Impact Report - Ciocca Center

Friends of Ciocca Center,

In 2018, we established the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University, inspired and generously funded by Arthur and Carlyse Ciocca. Guided by the Jesuit principles and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, we are instilling the entrepreneurial mindset into and beyond the SCU community The past five years have been an exciting period of building, adaptation and growth I’m honored to share the impact of our work so far and showcase our enduring commitment to SCU’s interdisciplinary center of entrepreneurial excellence.

We’re not just teaching students how to start or run a business We’re teaching them how to think like entrepreneurs and providing ample opportunities to apply what they’ve learned

regardless of their academic discipline, personal background or professional ambitions. We’re also opening doors to industry leaders, events and resources within our rich alumni network.

The Ciocca Center now operates six programs that combine academic and experiential learning Driven by strong collaboration between students, faculty and alumni, our programs build upon one another – creating a flywheel of innovation and inspiring the next generation of leaders. To date, ## students have participated in our programs and engagement grows every year

Academic funding and faculty development are additional ways we infuse entrepreneurial and design thinking into the SCU fabric. So far, we ’ ve invested in ## research projects, funded ## new faculty positions, and contributed $$ to staff and curriculum development We continue to explore opportunities to expand our impact and make SCU a beacon for entrepreneurial education

As our vision grows, so does our team. We’ve built a team of program directors, support staff and advisory boards with diverse expertise and a shared passion for mentoring our students Together, we are committed to helping students from all backgrounds and disciplines become equipped with the tools of an entrepreneur as Art Ciocca envisioned.

With gratitude,

Christopher Norris

Executive Director, Ciocca Center Santa Clara University

The Ciocca Center Journey

Mindset Scholars Launches

18 Participants

Innovation Fellows Launches

16 Participants from all 3 SCU Colleges

5 Campus Projects

Accelerator Prep School Launches

1# Participants

# Companies

2023

Did BEACH Start this year?

Demo Day Milestone?

Instilling the Entrepreneurial Mindset

OUR VISION

At the Ciocca Center, we strive to be a globally recognized leader in expanding the entrepreneurial mindset through education and scholarship, while guided by Jesuit principles.

“When you think like an entrepreneur, your vision becomes clearer, you see problems as opportunities, and you solve challenges better.”

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

The entrepreneurial mindset is so much more than knowing how to start a business It is a way of looking at the world and solving problems through innovation. The elements of the entrepreneurial mindset include:

Empathy for customers, stakeholders, and audiences

Naturally viewing problems as opportunities

Willingness and ability to tolerate risk

Championing long-term value creation

Santa Clara University is not the only institution teaching the principles of entrepreneurship. But in the heart of Silicon Valley, our unique approach, world-class team and Jesuit ideals set the Ciocca Center programs apart from others

Arthur Ciocca

Guiding Principles Set Us Apart

DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES

Entrepreneurship is not limited to business endeavors, so we focus beyond the Business School. The Ciocca Center is the first interdisciplinary program of its kind – bringing together diverse perspectives and encouraging the cross-pollination of ideas to impart a holistic view of design thinking, innovation and value creation

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, NOT JUST THEORY

We aren’t just teaching entrepreneurial concepts Whether building prototypes or business plans, our students have ample hands-on opportunities to bring their ideas to life and practice the skills they've learned to propel their professional family and personal development.

BORATION

boration – with peers, faculty, alumni and community leaders By exchanging ideas and working together toward shared goals, our students gain confidence and develop the interpersonal skills needed to take the entrepreneurial mindset into the real world.

UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS & OPPORTUNITIES

Thanks to the strong SCU community, our students and faculty can tap into an extraordinary network of entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley and beyond In addition to practical learning and mentorship, we provide access to many of enrichment programs that open eyes and open doors that were previously unavailable to undergraduates.

Bronco Ventures offers a progressive path that empowers SCU entrepreneurs to develop ideas, bring them to life, and grow their businesses with competence, conscience and compassion Open to students, faculty and alumni, Bronco Ventures programs tap into the Bay Area’s strong entrepreneur community to create the next generation of leaders

It all starts with a spark Bronco Ventures Idea Lab teaches students how to turn that spark into an idea and then a business plan, with a hands-on introduction to design thinking and storytelling Interdisciplinary teams test business ideas and create pitches – some of which land a spot in the coveted Accelerator Prep School Quote

Idea Lab Participant, 20xx

Participants

Students delve into their cutstomers' pain points by creating empathy maps and making prototypes that solve them

## Participants

Accelerator Prep School is a 10-week program that helps teams expand their business ideas through roadmapping, problem solving and pitch development Many teams compete in the Ciocca Center Business Pitch Competition and some have been accepted to Bronco Ventures Accelerator

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

CarbonBridge addresses water shortages for farmers by repurposing cow manure

It was founded by Manu Pillai as a Bronco Ventures Prep School company and has gone on to attract additional investors and an executive team of experienced business leaders.

