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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!
Tune in for excitement!
Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.
Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture.
Start your entrepreneurial journey
Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.
Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.
We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.
Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.
Student opportunities
- Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
- Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
- Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
- Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
- Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.
Find your path
Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?
Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.
History professor receives International Impact Award
by
Henry Heller
Kathleen Donohue, Ph. D., a professor in the History, World Languages, and Cultures Department, received the International Impact Award. This award recognizes faculty who go above and beyond what is expected of individuals in engaging at the international level with teaching, scholarly activity, or service.
In her time at CMU, Donohue has expanded partnerships, created study abroad opportunities, and organized international conferences. She was also recently invited to serve as the keynote speaker at the German Association for American Studies-Political Science Conference.
Donohue’s faculty exchange experiences brought on the German institutions’, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität and Ruhr-Universität-Bochum, as university partners. Donohue also set out to fill a missing gap in university partnerships by finding a French partner. She spent weeks traveling across Europe evaluating several potential partnerships and brought on Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. She has also recruited CMU faculty to spend time teaching and speaking at partner institutions, with half of the history faculty participating.
Over her time at CMU, Donohue has organized a conference titled “From Watergate to Wikileaks” in Germany and brought together many American scholars and journalists. Donohue also created the International Graduate Historical Graduate Studies Conference which drew students from all over the world.
Currently, Donohue serves on the Study Abroad committee and is working on a new initiative called the Study Abroad Summer Sequence to allow history students (graduate and undergraduate) three faculty-led study abroad courses within a single summer. In summer 2023, Donohue says, “I will be taking a group of CMU students to Germany on a faculty-led, study-abroad course, where they will spend three weeks in Frankfurt, Jena, and Berlin, immersing themselves in the history of Germany during the Cold War, when the nation was divided into a communist east and a capitalist west.”
This story is brought to you by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.
Signature Programs
Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
Explore special opportunities to learn new skills and travel the world.
Compete & Win
New Venture Challenge 2025
Present your venture and win BIG at the New Venture Challenge.
Build your skills
Workshops and events
Boost your entrepreneurial skills through our workshops, mentor meetups and pitch competitions.
Develop your ideas
IDEA Den
Learn about the entrepreneurship makerspace on campus in Grawn Hall.
Ready, Set, Pitch!
Make-A-Pitch 2024
Present a 2-minute pitch at the Make-A-Pitch Competition and you could win prizes and bragging rights!
Meet Mentors
Mentorship and support
Connect with mentors and faculty who are here to support the next generation of CMU entrepreneurs.
Support students
Make an impact
Are you a CMU alum looking to support CMU student entrepreneurs? Learn how you can support or donate to the Entrepreneurship Institute.
View our programming newsletter
Alumni give back to students through mentorship, real-world experiences
The Wakeling Gendron Entrepreneurial Scholars program wrapped its first cohort this academic year.
Students compete to win cash prizes at the New Venture Challenge
Pitched 40 ventures at NMV Challenge, Friday, April 19, CMU. Judges awarded $100,000 in cash prizes.
Wakeling Gendron Scholars make a life-changing trip to Texas
Wakeling and Gendron Scholars attended SXSW in Texas, meeting industry leaders and gaining entrepreneurial insights.
Business barriers lead CMU students to a new venture
Justin Ashman and Philip Mundt won Central Michigan University's New Venture Competition with their 3-D printing operation, Form Further.
