Author: Meredith Carroll

From Chicago to the FBI: The Education of Sean McWeeney (BUS ’61)

Meredith Carroll Alumni Profiles, Features , , , ,

The retired FBI agent, corporate executive, author and philanthropist reflects on the educations he received — in school and outside of it

By Meredith Carroll

An elderly couple posts against a scenic, outdoor backdrop
Millie Cronin and Sean McWeeney | Photo provided by Sean McWeeney

Now retired, Sean McWeeney (BUS ’61) lives a quiet life in Reston, Virginia, with his wife, Millie Cronin. They are both widowers; in fact, they met through Cronin’s first husband, a coworker of McWeeney’s. They volunteer for their local parish. They spend time with their family. They support causes close to their hearts, including DePaul. Just this year, McWeeney established the McWeeney Family Scholarship Fund to help under-resourced students attend DePaul.  

McWeeney’s life up to this point was anything but quiet. He served for decades in the FBI, where he played a central role in the capture of notorious Mob boss Carlo Gambino. He rose through the ranks to become the longest-serving section chief of the Organized Crimes division. After his retirement, he launched Corporate Risk International, a global security firm specializing in kidnapping and extortion cases. It’s a career so action-packed that, with the encouragement of his family and friends, he wrote a book about it, entitled “Up by the Bootstraps.”

Like many success stories, McWeeney’s life attests to the ever-shifting balance between luck and hard work. It’s a story about being in the right place at the right time, but it’s also about having the right skills to rise to the moment. It’s a story about education, broadly defined: the kind of education you get from the people and environments around you. The kind of education you make out of what you are given.

McWeeney’s education would ultimately take him around the world. But it began right here in Chicago.

A Chicago Childhood

It has been decades since McWeeney lived in Chicago – a lifetime, even. But his roots are still evident. He speaks with a faint Chicago accent. He talks about himself with a distinctively Chicagoan strain of understatement: humble yet direct; self-effacing yet also, justifiably, proud.

McWeeney was born in 1938 to two Irish immigrants. Among the kids in his West Side neighborhood, he can’t recall knowing anyone whose parents were born in the U.S. Being in that environment at that time was an education – only McWeeney didn’t know it yet.

“I was a scrappy kid,” he recalls. “I had an unusual name for that time, and they made fun of me for it.”

It was easy to fall into trouble.

“A lot of people I grew up with became Mafia,” McWeeney says. “We had one person we knew quite well whose brother was killed by the Mafia.”

It was an environment that offered up two ways to navigate the world.

“You either win one way, the good way,” McWeeney recalls, “or you win the bad way. And I happened to be lucky in who I turned out to be. Going to a school like DePaul certainly helped – and so did having good parents. I was lucky in that regard.”

The West Side gave McWeeney one kind of education. In school, he received another.

For high school, he earned a four-year scholarship to St. Ignatius College Prep. It promised to be a pivotal moment for McWeeney. But it lasted just two weeks.

McWeeney was kicked out after a fight with a boy who made fun of his name. He transferred to St. Mel’s, another Catholic school.

“St. Mel’s identified me as a bit of a thug,” he says.  “They assumed that ‘this guy isn’t going to college. This guy won’t go much further because he’s a scrapper.’ That’s part of being from the West Side, I guess.

“Anyway,” McWeeney adds, with his trademark understatement, “I outdid their expectations.”

From DePaul to the FBI

Outdoing those expectations began in earnest when McWeeney enrolled in the College of Commerce at DePaul University.

At DePaul, McWeeney found his place.

Despite working a grueling overnight shift at the railroad switchyard off 35th and Pulaski, he was active in sports and in his fraternity. In his senior year, he was elected class president.

He also met his first wife at DePaul: the late Joan Hennessy, a fellow student. They were set up on a blind date. They would travel the world together, raise a family, and launch Corporate Risk International from their kitchen table.

When McWeeney looks back on his time at DePaul, it’s his good fortune that he stresses. The good fortune to have met Hennessy; the good fortune to receive an education that allowed his world to expand, equipping him with tools he’d need to earn his MBA and launch a second career as a successful entrepreneur. Good fortune — and the commitment to taking advantage of it.

