COLEMAN FACULTY FELLOW HOWARD CHONG ON SUSTAINABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By Carlos Cevallos, Program Coordinator

The Coleman Foundation Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows Program at Cornell is now in its second semester at the university, led by Director, Mona Anita K. Olsen, Ph.D., Assistant Academic Director of The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute and Visiting Assistant Professor, Management & Organizational Behavior. Each of the three Coleman Fellows at Cornell has adjusted the curriculum in one of their courses to be more entrepreneurial. In the Fall, it was Ben Lawrence and Cheryl Stanley. Now in the Spring semester, Howard Chong is focusing on his course for the Chicago-based Coleman Foundation. Chong has emphasized the non-linear process of ideation through activities such as the “marshmallow challenge.” The use of field trips to better understand the dynamic between sustainability and entrepreneurship has also proved useful, says Chong: “This has allowed for a better stakeholder analysis of the pros/cons of different initiatives.” Student reaction initially was characterized by a hesitance to accept not having a single right answer, but the process of entrepreneurship, Chong explains, is not a straight path and there may be more than one answer for a given problem. To learn more about the program, visit our website.