Impact Report: 2018-2023

Impact Report

2018 - 2023

Entrepreneurs start here.

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 seven impactful 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 Entrepreneurial Mindset.

Academic funding and faculty development are additional ways we infuse entrepreneurial and design thinking into the SCU fabric. So far, we’ve invested in nine research projects, funded three 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.

Driven by strong collaboration between students, faculty and alumni, our programs build upon one another – creating a flywheel of innovation and inspiring the Entrepreneurial Mindset.

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

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.”

Arthur Ciocca

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

2022

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, and personal development.

EMPHASIS ON COLLABORATION Our programs are fueled by collaboration – 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 out into the real world.

UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS & OPPORTUNITIES Thanks to the strong SCU community, our students, staff, faculty and alumni 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.

The Ciocca Center Journey Prep School Launches 2 Research Projects Funded

Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Founded

Idea Lab Launches

2018

2019

Bronco Venture Accelerator Launches

2 Research Projects Funded

2020

Mindset Scholars Launches Innovation Fellows Launches

Demo Day Returns Live!

2022

2021

3 Research Projects Funded BEACH Launches

2023

2 Research Projects Funded

Insider Mindset Launches

Bronco Ventures is a progressive path that powers and 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 innovators.

It all starts with a spark. Bronco Ventures Idea Lab teaches students how to turn that spark into an idea with a handson introduction to design thinking and storytelling.

Interdisciplinary teams test business ideas and create pitches – some of which land a spot in Prep School.

"Idea Lab was definitely the most eye-opening class I have had. I now have a more crystalized understanding of the creation process, from problem identification to product generation, and I am grateful for that."

Idea Lab Alum, '22

231 Participants

125 Companies Prep School is a 10-week program that builds teams to expand 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

2022 Alumni/Graduate Winner CarbonBridge addresses water shortages for farmers by repurposing cow manure. It was founded by Manu Pillai as a Prep School company and has gone on to attract additional investors and an executive team of experienced business leaders as a Bronco Venture Accelerator Startup.

100+

Startups Launched

$40+

Million Mentored by SCU’s strong business community and advisors, teams work to develop and build their startup companies to attract angel or venture capital investors. Strengthening financial acumen, honing communication skills, and learning from failure – BVA founders have the knowledge and vision to define their future.

“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

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Interactive classes and workshops led by business leaders Curriculum modeled on renowned Silicon Valley accelerators Guidance from entrepreneurs with real-world experience Opportunity to receive up to $50,000 from the Bronco Venture Fund

in Funding

DEMO DAY

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

In the Fall 2022, Demo Day returned as a live event, with 350 participants and over 150 investors.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

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

Bronco Entrepreneurs Advisory Clinic Hours

143

234

Student Advisors Businesses Helped

BEACH provides no-cost legal and business advice for startups and small business clients.

Teams of law and business students collaborate with experienced industry mentors to solve realworld business and legal challenges.

A WIN-WIN-WIN For Students For Mentors For Business Clients "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

2022

The Ciocca Center funds programs that support entrepreneurial endeavors and broaden the SCU maker community. The Maker Lab is used for a wide range of courses in Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Business, and Education, and co-curricular workshops on topics ranging from prototyping skills to design thinking.

1500+ Makers/Year In 2020, the Maker Lab produced and distribured more than 13,000 face shield components to local medical facilities, as well as 1,000 test tube holders to assist with Covid-19 testing at the Valley Medical Center Foundation. The Lab also developed hand sanitizer disspensers for SCU facilities, in anticipation of students returning to campus.

DESIGN MAKER CHALLENGE Teams of talented students competed to showcase their creativity and innovation. They designed a compelling gift items for donors of SCU's "Innovating with a Mission" fundraising campaign.

BE A CHANGE AGENT FOR SCU

15 Innovation Fellows

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:

"This program has taught me how to apply the technical skills I've learned at SCU 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."

Julia Yaklich, Innovation Fellow '23

Address food insecurity on campus Streamline the planning of student events Boost student attendance at sporting events Make STEM spaces inclusive for non-Engineers Increase male-identifying student access to mental health resources

DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS TO DIRECT THE SCU JOURNEY Mindset Scholars is a 2-year program to develop the entrepreneurial mindset for first year students at SCU. Academic courses from Schools of Engineering, Business, and Arts & Sciences, combined with experiential learning and student mentors, provides a multidisciplinary foundation to begin an entrepreneurial journey.