A black-and-white photograph of a man with a bowler hat and a rueful grin, escorted by a younger man behind him
McWeeney, at right, escorts Carlo Gambino into the courthouse for his hearing. The photograph would be widely reproduced, leading McWeeney to receive media enquiries up until today. | Photo provided by Sean McWeeney

From DePaul, McWeeney ventured out into the world. He joined the Navy as an officer candidate. He moved to Rhode Island, where he earned his MBA.

The MBA allowed him to stand out when he applied for his dream job as an agent at the FBI.

From day one, working in the FBI was its own kind of education. He lived in cities in distant corners of the U.S. He learned all he could – from the culture, and from agents who were stationed in these posts as discipline.

“The punished agents knew how to get the job done,” he writes in his memoir. They were also repentant, “eager to share their story and what they learned from it.”

In the summer of 1969, McWeeney and his family landed in New York, where he was eventually assigned to the Gambino Squad.

Thanks to his upbringing, he was precisely the right man for the job.

“There were a lot of agents, believe me, who were a little leery of talking to the Mafia,” he recalls. “But when you grow up where I did, you just kind of learn to talk to them. I used to go right up to them – let them know who I was and what I wanted to know.”

He approached his work as a plain dealer: collected, straightforward, respectful. In McWeeney’s hands, even the arrest of Gambino was understated.

Gambino’s wife and children were with him, McWeeney recalls, when McWeeney and his agents pulled him over near his home in Brooklyn.

“He seemed surprised,” McWeeney writes, “but consistent with his typical demeanor, he remained calm and gave us no trouble during the arrest.”

The Capstone of a Remarkable Career

The Gambino arrest, like McWeeney’s years at DePaul, was a turning point in a much longer story. From there, he would go on to senior leadership positions in the Bureau. He would found a successful, global company.

A book cover. The title is Up By the Bootstraps and the cover displays a pair of worn, old-fashioned leather combat boots with a pair of handcuffs lying at their feet
McWeeney’s memoir, Up by the Bootstraps, details his life and extraordinary career. | Photo provided by Sean McWeeney

But if you ask McWeeney, it’s those early days as an FBI agent that stand out.

“If anyone ever asks what I did, my first reaction is to say I was an agent,” he says. “I was a top executive, of course. But I’m very, very proud of the fact that I was an FBI agent.

“It was the first time my father ever said he was proud of me – and I heard that from secondary sources,” he recalls. “My dad was soft-spoken, a tough guy. All he did was work, work, work. For him to have said that meant a lot.”

International Student Spotlight

Meredith Carroll Student Stories , , ,

Two international students share their takes on Chicago, on finding their path and on the importance of mentorship

By Meredith Carroll

Serigne Dramé

What do I think of DePaul in a sentence? A school that gives you the tools and the flexibility to succeed.

Where is home for you, and how did you choose DePaul?

I’m from Senegal.

A headshot of Serigne Drame
Photo provided by Serigne Dramé

The “me” from 2019, when I applied to college, had a much different vision for my future. I wanted to be a game designer. And I applied to DePaul because it’s known for that. I was accepted to a number of different places — some in the U.S., some in France. What made the difference was that my sister was in Chicago and going to IIT.

Speaking of Chicago — what’s your experience been like in the city?

There’s this weird cycle. The winter gets so bad that you start thinking, “maybe Florida sounds nice.” But then the summer happens. And you think, “this is so nice I’m going to give it another try.”

I’ve taken bachata classes. For a time, I did pro wrestling. That’s the other thing about Chicago. It gives you so many possibilities. It’s international to an extent. And that’s the big draw.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that most people who live here think you’re from Chicago. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing: it’s easy to be integrated. The bad thing: people assume you know things — slang, expressions, politics — you don’t.

How did you go from studying game design to the degree you’ll be graduating with: a double major in Management Information Systems and International Business?

