A conversation with fashion icon Stuart Weitzman will be one of several events held by Northeastern University across its global campuses during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The university is planning special programs throughout the week, Nov. 13-17, from San Francisco to Boston to London, including a hackathon for the Oakland community, a session with Northeastern entrepreneurs from the founders program, a summit with “Women Who Empower,” a conversation with the Zero Gravity CEO in London, a showcase featuring innovative ventures, and a couple of entrepreneurial pitch events.
Weitzman — whose shoes are seen at red carpet events and worn by celebrities such as Beyoncé, Kate Middleton and Taylor Swift — will be featured in a conversation from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15, on the eighth floor of EXP research complex on the Boston campus.
Weitzman has been honored extensively for his unique approach to entrepreneurship and for his commitment to prioritizing function as an integral element of fashion. He regularly mentors students on their entrepreneurial and design aspirations at several universities.
Demo Day, Northeastern’s biggest celebration of student innovation, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, at Curry Ballroom on the Boston campus. Student entrepreneurs will pitch their startup ideas and compete for up to $10,000. The event features the top eight student-led venture finalists from the fall 2023 cohort of the Husky Startup Challenge. The ventures have been working throughout the semester to turn their world-changing ideas into a reality through a series of boot camps. The ventures as well as Mosaic organizations will be tabling from 6 to 7 p.m.in the Curry pit and quad. The pitches will take place from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m, followed by an opportunity to meet with people inspired with the entrepreneurial spirit.
A Product Pitching Workshop, hosted by Forge, will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13, in the Behrakis Health Sciences Center on the Boston Campus.
In London, there will be several drop-in events all week at Devon House, including a Social Innovation Spotlight with Zero Gravity CEO Joe Seddon from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. The spotlight event, presented by Northeastern’s Young Entrepreneurs, will be a discussion with Seddon about social entrepreneurship and his journey from student to CEO.
Also in London, From Ground to Growth: Building a Sustainable Success will be presented at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15. The event — hosted by Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship, Northeastern’s Young Entrepreneurs and London’s Husky Start-up Challenge — features Tom Molnar, CEO and co-founder of GAIL’s Bakery.
Pitch Karaoke will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, in Room 440 Egan on the Boston campus. In Pitch Karaoke, people from the crowd step up to “hilariously” tackle a set of slides they have never seen, all for a fake business pitch.
The Northeastern Entrepreneurship Exposition, known as NEXPO, will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Curry Student Center on the Boston campus. NEXPO is an intersection of innovation and collaboration with a display of ventures, workshops and stories from Northeastern’s diverse Mosaic ecosystem. The event will feature more than 35 innovative ventures and organizations from the university’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.
NEXPO offers an opportunity to discover the campus entrepreneurial ecosystem and resources in Boston as well as throughout the global stage. There will be spotlights that showcase groundbreaking ventures, success stories and innovative products that have emerged through the Mosaic ecosystem; interactive workshops hosted by Mosaic organizations such as Entrepreneurs Club, Scout, Generate and more. Dive deep into games, panels and hands-on learning experiences. There will also be an opportunity to network with external entrepreneurial communities, investors and alumni.
Mosaic is an umbrella group of various entrepreneurial student organizations, many of which often work on the same ventures at the same time. It started about seven years ago with three student groups and 30 students. Today, it is made up of 11 student-led organizations, with 400 students in leadership roles and 500 ventures getting support from them, affecting more than 3,000 Northeastern students and community members.
The Women Who Empower Summit will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, on the eighth floor of the EXP research complex on the Boston campus. The event will feature creators, innovators and change-makers who can motivate and connect.
The featured guests include Amelia Brooks, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, class of 2025, vice president of WISE Operations and WISE Global; Betty Francisco, MBA 1997 and NUSL 1998, CEO of Boston Impact Initiative; Laura Huang, faculty director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at Northeastern University; Meeta Kapadia, managing director, HSBC Innovation Banking, co-lead of All Raise Boston; Jennifer Keiser Neundorfer, co-founder and managing partner of January Ventures; Marissa Mullen, College of Arts, Media and Design 2015, founder and creative director of That Cheese Plate.
The weeklong events will also include an Entrepreneurship Founder Series and Alumni Networking program from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, at WeWork in San Francisco. Alumni Relations and Northeastern Entrepreneurship will feature founders from the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, to discuss their ventures and paths in developing startups. The program will include Sina Moghadamfalahi, Ph.D. 2016; and Kamyar Firouzi, CEO of Althea Health Founders.
Ideation Day, hosted by Vital, will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, at East Village 024 on the Boston campus. Walk-ins are welcome.
Leadership in the Entrepreneurial Environment, a conversation with Brenna Sorkin, one of the founding members of the Generate, will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, at Churchill 103 on the Boston campus. Sorkin will discuss her experience and advice for students.
A Start Summit Hackathon will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17 and 18, on Northeastern’s Oakland campus. The hackathon will be held for the benefit of the Oakland community. The event gives participants a chance to dive into the world of innovation. Teams will be formed to brainstorm inventive solutions to real-world issues that matter to the Oakland community.
The Center for Research Innovation will be hosting a webinar with the National Institutes of Health from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16. The center will be discussing NIH, the nation’s medical research agency.
Mark Conti is managing editor of Northeastern Global News. Follow him on X/Twitter @markconti11.