The Business Pitch Competition is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to take center stage with their business ideas at a campus-wide SCU event or compete with students from other universities

2022 Alumni/Graduate Winner

Mentored by SCU’s strong business community, teams work full-time on their ventures to attract angel or venture capital investors Strengthening financial acumen, honing communication skills, and learning from failure – Accelerator founders are well prepared for future ventures.

“The BVA mentor program is excellent It leverages the advisor's passion for entrepreneurship and our shared SCU experience The commitment from the advisors runs deeper than other accelerators ”

Bronco Venture Accelerator Alum, 20xx

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Interactive classes and workshops led by business leaders

Curriculum modeled on renown Silicon Valley accelerators

Guidance from entrepreneurs with real-world experience

Opportunity to receive up to $50,000 from the Bronco Venture Fund

but can we name

Impact

67 Startups

$40 Million in funding

BVA founders accepted to Y Combiner and Alchemist accelerators programs

Founders hone their business pitches to attract investors at Demo Day each spring

The Bronco Ventures Accelerator culminates in Demo Day, where founders pitch their businesses to hundreds of VCs and angel investors.

Demo Day

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

OnePointOne is revolutionizing the food system by rethinking how plants are grown, utilized and optimized Using innovations in automation, AI and plain science, it built the most advanced vertical farming platform on the planet To date, the company has raised over $60M

Robotire automates vehicle maintenance by using robotics, AI and software to change tires at a fraction of the time. The company has completed Series A funding and its product is being used by one of the country's leading independent tire retailers

Victor Darolf, Founder BVA Class of '19

Sam Bertram, Co-Founder BVA Class of ????

Bronco Entrepreneurs Advisory Clinic Hours

BEACH provides no-cost legal and business advice for startups and small businesses in our community. Teams of law and business students collaborate with experienced professionals to solve the real-world business and legal challenges of their clients.

A WIN-WIN-WIN

For Students...

Impact

63 Student Participants

Advisory services for 79 businesses

"BEACH was one of my most valuable experiences as an undergraduate business student I got first-hand experience advising entrepreneurs on a variety of real-world concerns, and made meaningful connections with my peers and have found mentors that support me I’m looking forward to seeing how the program evolves and expands in the future "

Bryanna Young BEACH advisor '22

For Professional

"The BEACH progra opportunity to share with young people wh enthusiastic, curious about business It wa to help small compan advice that we could

For Local Businesses...

"BEACH is a great program helping people who are less knowledgeable or experienced in business I was very satisfied with all the help I received Thank you!"

"The BEACH team did an excellent job of researching our particular needs We appreciated their efforts and the quality & detail of their analysis was good and the final presentation to us was clear and beneficial "

16 Participants

The Innovation Fellows program focuses on finding pain points on the SCU campus and using design thinking, empathy and curiosity to find solutions In its first year, teams implemented innovative ideas to:

Address food insecurity on campus

Streamline the planning of student events

Boost student attendance at sporting events

Make STEM spaces more inclusive for non-Engineers

Increase male-identifying student access to mental health resources

Broad perspectives lead to holistic solutions

Innovation Fellows exemplifies our interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. The brainchild of professors from the School of Education who wanted to teach design thinking, the program now pairs students and staff members from all three Colleges to tackle real problems at SCU.

BE A CHANGE AGENT FOR SCU

Julia Yaklich '23 Innovation Fellow

"This program has taught me how to apply the technical skills I've learned at Santa Clara to help others I've learned to keep asking 'why?' and that the root of problems is often much deeper than we see on the surface I'm grateful for those analytical skills that Ciocca Center has taught me."

Kathy Sun Assistant Professor School of Education

Keith Yoakum Title School of Education

18 Participants

DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS TO DIRECT YOUR JOURNEY AT SCU

Mindset Scholars is a 2-year program to develop the entrepreneurial mindset for first year students at SCU Academic courses from SCU Schools of Engineering, Business, and Arts & Sciences, combined with experiential learning and student mentors, provides a multidiscipline foundation for them to begin their entrepreneurial journey.