My first year was 2020-21. It was all remote. At the end of that year, I realized that I wanted to do more. MIS stood out because it offers this blend of business and technology.

MIS is one of those majors that you don’t hear a lot about. But what I like with it was that the core classes were business classes and the electives were technical — data analytics, databases, cybersecurity.

It’s more applied. And there’s the versatility. Looking back, if I had been a Computer Science student, I don’t think I would have gotten my M&A internship. I was able to take applied finance classes, and that allowed me to do well in the technical interviews.  The big advantage is the flexibility.

Searching for jobs and internships as an international student can be especially challenging. What has the experience been like for you?

I did two internships during my time at DePaul, both of them at EY. In September, I applied for a job at Deloitte. I heard back from them in January. And I got it. I feel lucky. There was a lot of hard work involved; but still, I feel lucky. The market is hard. And most employers don’t sponsor visas. There’s a lot of pressure; if you don’t find a job quickly, you’ll have to return to your home country.

The school of business has been really helpful for two reasons. I mentioned the flexibility aspect. But there’s also the fact that we’re in Chicago. Chicago is a big market; there’s a lot of professionals. Even beyond the career fairs, everyone has connections. You can just ask faculty after class, and they’ll connect you to someone.

How would you sum up DePaul in a sentence?

DePaul is really, for me, an example of it is what you make of it. If you leverage the Career Center, the knowledge that you get from classes, the connections, the career fairs, the software resources, you can go far.

What do I think of DePaul in a sentence? A school that gives you the tools and the flexibility to succeed.

 

Suchita Farkiwala

I have come to see the world from a bigger, broader perspective. Every day, there are things that I am learning, things that I am unlearning and things that I am relearning.

Where is home for you, and what has your experience at DePaul been like?

I come from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. Currently, I commute from Morton Grove, where I live with my family.

DePaul is in the heart of Chicago. So you get the best of the big city experience. The diversity at DePaul is incredible. People come here from all over the world.

A headshot of Suchita Farkiwala
Photo provided by Suchita Farkiwala

What were your career goals when you arrived at DePaul, and how has that changed?

I am an accounting undergrad. When I started, I simply wanted to make money, get a stable job, and make my family proud. Basically, I wanted to live the American Dream. But DePaul changed the way I see my life, what I want to do in my life.

Now, I want to give back to the community. I want to do something that impacts the lives of others. My professors inspired me to follow their path. One day, I want to come back to DePaul as a professor and help others so that they can be another success story from DePaul.

Mentorship has been a central part of your experience at DePaul. Tell us more about that!

Faculty at DePaul have been incredibly supportive of me, even before I started my journey as an accounting major here. Within the accounting department, Kent Klaus and Margaret Tower have been especially helpful. They pushed me to apply for on-campus jobs. They encouraged me to pursue an internship at Deloitte – and I got it.

Ever since I got that internship, I’ve tried to help other students so that they can get this chance too. I sit down with them: help them to get better grades in accounting class, get their resume done, practice interviewing with them.

Outside of that, I have been active with International Student and Scholar Services as a mentor. Mentorship is a gift that keeps giving. It’s made me grow so much as a person, as a professional. I’ve met so many new international students and learned so much about their cultures. It’s given me the chance to be the reason someone feels seen, heard, cared for, and valued.

What’s your favorite advice to give your mentees?

I tell them: Any time that you feel that your question is too dumb to ask, ask me. At DePaul, I have never found a person who said no to me when I needed help. Regardless of whether my question was academic, professional, or just about learning the basic ways to survive in Chicago.

Miracles don’t happen in a snap. Don’t rush. Give yourself some time to experience the magic of DePaul.

Finally: Don’t think that you are different. Think that you are unique. It will change the way you think about yourself. At DePaul, we celebrate that. There’s no pressure to fit in. So be yourself.

What’s some memorable advice you have received?

My accounting professors and a mentor from Deloitte both told me: Use your career as a canvas. Ask for what you want. Do whatever makes you happy. Accounting is very, very tough. It’s a tough major; it’s a tougher profession. So never feel like you can’t do this. Take the initiative.

