KPU Entrepreneurial Leadership – Inspiring the female leaders of the future
You can help support women who are pursuing an entrepreneurial education and career. Donate online HERE or contact Drew Dennis in the Office of Advancement on drew.dennis@kpu.ca or 604-598-6006.
In honor of International Women’s Day 2022, we are proud to acknowledge and celebrate KPU women entrepreneurs in the KPU Melville School of Business. The KPU Women Entrepreneurs Endowed Award currently provides $2,500 to one outstanding female student annually in the Entrepreneurial Leadership degree program. With your help we can increase this support to $5,000 annually, to cover a student’s full tuition for one year! The impact of your investment will be to remove a financial barrier for promising female entrepreneurs, and to achieve this we need to raise $50,000 to grow the endowment. Will you join us and show your support this International Women’s Day?
KPU alumna Liz Penner says, “I am a recent graduate of the Entrepreneurial Leadership program and a proud recipient of the KPU Women Entrepreneurs Endowed Award. The support and encouragement offered through these awards and from the school is likely the only encouragement most women will receive throughout their entire degree. I am now a 42-year-old entrepreneur, wife, mother of 2 children and a proud graduate of KPU with a BBA. All of that happened because of awards like this.”
Melville School of Business & Women Entrepreneurs
The Melville School of Business is one of the
largest undergraduate business schools in Western Canada—consisting of
over 250 business faculty, 3,500 full-time students, and 9,000 students
annually enrolled at our campuses in Surrey, Richmond and Langley. The
School's mission is to inspire students of diverse backgrounds, ages and
aspirations and we pride ourselves on being an inclusive and equitable
education space.
The flagship Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial
Leadership program at KPU prepares graduates with the skills and
knowledge to be leaders and problem solvers in business. As a result of
program review, Fall 2021 saw the launch of a renewed program which
reflects the changing face of business. Driven by open pedagogy and
focused on student agency from year 1 and onwards, the program is now even more accessible and inclusive to all students, allowing students to
pursue an entrepreneurial career outside of the typical understanding
of what it means to be an "entrepreneur". In order to make this unique program even more
accessible, all of the Entrepreneurial Leadership courses will have zero
textbook costs.
Women entrepreneurship is growing in Canada. There are more than 360,000 self-employed women in Canada, with a 30% increase in women-owned businesses in the last ten years. Not only is this inspiring for women who are interested in starting their own business, but it presents the opportunity to build a stronger economy. Research shows that by increasing the number of women entrepreneurs, it provides an estimated potential $150 billion GDP economic gain.
Research also indicates that women have social and financial barriers unlike their male counterparts, which may be preventing more women to consider business entrepreneurial education. Aligned with the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, KPU and the Melville School of Business are committed to supporting future female entrepreneurs through access to inclusive business education and empowering networks through applied learning opportunities.