The Maker Lab is partially funded by Ciocca Center and primarily staffed by SCU graduate students, who facilitate lab access for more than 800 students, faculty, and staff.

180 +

Student Members

This year, the Maker Lab moved into the new Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation building!

Ciocca Center partnered with the Maker Club to build a Ciocca Center sign, 100% crafted by students in the Maker Lab

Opening Doors and Expanding Horizons

GENERAL MAGIC MOVIE

The Ciocca Center partnered with General Magic to host a movie screening and Q&A with the filmmaker in the Mission Gardens It is an entrepreneurial tale of a great vision and epic failure that changed billions of lives Attendees enjoyed pizza, popcorn and candy and wrapped up in Ciocca Center blankets for a night under the stars.

Moviegoers

STARTUP WORLD CUP

The Ciocca Center sponsored a field trip the the largest global startup conference and pitch competition, held in San Francisco. Students and faculty witnessed polished business pitches and learned from panels of investors and business leaders Participants

30+

rolled in Contemporary Business Issues programs offered by our university and ortunities as a new Business student

Participants 100+

24 Interdisciplinary organizations

130 Students enrolled

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MINORS

Santa Clara University provides a variety of academic avenues to grow the Entrepreneurial Mindset The Leavey School of Business offers a broad entrepreneurship minor, open to students from any school The School of Engineering also provides an entrepreneurship minor specifically for engineering majors

A critical element of the program is an internship working with an emerging for-profit startup or socially-beneficial organization to develop an in-depth case study of the venture and founders, formal business plan or growth plan

DESIGN THINKING PATHWAY

One of two dozen Pathway themes, Design Thinking is pursued by undergraduate students across all schools This Pathway includes additional courses and complementary co-curricular activities

40-45% of undergraduate students

Weaving the Entrepreneurial Mindset Into our Academic Fabric

FACULTY AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Ciocca Center funds professional development activities that help the SCU community gain a deeper understanding of the Entrepreneurial Mindset and how to apply it.

70+ Participants

Learning about Design Thinking from the Experts

SCU staff and faculty were invited to take an introductory course in Design Thinking through the online training service IDEO University These principles can then be utilized in classrooms or in meetings to enhance design thinking across campus.

of grants to date

Travel Grants

The Ciocca Center sponsors SCU faculty and staff attending conferences and meetings as a fundamental element of professional development Travel grants provide up to $3K per project when recipients are presenting work in the field of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The Ciocca Center provides funding for research, curriculum and professional development. Accepted curriculum proposals address themes that broadly relate to the topics of innovation and the Entrepreneurial Mindset.

2022 Funded Research Projects

Exploring the Relationship Between Genetic Firm

Founders' Gender and Firm Outcomes and Innovation

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Woolley, Leavey School of Business

Religious Entrepreneurs and Social Media: Religious Influencers and Digital Entrepreneurs

Principal Investigator: Di Di, College of Arts and Sciences

PUBLISHED RESEARCH: The Impact of Formality, Integration, and Commitment on the Performance of Latino-Owned Small Businesses

Principal Investigator: Drew Starbird, Leavey School of Business

Published online August 24, 2022 by Administrative Sciences, an international peerreviewed journal published by MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

Summer Series: Scientific Mindset

Summer Research Students Lunch Meetings

Lively discussions about scientific culture and activities to build research skills!

Discussions each week included three parts:

(1 ) an informal topic on research culture, diversity, and inclusivity

(2.) a more formal, faculty-led activity on a key skill

(3.) A faculty member shares on Ciocca Center programs

Topics of discussion included microaffirmations, game plans for productive failure, and strategies for mentorship The more formal, faculty-led activities included practicing elevator pitches, communicating with data, planning for commercialization / IP, exercises in failing quickly (and often!), and planning a career like a scientist

Discussion Question:

Think about a time someone in your scientific training/ community has affirmed your dignity through an act of kindness. What was the act of kindness?

Share it with your table.

