UCLA offers 2nd annual entrepreneurs bootcamp for veterans with disabilities

For the second year in a row, the UCLA Anderson School of Management joins a select group of U.S. business schools in offering the innovative Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV).

 

The nine-day program, being held from Aug. 1 to 9 at UCLA Anderson, provides experiential, state-of-the-art education and training in entrepreneurship and small business management free of cost to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines disabled as a result of their service supporting the global war on terrorism. The EBV aims to open doors to entrepreneurial opportunity and small business ownership for participants by developing essential core competencies and guiding attendees through the various stages of entrepreneurial development and the sustaining of created businesses.

 

"As we have in the past, it's our true privilege to support disabled American veterans who return home and seek economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves and their communities," said Judy Olian, dean of UCLA Anderson. "UCLA Anderson's longstanding engagement in entrepreneurial studies positions us well to help veterans build the foundation they will need to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations."

 

The EBV was first introduced by the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University in 2007. The following year, the EBV Consortium of Schools was launched as a national partnership including UCLA Anderson, Florida State University's College of Business and the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. Purdue University joined the consortium in 2009.

 

The EBV is designed around two primary objectives: providing practical training in the tools and skills of new venture creation and growth — with an emphasis on issues and potential obstacles specific to disability and public benefits programs — and establishing a support structure for graduates of the program.

 

"We are extremely grateful for the generous support that we have received for the EBV program," said Elaine Hagan, executive director of UCLA Anderson's Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, which administers the program. "The success of our inaugural class has demonstrated the enormous value of the EBV, and we are looking forward to seeing great results from this year's program as well."

 

The UCLA Anderson EBV program is divided into three distinct phases. During the first phase, in advance of arriving on campus, students develop their business concepts by participating in a self-study curriculum facilitated by an online discussion and assessment module moderated by entrepreneurship faculty and M.B.A. students. In the second phase — the nine-day residency at UCLA Anderson — students are immersed in the essentials of business ownership through experiential workshops and in-class learning with UCLA Anderson faculty. The final phase involves 12 months of ongoing support and mentorship from faculty experts and volunteers, including UCLA Anderson alumni and members of the business community.

 

Throughout the program, students develop strategies for raising capital, attracting customers and writing business plans that are most effective for their business model. The program is entirely free — including tuition, travel and accommodations — thanks to the generous support of corporate sponsors and private individuals.

 

For more information on the EBV program, visit www.anderson.ucla.edu/x20079.xml.

 

The Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is a recognized leader in entrepreneurial education. Since 1987, the center has supported teaching, research, extracurricular activities and management-development programs in the areas of entrepreneurship, venture capital and social enterprise. Approximately 90 percent of UCLA Anderson's full-time M.B.A. students enroll in entrepreneurial electives, and more than half are active members of the student-run Entrepreneur Association. The Price Center is known for its extensive outreach and the impact of its management development programs, which provide entrepreneurial education to such diverse groups as directors of Head Start agencies and community health organizations; leaders of non-governmental organizations in Africa working on the HIV/AIDS crisis; founders and executives of entrepreneurial companies (including those owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans); directors and officers of venture-backed and public companies; and K–12 teachers working to develop entrepreneurial curricula.

The UCLA Anderson School of Management, established in 1935, is regarded among the leading business schools in the world. Faculty members are renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in M.B.A., fully-employed M.B.A., executive M.B.A., UCLA-NUS Global Executive M.B.A., master of financial engineering and doctoral programs and to more than 2,000 professional managers through executive education programs. Combining highly selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a worldwide network of 36,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.

 

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