VT, Vermont Small Business Development Center have worked with many Midd-initiated business like Gnara (previously SheFly Apparel). Sarah Kearns, Business Advisor of Strategic Projects, holds regular advising hours at the Hub during the academic year. 

Additional Funding Resources at Middlebury: 

 

  • MiddSTART 

    Start a MiddSTART campaign to raise funds for your project. 

     

  • CCE Funding 

    Funding including Service Cluster Board Flex Fund, Academic Outreach Endowment Grants, Cross-Cultural Community Service Fund, CE Mini-Grants.

     

  • go/funding 

    A listing of funding sources at Middlebury.

     

Advising Resources on and off-campus: 

 

  • Academic Departments 

    Contact faculty members that have experience in your area of interest. 

     

  • Vermont Small Business Development Center

    A center dedicated to advising small business or social enterprise owners in VT, Vermont Small Business Development Center have worked with many Midd-initiated business like Gnara (previously SheFly Apparel). Sarah Kearns, Business Advisor of Strategic Projects, holds regular advising hours at the Hub during the academic year. 

     

  • Addison County Economic Development Corporation:

    ACEDC is an independent, member-supported nonprofit organization dedicated to helping businesses in all stages of growth to create good paying jobs in Addison County. 

     

  • Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies

    Burlington’s business incubator serving entrepreneurs, innovation leaders & startup businesses from start to scale through business consulting, mentorship, coworking, and seed investment. President David Bradbury and Vice-President Sam Roach-Gerber teach the Middlebury Entrepreneurs Winter Term course in partnership with the Hub. VCET also partners with us in the summers on Vermont Innovation Summer, our Burlington-based innovation internship cohort.

     

Courses at Middlebury and beyond:

 

  • Midd Entrepreneurs 

    Middlebury Entrepreneurs is a winter term course for students who want to start their own business or nonprofit organization. Students spend the month developing their ideas, building their organizations, and preparing for the culminating event—pitching their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.

     

  • MiddCORE 

    MiddCORE is a four-week, mentor-powered innovation experience for undergraduates and recent grads who are reading to bring their education, their passions, your purpose into the professional world. (Winter Term and Summer)

     

  • Professor of the Practice Courses: 

    Several courses at Middlebury cover entrepreneurship and social impact: sample courses include Intro to Business and Enterprise, Global Health and Social Entrepreneurship, Management and Enterprise. 

     

  • Business Strategies for Social Impact 

    Wharton School of Business on Coursera.

     

  • Acumen Student Resources Library 

    Resource list with many short courses around business planning for social impact ideas. 

     

Off Campus-Idea Incubator Programs: 

 

  • Humanity in Action Fellowship 

    The Humanity in Action Fellowship explores issues of democracy, pluralism, human rights, and social justice. Each program is tailored to its location. Fellows are challenged to understand their host city’s unique history of injustice, its present struggles to encompass groups with minoritized cultures and identities, and the future of its democratic values. For four weeks, Fellows engage with local experts and community members, visit museums and historical sites, and engage in constant discourse with one another and program leaders.
  • StartingBloc 

    Highly-rated leadership institutes in Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham and New York that reach more than 300 civic leaders, educators, activists, freelancers and entrepreneurs each year. These serve as the launching event into the lifelong Fellowship. The curriculum focuses on adaptive/emergent leadership, transformative justice and restorative practices, and a respected leadership tool called Polarity Mapping, which allows people to hold and integrate paradox and divergent perspectives.

     

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