18

Mindset Scholars

Opening Doors and Expanding Horizons Ciocca Center Presents... GENERAL MAGIC 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.

170

Moviegoers

SCU competes against more than 70 universities and graduate schools in the Global Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), where students get to play the role of VCs for the day. SCU teams consistently perform well, winning Entrepreneur’s Choice Award in 2022 and placing second in 2023.

VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT COMPETITION

Presented by the Student Advisory Board, the 1st annual Entreprelooza gave all SCU students full access to stories and wisdom from an amazing line-up of Silicon Valley innovators and entrepreneurs.

BUSINESS PITCH COMPETITIONS

Business pitch competitions are a grand opportunity for entrepreneurs to take center stage with their business ideas and promote storytelling. As a campus-wide event or competing with students from other universities competitions are exciting, revealing and action packed.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MINORS

317 Students graduated

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 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 engage in design thinking.

LUNCH WITH AN ENTREPRENEUR

240+ Attendees Professor Chris Kitts from the School of Engineering welcomed notable entrepreneurs for on-campus discussions around innovation and entrepreneurship. The popular sessions featured leaders from Rivian, Bear Flag Robotics, Grape.ai, and RPM Training.

HACK-4-HUMANITY The Ciocca Center helps fund SCU's largest hackathon. This year, teams working on 52 projects. In addition to awarding a prize for the "Most Interdisciplinary Solution," we partnered with Roblox to offer a workshop for the platform's Trust & Safety features, and rewarded the team with the best implementation.

120+ Participants

24 Interdisciplinary organizations

1000+ Hackers

OPEN FOR BUSINESS! The Ciocca Center hosted students enrolled in Contemporary Business Issues (BUSN 70) to learn about the different programs offered by our university and how they can make the most of SCU’s opportunities as a new Business student.

RESEARCH

9

Research Grants

Published in 2022 by Administrative Sciences

The Impact of Formality, Integration and Commitment on the Performance of Latino-Owned Small Businesses Drew Starbird, Jill Martin, Leavey School of Business & Yacanex Posadas

FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS

The Ciocca Center provides up to $30,000 for research projects related to innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.

Investing in Black Founders: Understanding & Correcting Bias in Venture Capital Allocation Maya Ackerman, School of Engineering

Fairness-Aware Talent Management System via Meta Attribute Learning Zhiquiang Tao and Yi Fang, School of Engineering

Religious Entrepreneurs and Social Media: Religious Influencers and Digital Entrepreneurs Di Di, College of Arts and Sciences

Exploring the Relationship Between Genetic Firm Founders' Gender and Firm Outcomes and Innovation Jennifer Woolley, Leavey School of Business

Asian American Women Entrepreneurs’ Engagement in the U.S. Racial Reality Hsin-I Cheng, College of Arts and Sciences

The Future of the Pitch: Crowdfunding Investor Responses to AI Generated Pitches & Imagery Andy El-Zayaty, Leavey School of Business

An Exit, Not an Entrance: Career Mobility and Employment Opportunities for BIPOC Founders Keyvan Kashkooli, Leavey School of Business and Peter Younkin, University of Oregon

The Jesuit Way for Innovating Lanny Vincent, School of Engineering

Weaving the Entrepreneurial Mindset Into our Academic Fabric Ciocca Center funds new faculty positions and professional development opportunities to provide a deeper understanding of the Entrepreneurial Mindset and its impact on our community.

FACULTY & STAFF DEVELOPMENT To expand the Entrepreneurial Mindset across SCU, we've funded Professor of Practice positions for all three schools. This effort will continue in the Fall of '23.

Kourosh Pahlavan Computer Science & Engineering School of Engineering

Professors Funded

Mary Fuller

Peter Friedenbach

Linsey Krolik

Entrepreneurs' Law Clinic School of Law

High Performance Computing School of Arts & Sciences

Senior Clinical Fellow School of Law

70+

Faculty Participants Design Thinking from the Experts SCU staff and faculty are invited to take introductory courses in Design Thinking through the online training service IDEO University. These principles can then be utilized in classrooms or in meetings to expand design thinking across campus.