Staff and Advisory Boards

Ciocca Center Staff

Dr. Christopher Kitts

Executive Director

Christopher Norris '92

Cindy Cooper Program Director

Hallie Bodey '12 Program Director

Morgan Slain Program Director

Pam Vavra '15 Sr. Program Designer, BV

Faculty Director

Mike Kovalich Consultant, BV

Masha Maslova Jones Mentorship, Community & Partnerships Manager, BV

Cristina Cismas Florea Curriculum Development Manager, BV

Yesie Chang Administrative Associate

Faculty Advisory Board

ChristopherKitts Ciocca Center Faculty Director

Jo-Ellen Pozner Associate Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship Leavey School of Business

Kathy Sun Assistant Professor School of Education (ECP)

Korin Wheeler Associate Professor, Chemistry College of Arts and Sciences

Brian Love Associate Professor, Co-Director of The High Tech Law Institute School of Law

Laura Robinson Professor, Department Chair, Sociology College of Arts and Sciences

Michael W. Flynn Clinical Professor School of Law

Prashanth Asuri Associate Professor, Bioengineering School of Engineering

Tao Li Associate Professor, Program Director, MSBA, IS&A, Leavey School of Business

Chris Norris Executive Director Secretary

Associate Professor, Art and Art History College of Arts and Sciences

Takeshi Moro

Student Advisory Board

Co-Chairs

"My favorite part about being on SAB is getting to work as a team and collaborate with students from a wide range of disciplines I have met so many incredible people who have introduced me to many different opportunities on-campus and in Silicon Valley! " - Sarah Tartell

Secretary

Darius Johnson '23 Finance & Business Analytics

Mubashir Hussain '24 Computer Science

Nick '23

Kira '24

Keren '23

Iris '25

Haotian '23 Flip '23

Eve '25

Chisomaga '25

Connor '23

Collin '23

Cinthya '24

Audrey '23

Andrew '23

Adejire '24 Akarsh '23

Sarah Tartell '23 Public Health

Max '24

Industry Advisory Board

Allison Kopf '11 CMO at IUNU, Investment Partner at XFactor Ventures

Ed Grier Dean of SCU Leavey School of Business

Gabriela Chavez-Lopez '09 Executive Director at Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

Malarie Howard '14 Screenwriter, Executive Storyteller

Mariah Manzano '20 CEO at Opal

Meg Paulus '15 Partner at HOLT Ventures, Kauffman Fellow

Rory Pannkuk '19 Management Consultant at Accenture

Steve Foster '84 Managing Director at SF Advisors

Tim Bucher CEO at Agtonomy

In Loving Memory

Arthur Angelo Ciocca

Dec. 5, 1937 - Dec. 18, 2021

lley in very entrepreneurial companies and roles and before I met Art Ciocca two and a half years ago, if you had asked me if I knew most everything about “Silicon Valley-style” entrepreneurship, I’d have been inclined to say “yes!”.

Art’s vision of entrepreneurship, which I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to help implement at Santa Clara University, wasn’t one of teaching students how to start, build, or run a business Rather, Art was focused on how we think like entrepreneurs and the tough problem of how we teach the elements of an Entrepreneurial Mindset to students from all disciplines and walks of life, regardless of whether that student will ever start a business.

Art saw entrepreneurship as a set of life skills - empathy for those who are in pain and whose problems we attempt to solve; the optimism to approach problems as opportunities; confidence in taking risks; and an awareness of the impact of our actions. I still blink in surprise when I recall my initial conversations with Art as he described his vision to me in such a pure form.

I spent quite a few hours with Art on the phone, and sharing ideas through email, in the short time that I was privileged to know him. It remains a disappointment in my life that I didn’t meet him many years earlier in my career. But I’m grateful for the time I had with him, and how much he taught me about a subject where I already considered myself an expert.

For me, the good news is that every day I get to think about Art and what he would have liked to see come of his ideas. I’m honored to be able to continue the work of building a campus-wide center, the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University, so generously funded and supported by Art and Carlyse Ciocca. And I remain inspired to help students from all backgrounds and disciplines become equipped with the tools of an entrepreneur as Art Ciocca envisioned.

Chris Norris Ciocca Center Head Director

Lucas Hall 109

"I chose to be a member of the Student Advisory Board because I'm a general engineer, so I wanted to get some business perspective One of the things I love most about entrepreneurship is the aspect of empathy. I think that it's really important when you're working on a project Especially engineering; to focus on the customer and design for the human aspects "

- Connor Grady '23, Student Advisory Board Member

"The Ciocca Center has helped me bring a new level to what I'm studying at SCU I'm studying Chemistry, which you wouldn't think is necessarily related to entrepreneurship and innovation, but being a member of the Student Advisory Board has made me think about how I can bring innovation to the hard sciences It has made me think about how I want to incorporate entrepreneurship and innovation into my research "

- Eleanor Greenspoon '22, Student Advisory Board Member