My father always tells me: The only way to grow is to help other people grow. The only way to heal is to help other people. So don’t come back home with a trophy unless you are already committed to paying it back to those who made it happen.

How has DePaul changed you?

My professors have been here for me, my friends have been here for me. My supervisors and colleagues have been incredibly supportive.

My mentors always tell me, “don’t expect less for yourself.” They made me believe that.

I have come to see the world from a bigger, broader perspective. Every day, there are things that I am learning, things that I am unlearning and things that I am relearning.

My success is a shared success of my family and my DePaul community.

Now, DePaul feels like a home away from home.

For Julia Ariel-Rohr, Joining the Faculty of Driehaus is a Homecoming

Meredith Carroll Faculty Focus , , , ,

By Meredith Carroll

Julia Ariel-Rohr mid-lecture
Photo by Kathy Hillegonds

The first thing that Julia Ariel-Rohr (BUS ’12) wants the Driehaus community to know is how thrilled she is to be back at DePaul.

“I wake up every day feeling so grateful to be here,” she said.

Ariel-Rohr doesn’t just bring extensive experience with financial reporting and auditing to her new role at Driehaus. She also brings her perspective as a DePaul graduate.

Her path began in the accountancy program at Driehaus, where Ariel-Rohr encountered two young, female accountancy professors: Kelly Richmond Pope and Wendy Heltzer.

“They opened my eyes to the fact that someone like me could be a professor,” Ariel-Rohr said. “I felt that sense of belonging at DePaul. When you’re at that age, that’s a hard thing to find.”

After graduation, she secured her first two jobs in the field with the help of DePaul connections. When she decided to apply to PhD programs, it was a DePaul alumnus — her audit partner, Scott Steffens (BUS ’89) — who advocated for her to have flexibility to fly out for interviews during industry’s busy season.

Returning to teach at Driehaus was meaningful for Ariel-Rohr because of her personal connection to DePaul. But the job was also attractive because of how the research being done at Driehaus aligns with her own.

“In the accounting world, I would say probably about 20% of us are behavioral researchers,” said Ariel-Rohr. “One of the things that attracted me to DePaul was that we have such a strong behavioral group.”

When it comes to behavioral auditing research, DePaul consistently places in the top 15 schools nationwide, according to rankings kept by BYU.

As the field faces an impending shortage of Certified Public Accountants, figuring out how to attract and retain talent will be more important than ever, said Ariel-Rohr.

“When you think about preventing fraud, and financial statement misconduct in public companies, it affects all of us who have retirement plans,” she said. “That is going to be a huge issue in the next 10 to 20 years.”

That’s where Ariel-Rohr’s research comes in. Her latest research examines how insights from behavioral research can increase retention and belonging in workplaces.

“The prior literature shows that a sense of belonging [at work] comes from small acts, from day-to-day experiences,” she said. Her research takes these insights a step further by looking at how factors such as a sense of belonging, a culture that encourages authenticity, and values-based mentorship can increase employee retention.

The impacts of such work can be significant, she said — not just for employee retention but also for audit quality.

“In audit, we’re really concerned about low-level staff speaking out if they have a concern about something,” she said. “That sense of belonging and that sense of psychological safety can also influence their ability to speak out, which can have downstream impacts on audit quality.”

“This [research] can improve our students’ lives as they are trying to work in this really intense field,” she concluded. “And it could potentially improve audit quality as well.”

Joining Practicality with Purpose at DePaul

For Ariel-Rohr, her research and teaching are deeply connected.

“It’s one of my goals to recruit people into a major that they might not have otherwise considered a fit for them,” she said. “One thing I love about teaching accounting is that I view this degree as a really good tool for social mobility. If you don’t have a safety net to fall back on, an accounting degree will give that to you.”

The ability to be financially independent was a big part of what drew her to accounting as a student at Driehaus. So, too, was the flexibility offered by a stable, in-demand profession.

