Recognition
The Sustainable Business Program and COA students have been recognized by these organizations.
Partners
Ashoka U is a program of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Founded in 1980, Ashoka is the world’s leading network of social entrepreneurs. Ashoka U envisions a world where colleges and universities everywhere serve as an enabling environment for social entrepreneurship, providing individuals with access to the resources, role models, learning opportunities, and peers needed to actualize their full potential as social entrepreneurs and changemakers. Ashoka U’s mission is to foster and accelerate teaching, research, and action in social entrepreneurship, seeking to set a new standard of excellence in the field.
The Unreasonable Institute accelerates ventures that will define progress in our time. Annually they unite 25 high-impact entrepreneurs from around the world in Boulder, CO for 6-weeks. They provide world-class mentorship, access to seed capital, intensive skill training, a global network of support, & international exposure.
Since 2005, StartingBloc has been training the next generation of leaders on how to do well and do good.
Through the StartingBloc Fellowship, they select the brightest young leaders and provide them with access to the resources they need to address the most pressing global challenges of our time. The most critical resource the Fellows gain access to is a tight-knit community of social innovators based across the country and the world.
The StartingBloc Fellowship begins with the Institute for Social Innovation. This transformative experience includes a survey of social innovation, an innovative case-study competition and sessions with industry leaders.
Awards
The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship® (USASBE) is the largest independent, professional, academic organization in the world dedicated to advancing the discipline of entrepreneurship. With over 1000 members from universities and colleges, for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public sector, USASBE is a diverse mix of professionals that share a common commitment to fostering entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors. USASBE is the network advancing the art of entrepreneurship education.
In 2012 COA was chosen as one of just 22 schools from eight countries to participate in a global design competition for sustainable energy solutions for a better quality of life. The competition was led by the French energy company EDF (Électricité de France) and the French Design Promotion Association. The student’s project sought to create a demonstration project on Mount Desert Island illustrating sustainable energy and conservation practices. The project was co-led by Anna Demeo, Lecturer in Physics and Director of Energy Education and Management, and Jay Friedlander, Sharpe/McNally Chair in Green and Sustainable Business.