Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation

Why Choose a Minor in Entrepreneurship?

With a minor in entrepreneurial leadership and innovation, you will integrate critical thinking, analytical abilities, and communication skills to create and test solutions in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. Use our program’s four pillars—entrepreneurial mindset, concrete skill sets, experiential opportunities, and networking—to leverage your bachelor of arts degree. You will develop a greater understanding of yourself and others in order to collaborate more effectively and be an agent of positive change through substantial hands-on experiences. You will gain a powerful toolkit and network, enabling you to translate your entrepreneurship minor into action as you prepare for the future of work, ventures, and adventures. The Bates Center will connect you directly with Portland business and nonprofit leaders who understand the value of a liberal arts education. And when you graduate, you will find that the Lewis & Clark network extends far beyond the Pacific Northwest. 

What You’ll Study

Our interdisciplinary program combines critical thinking, one of the chief benefits of a liberal arts education, with direct and hands-on links to the worlds of entrepreneurship, business, and positive social change so that our students are prepared for the transition to work and life. You will take courses in sustainability, design thinking, nonprofit management, future technologies, and much more, plus participate in at least one of the Bates Center’s cocurricular programs. We also offer one-credit skills classes designed to help you in your ventures, activities, current work, and future of work. Many of our students earn course credit while on an overseas program.

Outside the classroom, we engage the local for-profit and nonprofit communities and provide experiential and networking opportunities via our classroom lecturers, internship class, programming, and practica. Our dynamic programming includes

• Winterim, an immersive week of building venture and life skills that culminates in a pitch competition
• Lunch With a Leader, a series of free lunches with successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders
• The Bates Center Seed Grant Program, money for students to launch their entrepreneurial endeavors
• Experts in Residence, numerous experts in a variety of fields—such as law, investing, food/agriculture, and health care—who meet individually with students during office hours
• Entrepreneur in Residence, an industry professional who coaches, supports, and connects students to test and implement ideas

Curriculum

Complement Your Education With One of These Majors

Students from nearly every major have minored in entrepreneurship. The most popular majors for our entrepreneurial leadership and innovation minors are computer science and mathematics, economics, and rhetoric and media studies.

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  I have really enjoyed the applicable life lessons woven into the classes. The entrepreneurship program is truly proving to be the definition of a liberal arts education.

  Bode Dalton BA ’25

  Rhetoric and Media Studies | Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation | Idaho Springs, Colorado

  More about Bode
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  The push for sustainability in curriculum is inspiring as each discipline has taken accountability for educating the future stewards of our planet.

  Umi Fulgencio BA ’23

  Environmental Studies | Entrepreneurship Leadership and Innovation | Līhuʻe, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i

  More about Umi
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  L&C has made me truly appreciate learning and provided me with so many opportunities I don’t think I would have elsewhere.

  Isabel Artiaga BA ’22

  Rhetoric and Media Studies | Moraga, California

  More about Isabel

What Can You Do With a Minor in Entrepreneurship?

Our alumni use their minor in entrepreneurship in a variety of careers, including running an expedition company with an environmental focus; working for adidas, KPMG, Adobe, and Intel; and launching sustainable businesses, such as a refill technology startup to reduce plastic consumption and a circular sanitation company that raised $5M of investor funding this past year.

Dedicated Faculty

Our expert professors are your expert mentors. You will learn directly from faculty (no graduate assistants here!) that are nationally recognized in their fields of study and who love to work with and learn from their students. Your professors will inspire you to be a thoughtful and passionate participant in a diverse world. Your small classes will support you as you explore new ideas, find your voice, and speak your truth.

Our program uses industry adjuncts, in addition to our faculty, who have a special ability to engage with students as well as provide context and contacts that will help when you graduate.

Meet the Professors

Invest in Yourself

A private liberal arts education is often more affordable than you think. Last year, Lewis & Clark distributed over $74 million in assistance from institutional, federal, state, and private sources. Additionally, we’re so confident that our first-year students will graduate in four years with their bachelor of arts degree that if you don’t, we’ll cover the extra semester of tuition.

Any student who attends high school in Oregon (or an Oregon resident attending high school elsewhere) and is passionate about entrepreneurship is encouraged to apply to be an Entrepreneurship Scholar. Oregon residents who wish to transfer from their four-year or community college are also encouraged to apply.

Find Your People

Students can join a variety of student-run organizations, such as Entrepreneurship Club and Investing Club. Don’t see what you’re looking for on the club list? Start something new and build your own community of peers!

Where Lewis & Clark Will Take You

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  The interdisciplinary nature of Lewis & Clark influenced my thinking in terms of how I could bring various fields of thought together to create positive change. This led me to develop my theory of change of using business and cross-sector partnerships as a lever to make a positive impact for people and the planet.

  Raiven Greenberg BA ’17

  Psychology | Environmental Studies | Huntington Beach, California

  More about Raiven
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  I have been working remotely as a project manager for a boutique film company; allowing me to gain new experiences while being able to travel occasionally to visit family and friends.

  Mia Babasyan BA ’22

  Environmental Studies | Entrepreneurial Leadership

  More about Mia
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  L&C taught me the value of being multifaceted. If your desired path through life doesn’t exist, then you have the tools to figure out how to create it.

  Ben Kolligs BA ’18

  Physics | Mathematics | Berkeley, California

  More about Ben

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