Founder | Entrepreneur Program (2021)

Issued by Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College

The Monte Entrepreneur Program is an industry partnership program with Young Wisdom. This micro-credential is awarded to students who achieve 3 of the 5 criteria below. This program assists our girls in building entrepreneurial skills and confidence that will help them in any chosen career or startup venture of their own. This is intended to be a highly educational, experiential, and fun program introducing students to the realities of ‘startup life’.

Type Learning
Level Foundational
Time Months
Cost Free

Skills

Communication
Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking
Entrepreneurship
Financial Literacy
Interpersonal Communications
Presentation
Problem Solving
Public Speaking
Technology

Earning Criteria

Earners completed a blended learning program and participated in weekly online sessions featuring content and guest speakers as well as in-person workshops covering key topics and pitch practice towards the end of the program.
The inaugural Showcase event was limited by Covid-19 restrictions, meaning there was no audience. However, earners pre-recorded pitch videos that were then screened (along with live Q&A after each pitch) at an evening livestream event. Earners successfully recorded pitches and participated in Q&A discussions that friends and family watched from home.
Earners submitted 'startup profiles' via periodic questionnaires. Earners who did this were able to receive extra personalised support and keep track of their achievements through the program. The questionnaires required a good understanding of key concepts including how to concisely describe their chosen Problem and Solution.
After the inaugural Entrepreneur program, continuing startups were invited into an experimental accelerator program with more intensive support from external industry partners, including marketers, lawyers and accountants. The accelerator program ran for one term and required a significant time commitment from earners as they attempted to reach real-world startup milestones.
Earners engaged in an extensive feedback process on their experience, which was then incorporated into the design of Entrepreneur Cohort 2.