“I often tell my students that if they have dreams of traveling and seeing the world, an accounting degree is a great way to do that,” she said. “I left my first job after a few years and went to travel around the world for a few months. Because I knew that as soon as I got back, I’d be able to find a job.”

Before she enrolled at DePaul as an undergraduate, Ariel-Rohr spent a year living outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Now that she’s back at Driehaus, she’s eager to start getting involved with study abroad opportunities.

When Ariel-Rohr reflects on her career, her research, and her teaching, one theme rises above the rest: purpose.

“I know for myself and for a lot of my students, we’re looking for purpose in our jobs,” she said. “Accounting isn’t automatically the first career path students think of when they think about finding purpose in their jobs. But there is definitely a place for it. Every single organization needs an accountant. So if students are into nonprofits, which is what I was passionate about, you can be a nonprofit auditor. If they really like sports: the Cubs has auditors, a CFO, controllers. There’s a place no matter what your interests are.”

As for Ariel-Rohr, she’s found a place, and a purpose, for herself at DePaul.

“Everybody thinks their student population is special,” she reflected. “But I truly believe that being in the city of Chicago with such a diverse group of hardworking students coming from all different backgrounds makes DePaul different.”

“It’s a dream,” she said, “to be back.”

For James Bort, Research and Experience Go Hand in Hand

Meredith Carroll Faculty Focus , , ,

By Jamie Merchant

A photo of James Bort
Photo provided by James Bort

“We always study entrepreneurs, you know? Looking at the employees of a startup is a little different.”

James Bort has a slightly unconventional outlook for a scholar of modern business.

“My dad was a line-level employee in a factory, and he had a very adversarial relationship with work,” he candidly shared in a recent interview. “So, when I started working for people who ran their own companies, that completely changed my view of what the world could be.”

An early exposure to the unique culture of startups — their collegial atmosphere, the give-and-take between employees and leadership — offered Bort a different model for understanding the workplace in the 21st century. That experience piqued an intellectual interest that motivates his research to this day.

Bort’s curiosity eventually led him to the academic study of startups, particularly the startup workforce. However, he points to the value of his on-the-ground experiences as an early-stage employee, entrepreneur, and musician for prompting the questions he asks about the modern workplace. Prior to joining academia, he was a software engineer, information technology manager, and restaurant owner in a career that spanned multiple industries. He even launched his own independent record label during his time in graduate school at Syracuse University.

It’s a research agenda shaped by art, science, and his personal history.

“Research is ultimately me-search,” Bort said, echoing the well-known statement of his graduate advisor, Johan Wicklund. “It’s a journey of self-discovery.”

Over the course of these experiences, the new assistant professor in the Driehaus College of Business became fascinated by the mutual lines of influence that run between startups and their employees: a startup is uniquely open to employee input and guidance, while at the same time it can serve as a springboard into future opportunities as the venture grows and evolves.

“There is this sort of bidirectional influence where you’re drawn to the startup because there’s endless opportunity, but then it influences you, in the sense that your career trajectory can be accelerated in some phenomenal ways.”

Storytelling as an Engine of Entrepreneurship

Having worked on both sides of the equation as a startup employee and an entrepreneur, Bort’s scholarly attention has recently been drawn to the role of narrative: to the power of the stories we tell to shape our perception of the world around us. For aspiring entrepreneurs, these stories can have an outsized impact on their career trajectories — or, as in his own case, on one’s research interests.

Bort’s background as a business owner indelibly informs his research in the field of entrepreneurship. Not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk is crucial, in his view.

“To have had that experience of like: it’s Wednesday, payroll hits tomorrow, and I’m still two grand shy. I have a day to figure this out — that hustle changes you as a human, and it certainly informs your approach to research.”

Our life experiences provide the raw material for the stories we tell ourselves. These, in turn, shape our perceptions of our own possibilities. For example, in a recent article published in The Journal of Business Research, Bort and his co-author, Henrick Totterman, found that “underdog” entrepreneurs — entrepreneurs starting from disadvantaged personal or economic circumstances — often have higher growth aspirations, precisely because of the adversities they have had to overcome.