5

Michael Neumann Robotics & Automation School of Engineering

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 fields of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

SUMMER SCIENCE SERIES

30

Research Assistants To strenthen SCU's entrepreneurial and scientific culture, research assistants participate in an 8-week "lunch and learn" series in the College of Arts & Sciences. Each week, faculty presents research topics and leads discussions at the intersection of the scientific method and the Entrepreneurial Mindset. This pilot program provides a useful template for engaging with faculty and students across departments, especially those that might not otherwise recognize the relevance of entrepreneurial thinking to their own endeavors.

Ciocca Center Staff

Cindy Cooper

Christopher Norris '92

Hallie Bodey '12

Program Director

Program Director

Morgan Slain

Yesie Miller

Program Director

Operation Coordinator

Mike Kovalich

Pam Vavra '15

Consultant, BV

Sr. Program Designer, BV

Executive Director

Dr. Christopher Kitts Faculty Director

Cristina Cismas Florea '05 Curriculum Development Manager, BV

Faculty Advisory Board '22-'23

Industry Advisory Board

Prashanth Asuri

Michael W. Flynn

Associate Professor, Bioengineering School of Engineering

Tim Bucher

Gabriela Chavez-Lopez '09

Clinical Professor School of Law

CEO at Agtonomy

Executive Director at Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

Brian Love

Steve Foster '84

Ed Grier

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

Managing Director at SF Advisors

Dean of SCU Leavey School of Business

Tao Li

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

Takeshi Moro

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

Jo-Ellen Pozner

Malarie Howard '14

Allison Kopf '11

Associate Professor, Management & Entrepreneurship Leavey School of Business

Screenwriter, Executive Storyteller

CMO at IUNU, Investment Partner at XFactor Ventures

Kathy Sun

Mariah Manzano '20

Rory Pannkuk '19

Assistant Professor School of Education

CEO at Opal

Management Consultant, Accenture

Laura Robinson

Professor, Department Chair, Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences

Korin Wheeler

Associate Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Meg Paulus '15 Partner at HOLT Ventures, Kauffman Fellow

Student Advisory Board 2022-2023

CO-CHAIRS Adejire '24

Akarsh '23

Andrew '23

Darius Johnson '23

Finance & Business Analytics

Audrey '23

Cinthya '24

Collin '23

Connor '23

Chisomaga '25

Eve '25

Mubashir Hussain '24 Computer Science

SECRETARY Flip '23

Haotian '23

Iris '25

Sarah Tartell '23 Keren '23

Kira '24

Public Health

Nick '23

"My favorite part about being on the Student Advisory Board 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! " Max '24

- Sarah Tartell

Art in Ciocca Center Suite Lucas Hall 109

Aleisha Nelson BS '17, MS '19 (Computer Science, Software Engineering) is a cartography artist based in San Francisco, California who specializes in map paintings, murals, art installations and graphic design. This piece is a map of SCU with words that represent Ciocca Center and the Entrepreneurial Mindset.

Aleisha started her own art and design studio called (BY) ALEISHA while attending Santa Clara University and since then has continued to grow it into what it is today.

New to the Ciocca Center Suite Collection - Professor Takeshi Moro’s fascinating works feature 60-70 year old historical folk art bonsai created by firstgeneration Japanese immigrants. The Bonsai trees represent a living testament to their resilience against racism and hardships, enduring WWII concentration camp incarceration.

For over 30 years, Dennis Makishima maintained the collection after the immigrants passed away, and Moro photographed them before they were dispersed in 2021.

IN MEMORIAM

Arthur Angelo Ciocca December 5, 1937 - December 18, 2021

After 35 years in entrepreneurial companies and roles, I thought I knew a lot about “Silicon Valley-style” entrepreneurship. After meeting Art Ciocca, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn everything he had to teach me on the subject.

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 to think like entrepreneurs and how to 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 those with problems we can try 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.

Every day, I get to think about Art's vision and help bring it to life at a university he loved. I’m honored to continue the work of building the campus-wide Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. And I remain inspired to equip students from all backgrounds and disciplines with the tools of an entrepreneur, just as Art wanted.

Art saw entrepreneurship as a set of life skills - empathy for those who are in pain and those with problems we can try to solve; the optimism to approach problems as opportunities; confidence in taking risks; and an awareness of the impact of our actions.

Chris Norris Executive Director

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