Blackstone Launchpad At Morehouse

Empowering the Next Generation of Innovators at Morehouse College

About LaunchPad at Morehouse

The LaunchPad at Morehouse Fellowship is a program empowering student entrepreneurs at Morehouse College with mentorship, funding, and resources to transform innovative ideas into thriving ventures.

The program supports student ventures by providing a community of other builders, creating and sharing opportunities for nondilutive capital and delivering co-curriculular programming, such as innovation workshops and speaker sessions, designed to empower and equip inspiring and aspriing innovators with the tools that they need to make impactful change.

The LaunchPad at Morehouse Studio is a dedicated space that provides a collaborative environment for the LaunchPad at Morehouse Community to develop innovation skills access to an idea-to-seed stage investor network, and the the latest insights from industry experts.

Each cohort of Launchpad at Morehouse will be awarded a fellowship of $1,000 per semester and will complete a six-week co-curricular program that will help develop their entrepreneurial acumen. Using Gallup’s Building Builders framework, we will identify where students are on their innovation journey and expose them to people, technology, and frameworks to bring their ideas to life.

We place high emphasis on individuals who have focus and can demonstrate commitment to their venture. The ideal Launchpad at Morehouse fellow is serious about launching or expanding their idea, and we look for individuals who have excitement for entrepreneurship on a global scale.

We recognize that revenue or awards are not the perfect indicators of entrepreneurial potential. If you believe you are a good fit for Launchpad at Morehouse we encourage you to apply to be considered for our fellowship program!

Once you submit your online application, the Launchpad at Morehouse team is happy to connect with you to help guide you through the rest of the process. If you have any questions before submitting, don’t hesitate to contact us at kylan.kester@morehouse.edu.

No. But it’s an important step you’ll eventually need to take, and our legal resources at MIEC can help.

Please email program director: Kylan Kester (kylan.kester@accenture.com).

October 6 – November 12

The Launchpad at Morehouse is a co-curricular 6 week program that meets 6pm on Monday nights (with exception of our kickoff event on Wednesday, Oct. 6). Full attendance to all of our sessions is required. Founders are expected to meet weekly with their mentor. Our Innovation Sprint is on November 8 at 6 p.m.

Blackstone Launchpad at Morehouse Leadership

Kylan Kester (he/him)

Kylan is the Founding Director of Launchpad at Morehouse. Prior to joining MIEC, Kylan worked in strategy and consulting and digital product management and Accenture and startup community building at Startup Atlanta.

Kylan (he/him/his) is an Atlanta-based consulting intrapreneur, angel investor, and startup community builder.

He adds value by helping members of his network to define innovation objectives, and to design for next generation ways to align operational excellence across the people, platforms, and processes that exceed them.

Kylan is invested in ventures that accelerate corporate social responsibility, promote access to education in technology, and connect resources to support underestimated entrepreneurs.

Gallup Business Profile 10: Conductor / Top Builder Skills: Disrupter, Selling, Delegator, Confidence
“You possess great management talent, and you bring order and harmony to the chaos of a young venture.”

Gallup Top 5 Strengths:
Strategic, Responsibility, Intellection, Communication, Maximizer.

Skills and Background:
• 5+ years of award-winning experience in innovation design, integrated media strategy, value campaign management, and global content production
• 6+ years in product management and digital asset delivery; specialized in developing products, programs and services for organizations seeking to adopt open innovation and/ or to support early stage to growth stage companies
• 25+ growth & business design projects ranging from nonprofit, universities, startups and Fortune 100 clients supported across North America

Awards and Recognition:
Recognized for leadership and outstanding achievement by Google for Startups, HBCU.vc’s 31 Under 31, European Innovation Academy, Forbes Under 30, Jopwell, The Gentlemen’s Foundation, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Apple, Coca Cola, GLAAD, and Proctor & Gamble

Features:
Inc., Blavity, Odyssey Online, SBW, HuffPost, GLAAD, LinkedIn, Teen Vogue, Human Rights Campaign, and more

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