But this work is not only relevant for specialists in the field. Bort’s students find it fascinating.

“The students love it,” he said. “I have units on neurodiversity and entrepreneurship and how we can flip these things into a strength. And [the students] really react strongly to it, because it’s becoming less stigmatized. It’s OK if you are depressed and going through it, because this is what the human experience is!

“The classic idea of the lone wolf entrepreneur, where everything’s perfect and you just see the success story — that’s not how it is. Really successful people struggle too.” It’s an empowering message for students crafting their own narratives as they set out on their post-college careers.

Bort is still getting to know the students and culture of the university. But he’s quickly getting a sense for what makes DePaul special. Teaching in the part-time MBA program has been particularly rewarding.

“They’re really, naturally curious and motivated. It’s one of the best groups I’ve had. When I did my MBA, it was part time as well, and it was really hard. So I try to construct the course to be like the course I would have wanted to take when I was in my MBA program!”

Message from the Dean

Meredith Carroll Notes from the Dean , , , ,
Dean Sulin Ba.
Dean Sulin Ba


Driehaus entrepreneurship program ranked #10 in the nation; curricular innovations honored; and more good news from the Loop.

As the fall quarter draws to a close, we have much to celebrate here at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business.

Two of our very own initiatives, the Driehaus Cup pitch competition and the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, received top honors from our peers.

As you learned in the last issue of the Business Exchange, the Driehaus Cup is an engaging “Shark Tank”-style pitch competition that gives Business 101 students the chance to explore entrepreneurship early in their careers. In October, the Driehaus Cup earned the annual Curricular Innovation award from the MidAmerican Business Deans Association.

We already knew this year would be a special one for the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC). A hub of entrepreneurial community in Chicago, the center celebrated its 20th anniversary this October. Just before that gathering, we received fantastic news. At the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers annual conference (which boasted more than 700 attendees representing 300 universities from across 19 countries!), the Consortium honored our very own CEC with its Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence award. This award is given annually to just one university from among those with an enrollment of 5,000 or more students. It is regarded as the highest honor a university entrepreneurship center can achieve.

In no small part due to the success of these initiatives, our undergraduate entrepreneurship program was ranked 10th in the nation by the Princeton Review. I am so proud of this achievement. It attests to a culture of innovation at Driehaus. And this culture isn’t just created and sustained by our students, faculty and staff. It is also a product of our alumni and community supporters. Everyone I have spoken to involved in entrepreneurship at Driehaus can tell you this: Supporting entrepreneurs is a team effort. Our entrepreneurship program is only as strong as our connections. And those connections are strong indeed.

From entrepreneurship to sports marketing and management, this issue of Business Exchange is all about connections. You’ll read about the Coleman Center’s role as a hub of entrepreneurial community. You’ll hear how that community has supported Driehaus junior Gretchen Shuler as she launches a coffee business designed to empower foster youth. You’ll drop in on Director of Sports Business Programs Andy Clark’s (MBA ’87) “master classes” in networking. And you’ll hear about an exciting new program launched by Richard Rocco, associate professor of marketing, that promises to build bridges between research and industry.

In all four stories, you’ll find alumni and supporters of Driehaus and the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Some are mentioned by name. Others play equally crucial roles just off the page as mentors, as panelists and guest speakers, as pitch competition judges, as bridge-builders and change-makers.

If you are looking for ways to get involved yourself, the CEC would be delighted to hear from you. I would be too. Regardless, I am confident that you will find the stories of our students and faculty just as inspiring as I do.

Reflecting on 20 Years of Innovation and Vision at the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center

Meredith Carroll Features , , , ,

From mentorship to venture funds, learn how the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center has served as a hub of entrepreneurial community in Chicago.

Over the 20-year history of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC), one definition of entrepreneurship has risen above the rest.

Entrepreneurship at its best is about meeting a need in your community.

As CEC Executive Director Bruce Leech (MBA ’81) puts it: “I want to honor the student who walks in here and wants to open a grocery store on the South Side of Chicago because there isn’t one — a business that will create jobs and sustain their family.”

