Dear Friends of the Galant Center,
The Galant Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship was founded at the McIntire School of Commerce in 2008 to encourage, educate, and coach UVA students and alumni to pursue careers in entrepreneurship and innovation. At the time, students and alumni who launched and worked at startups were considered outliers; few business schools in the U.S. were investing significant resources in these “non-traditional” career paths.
But we did. And we still do, with even more dedication to subversive creativity than ever before. In the last 18 years, the Center has trained and mentored hundreds of entrepreneurial alums and deployed nearly $30 million in investment capital to startups. The Galant Center’s leadership and affiliated faculty exist to connect and support trailblazers and pioneers at UVA and to produce scholarship that teaches us how to build the world we want to live in.
I recently relocated with my family to Charlottesville to lead our community of rebels and disruptors and guide the Galant Center into our next chapter of growth and service. You can read more about my background and vision in this article introducing me to the McIntire community. After more than two decades in Los Angeles, it is a gift to be back in the Commonwealth. I am reminded, every day, of why this university is special and how the forces that shaped me as an undergraduate continue to influence our students. Our strength as an institution is and always will be our relentless focus on student success, our commitment to opening doors and making connections that lead to brighter futures and expanded possibilities for the students and communities we serve.
With my colleagues across Grounds engaged in UVA’s targeted focus on broadening and expanding entrepreneurial opportunities for students, alumni, and faculty, our work has never been more urgent or more appreciated. The role of higher education in entrepreneurship is the opposite of polished pitches and “right” answers; it’s about guiding the next generation of innovators to possibility, tenacity, meaning-making, and asking better questions.
Through this newsletter, we’ll bring you information regarding upcoming events, competitions, workshops, lectures, success stories from the field, new research on entrepreneurship, resources for founders, and ways you can benefit from the Galant Center network. In the coming months, you can expect to hear about expanded offerings in curriculum, scholarship, cohort-based fellowships and networking, internships, career pathways, and funding. In the meantime, I have been honored to meet and reconnect with so many of our world-changing alums. If you would like to meet with me, either on Grounds or in your city, please reach out to me, and we will make it happen.
I’m honored to be part of the Galant Center’s story and can’t wait to make magic with you.
With fierce enthusiasm and optimism,
Abby Fifer Mandell (A&S ’02)
Director, Galant Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Senior Lecturer, McIntire School of Commerce
