Advancing Women And underRepresented Entrepreneurs (AWARE): ACCelerating Entrepreneurial succeSS (ACCESS): Building Innovation Capacity through Diversity

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The broader impact of this Accelerating Women And underRepresented Entrepreneurs (AWARE) ACCelerating Entrepreneurial succeSS (ACCESS) project is to proactively engage underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship and increase the science and technology oriented competitiveness of the U.S. by harnessing the valuable intellectual capital of diverse populations to build innovation capacity. The program is specially designed to broaden participation and access of faculty, staff, post-doctoral fellows and students from underrepresented populations (defined as female, African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Native American) in commercialization, enrich communication mechanisms to promote inclusive entrepreneurship, and enhance the competitiveness of women and underrepresented entrepreneurs to succeed in securing Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBIR/STTR) funding. The program will support and engage women and underrepresented innovators on the benefits of moving their discoveries into practice through commercialization of their technology-based products. The AWARE: ACCESS program will empower women and underrepresented innovators to be successful entrepreneurs as well as expand a new paradigm for increasing the pipeline of emerging technologies to the marketplace. A diversification of entrepreneurial innovators will provide a wider network of valuable resources ? thereby enhancing scientific and technological knowledge and increasing the national pipeline of enabled, well-trained technology entrepreneurs. The proposed project addresses the disproportionately limited success that women and minority innovators have had in securing SBIR/STTR funds even though they represent a significant share of the general population, STEM graduates and business owners. The four goals of this program are to: 1) identify, engage, encourage, and mentor women and underrepresented innovators to consider entrepreneurship as a career path; 2) expand access for women and underrepresented entrepreneurs to educational, experiential and networking opportunities; 3) increase the volume and enhance competitiveness of the SBIR/STTR applications of these innovators; and, 4) share best practices with other institutions to create a regional ecosystem that provides an inviting, rewarding experience and climate for entrepreneurial women and underrepresented innovators. These goals will be achieved through the synergistic interaction of six key components: 1) An Innovation Entrepreneurship Resource Center; 2) Entrepreneur talent matching series; 3) Grant writing assistance program; 4) Phase Double Zero supplement program; 5) Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Summit; and, 6) Outreach and sharing of success stories to the community. The proposed project will develop a cadre of well-trained, entrepreneurial-oriented women and underrepresented innovators who can inspire others toward engaging and succeeding in the SBIR/STTR process and assimilate into the innovation ecosystem and community.