It’s a definition of entrepreneurship that reflects what’s distinctive about DePaul University: A commitment to its Catholic, Vincentian mission of making education accessible to all. And promoting peaceful, just and equitable solutions to challenges faced by communities in Chicago and around the world.

The center’s work has garnered recognition. At this year’s Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers conference, which brought together 700 participants from 300 universities across 19 countries, the CEC won the Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence award. The award is the highest honor a university entrepreneurship center can achieve.

And when the Princeton Review released their rankings of university entrepreneurship programs for 2024? The undergraduate program at Driehaus ranked 10th in the nation.

Local solutions to local needs: A look back

Students in the audience for University Pitch Madness, an entrepreneurship competition hosted by CEC that brings together student teams from universities across the Midwest.
Students in the audience for University Pitch Madness, an entrepreneurship competition hosted by CEC that brings together student teams from universities across the Midwest.

The CEC was founded in 2003. Its history stretches back decades before that.

Harold Welsch (BUS ’66, MBA ’68) was the founding chair of the center. Before entrepreneurship was a buzzword, Welsch taught students much like the ones Leech interacts with today: first-generation college students and others who are invested in using business to better their communities.

In the ’90s, Welsch’s focus on empowering small-business owners coincided with rising interest in entrepreneurship.

“Harold was kind of the godfather of entrepreneurship,” Leech says. “The people I look up to now looked up to him. He saw a need” to equip students to “help their family businesses, help their communities.”

Welsch’s work resonated with Mike Hennessy, CEO of the Coleman Foundation from 1995 to 2020 and a champion of entrepreneurship in Chicago. In 2003, with Hennessy’s support and a generous gift from the foundation, the CEC was born.

In 2023, the center’s mission — entrepreneurship as a way of meeting a local need — has proven as relevant as ever. If anything has changed, Leech says, it’s the scope. Students aren’t just bringing an entrepreneurial spirit back to communities in Chicago. From Honduras to India, they’re also making a difference around the world.

A mindset, a skill set, an ecosystem: The CEC’s impact today

A mindset: Cultivating wonder

For Leech, teaching entrepreneurship starts with recognizing that entrepreneurship “isn’t a subject. It’s a skill set.”

It’s also a mindset: a way of engaging with your work regardless of your role.

“One of the best traits you can have as an entrepreneur is a sense of curiosity,” Leech says. “I relate it back to a childlike sense of wonder. At some point, as we get older, we get blinders on. We don’t question anything anymore.”

In teaching entrepreneurship, Leech says, his task is to help students cultivate curiosity.

“Even if you go to work for a big company, don’t just sit there and do your job,” he advises students. “Ask yourself: If this were my place, how would I do it differently?”

A DePaul student admires jewelry at the Coleman Center's Welcome Back Market.
A DePaul student admires jewelry at the Coleman Center’s Welcome Back Market.

A skill set: Internships with an impact

Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset can benefit all students — not just those who see themselves as entrepreneurs.

Director of Emerging Company Programs Emily Doyle runs the center’s internship program. After the COVID-19 pandemic limited students’ access to work experience, Doyle says, “the need for internships skyrocketed.”

Fast-forward to this year, when the CEC received more than 120 applications for internships. This summer, 36 students participated in paid internships — many funded directly by donors — tailored to their interests and goals. Many of these students came from fields other than entrepreneurship, and many are international students.

Interning in an entrepreneurial environment gives students “unparalleled access to creativity, innovation and problem-solving,” Doyle says.

For many students, an internship is their first exposure to a work environment where there are opportunities to define your role for yourself. It can be daunting and rewarding in equal measure, Doyle says.

Companies benefit too. Interns have taken on significant projects, such as designing logos or launching branding initiatives.

“Students get to make an impact within just a few months,” Doyle says, “in a way that’s not possible at other kinds of companies.”

Put another way, the internship program not only prepares students for the workforce. It also helps students launch their careers while they’re still at DePaul.

