UB Hosts Immersive Events Addressing Urban Poverty Through Entrepreneurship, May 31 - June 1
April 23, 2018
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
In late May/early June, the University of Baltimore will be "ground zero" for an immersive experience that will bring academic scholars into the heart of Baltimore's struggle with urban poverty, in an ongoing effort to reshape the systemic issues around this issue through entrepreneurial solutions.
On May 31, Merrick School of Business Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and an expert in the study of effectuation, David Lingelbach, and his research colleague Tiago Ratinho, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the IÉSEG School of Management in France, will welcome colleagues from around the world for a two-day symposium, "Using Effectuation to Address Urban Poverty." The event is part of the larger 2018 Effectuation Conference co-hosted by the University of Baltimore and the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.
Those interested in attending the conference can find registration information here.
"Entrepreneurship research can help cities like Baltimore address enduring problems of poverty," Lingelbach says. "Many of us in the academic community are eager to bring what works elsewhere in the world to Baltimore and make a positive contribution. We hope that this conference will make a positive change in the lives of Baltimore's 133,000 impoverished citizens."
On the second day of the conference, University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke will open the program with keynote remarks from his experience as mayor of the City of Baltimore. His remarks will be followed by those of UB School of Law Professor Daniel L. Hatcher, based on his research on Baltimore's poverty-commerce connection.
The formal program will be followed by an interactive entrepreneurial journey through parts of Baltimore. One group of conference participants will visit Open Works, a makerspace that provides tools, technology and knowledge accessible to all. Will Holman, executive director of Open Works, will host the attendees and discuss challenges, and identify some preliminary solutions with his clients with the intention to form linkages that last beyond the conference.
Another group of conference attendees will head to Baltimore's Barclay neighborhood, where University of Baltimore Entrepreneurship Fellow Chris Wilson will share his entrepreneurship experiences working directly in impoverished neighborhoods. Wilson is a serial social entrepreneur and founder of Barclay Investment Corporation. The mission of his primary business is to renovate houses using employees who are formerly incarcerated and who often have difficulty finding permanent employment. During this leg of the tour, a group of researchers will work with Wilson on the challenges facing the Barclay neighborhood and his businesses.
Ratinho elaborated on how effectuation principles challenge traditional entrepreneurial thinking: "We've always thought about entrepreneurs as fortunetellers—people who are better than the rest of us at predicting the future. Effectuation principles suggest that entrepreneurs create the future. They take action and build new things. Entrepreneurship often occurs in a highly uncertain environment, either because the market is in existence or there are significant product development challenges. So, classic management tools such as market research or strategy do not apply. Effectual entrepreneurs understand this and apply effectuation principles to their venture development."
Now in its fifth year, the Effectuation Conference brings together scholars who publish and teach in the field of entrepreneurship. It provides combination of interactive seminars on teaching and research, small research clinics where papers are discussed, and workshops. Past conferences have been held in France (2012, 2013), the Netherlands (2014) and Norway (2016).
Learn more about entrepreneurship at the University of Baltimore.