Get Involved

The entrepreneurship program relies on our community partners to enhance and extend our curriculum, student services, and community engagement. Our internships and practicum programs place MBA students in entrepreneurial companies for consulting projects. Our faculty complete research and consulting projects on industry analysis, and firm start-up and growth. 

We welcome donors and sponsors of our activities and events.  Corporate and foundation sponsors fund our innovative programming through direct and in-kind donations. Alliances among groups in the “entrepreneurship space” create value for all involved.

The School of Management convenes and participates in some of the region's leading entrepreneurship events:

  • Hosts and delivers events with organizations committed to the success of women entrepreneurs and business owners, including The Commonwealth Institute, Center for Women and Enterprise, John Hancock, Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology, and Women in Technology International.
  • Co-sponsors the inaugural 2007 Power Women Investing conference to educate women investors in hedge fund and angel investing with partners Babson College, Golden Seeds, Boston Harbor Angels, Black Dome Capital and Next Stage Solutions. 
  • Partners with leading organizations including John Hancock and the Commonwealth Institute on the Women of Ethnic Diversity Initiative. Simmons MBA students work directly with women entrepreneurs of color to build and grow their entrepreneurial ventures.
  • Showcases entrepreneurial speakers at the annual Simmons Leadership Conference, including Debbie Fields, Barbara Corcoran, Kay Koplovitz, and Peg Neuhauser.
  • Delivers the Leading Women Entrepreneurs Series in the spring of each year. The series is to provides a forum for women entrepreneurs to address business issues critical to starting a new business and growing an existing one.
  • Hosts the annual Silverman Business Plan Competition, open to Simmons School of Management alumnae and current entrepreneurship students, which distributes over $10,000 in prizes and in-kind rewards to select participants.  
  • Provides speaking and networking events on women's entrepreneurship throughout the year to connect students, alumnae, and community participants.

For more information on how to partner with Simmons or to join our entrepreneurship event mailing list email your name, address, and organizational affiliation to entrepreneurship@simmons.edu

Who’s Involved

As with any successful venture, people are one of the School of Management’s greatest assets. The expertise, understanding and commitment of our faculty, Board of Advisors, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and corporate partnerships enable us to meet the needs of our students and help them to make continuous progress toward achieving their goals. Together, they comprise a vibrant, dynamic network dedicated to supporting, sustaining and expanding entrepreneurship activity at the SOM.

Advisory Board

The Simmons School of Management Entrepreneurship Program is advised by a group of world-class private equity practitioners, entrepreneurs and scholars. The Advisory Board’s role is to help our students meet their goals and provide support for the School of Management's various entrepreneurship initiatives. Whether it’s feedback on a business plan or how to raise funding for a new venture, the SOM connects students to the right people to find the right answers. 

Advisory Board Members

Dr. Teresa Nelson, Advisory Chair
Elizabeth J. McCandless Professor of Entrepreneurship
Simmons School of Management

Rudi Scheiber-Kurtz
Advisory President Founder & President
Next Stage Solutions, Inc.

Paige Arnof-Fenn
Founder & CEO
Mavens & Moguls

Jean Hammond
Principal
JPH Associates

Sheila Murphy
Chief Operating Officer
Center for Women & Enterprise

Amir Nashat
Principal
Polaris Venture Partners

Roger Glovsky
Entrepreneurial Attorney
Indigo Ventures LLC

Stephen M. Honig
Partner
Duane Morris LLP

Sharon F. Merrill
CEO
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.

Nancy Costikyan
Manager
Harvard University Office of Work/Life Resources

Amanda Thomas
Business Development Officer
Concert Pharmaceuticals

Fiona Wilson
Professor Simmons School of Management

Julie LeMoine
VP for Technology Research
Fidelity’s Center for Applied Technology
Fidelity Investments

Pama Miller
Managing Director of Borrower Services
American Student Assistance

Entrepreneurs in Residence

A distinguishing feature of the Simmons Entrepreneurship Program is the engagement of School of Management Entrepreneurs-in-Residence on a continuing basis across multiple industries and applications. In 2006-07, we enjoyed the expertise and energy of three Entrepreneurs-in-Residence with experience in for-profit entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and corporate innovation.

Radha Ramaswami Basu has been named the 2008 joint entrepreneur- and executive-in-residence at the Simmons School of Management. For more information please click here.

Paige Arnof-Fenn

Founder and CEO of Mavens & Moguls, a global marketing strategy consulting firm, Arnof-Fenn has previously held senior marketing positions at many established and entrepreneurial companies including Zipcar, where she was vice president of marketing. Prior to her position at Zipcar, Arnof-Fenn was vice president of marketing at Inc.com, and senior vice president of marketing at Launch Media. She also held marketing positions at The Coca-Cola Company and Procter and Gamble, and was the director of the 1996 Olympic Commemorative Coin Program at the Department of Treasury. Arnof-Fenn is a founding board member of Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology, and serves on both the Stanford University and Harvard Business School Alumni Boards

Pama Miller

Pama Miller is the Managing Director of Borrower Services at American Student Assistance, the national’s original student loan guarantor, responsible for both day-to-day operations and strategic direction of the Borrower Services division. Miller has more than 25 years of experience in higher education administration and management consulting. For the past 12 years, she held several senior roles in a consulting capacity related to the delivery of higher education services, including Manager of Higher Education Consulting with KPMG Consulting; Senior Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting; and Managing Consultant of Human Capital Management/Workforce Enablement with IBM Global Business Services. For 13 years, she worked in college financial aid offices in New York and Massachusetts, including seven years as Director of Financial Aid at Mount Holyoke College. 

Susan Murcott

Susan Murcott is an inventor, civil engineer, MIT lecturer, and global advocate for clean drinking and household water supplies in the developing world. As part of the Clean Water for 1 Billion People campaign, she works primarily on behalf of women, who are largely responsible for water, and children who suffer disproportionately from its pollution. Susan’s team at MIT won the prestigious Wall Street Journal – Technology Innovation Award in the Environment category in 2005 and the World Bank Nepal Development Marketplace Prize in 2005 for invention of the Kanchan™ Arsenic Filter. She has worked actively in the field in Nepal and Ghana to promote adoption of low tech yet productive water treatment technologies.

Practicum Hosts

Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Causemedia
Concert Pharmaceuticals
Cottonfield USA
Eileen Fisher
Fox Relocation Management Corporation
Greenfuel Technologies
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (Inner City Economic Forum)
Isis Maternity
Onyx Spectrum Technologies
Pinck and Company
Partners HealthCare
Reebok
Social Fusion
Whole Foods Market