An ecosystem: Creating a hub of innovation and connection

Indeed, according to Program Manager Kathia Hernandez (BUS ’22), many students are already engaged in entrepreneurship. They just don’t see it that way.

“Having a side hustle, making art, selling jewelry — all of that is entrepreneurship,” she says. She encourages students to visit the center even if they don’t have specific questions. “Just come in and tell us what you’re doing. We’ll figure it out together.”

This philosophy pervades the center’s work. It applies equally to the center’s role as a hub of entrepreneurial community in Chicago.

The CEC has long supported women in entrepreneurship. The Women in Entrepreneurship Institute — launched in 2018 and now housed in the CEC — supports and empowers women founders through all stages of their entrepreneurial journeys.

Yaxi Yang and Kimberly Moore speak at A Tech-Enabled Future Powered by Women Entrepreneurs, a panel discussion hosted by the Women in Entrepreneurship Institute in partnership with the Tech Unicorn.
Yaxi Yang and Kimberly Moore speak at A Tech-Enabled Future Powered by Women Entrepreneurs, a panel discussion hosted by the Women in Entrepreneurship Institute in partnership with the Tech Unicorn.

Additionally, the CEC welcomes community members to participate in much of its programming. The Social Impact Incubator takes this community involvement to the next level.

Now entering its third year, the incubator brings together a small cohort of students, alumni and community members — all of them building businesses with a social impact.

For eight weeks, participants get a crash course in how to launch a business. In the process, they create community that can be hard to find elsewhere.

“The common mission of building a business really brings the group together,” says Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship Maija Renko, who created the program alongside Leech. “You can’t tell who’s a student, who’s a community member. The learning goes in all directions.”

Sina Ansari, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at DePaul, pitches his business as a participant in the 2023 Social Impact Incubator.
Sina Ansari, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at DePaul, pitches his business as a participant in the 2023 Social Impact Incubator.

Many participants of the incubator have gone on to host DePaul student interns. Others have offered up their expertise as mentors. The incubator and other community-focused programs feed into Chicago’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Students, alumni and local communities all benefit.

Evolving in community: Looking ahead to the future

As the center looks ahead to its next 20 years, entrepreneurship will continue to evolve. The CEC’s role in Chicago’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will continue to evolve along with it.

The newly created Halperin Emerging Company Fund — which provides capital for DePaul to make equity investments in startups founded by DePaul students, alumni and select community entrepreneurs — is one indication of what that evolution might look like.

As an evergreen venture fund launched with a $3 million gift, the Halperin Fund gives students the chance to get firsthand experience with the venture-funding process. Two students sit on the fund’s board. Students participate in early rounds of the vetting process, hearing founders’ pitches and offering feedback.

In this way, education goes hand in hand with giving back.

“Even if it’s a no” on funding, says Doyle, who administers the program, “we can leverage our DePaul network to help businesses continue to grow. We can offer that partnership; we can offer that community.”

It’s a community that will go with students wherever their journey takes them next — from neighborhoods in Chicago to cities around the world.

For Leech, it all comes back to the CEC’s mission.

“Let’s honor and serve the students we’ve got here,” he says. “If I can help them in any way, that’s what I want to do.”

RELATED

For Gretchen Shuler, Entrepreneurship Is Joy in Action

Meredith Carroll Connections, Features , , , ,
Gretchen Shuler speaks into a microphone on a stage. Her hands are in motion, and she appears intent
Shuler at the 2023 Purpose Pitch competition

Gretchen Shuler, a junior entrepreneurship student at DePaul, has taken a whirlwind journey from ordinary student to student and entrepreneur. One emotion stands out above the rest.

For Shuler, entrepreneurship is joy.

“Entrepreneurship is enjoying what you do,” she reflects. “Entrepreneurs create companies because they want to do things in a different way. They want to bring their ideas to life and share them with others. That’s such a big part of it.

“Shuler is in the final stages of opening her business: ReBrewed, a fair trade and sustainable mobile coffee cart that will empower foster youth through employment and mentorship. ReBrewed is brewing every cup with a purpose.

The vision for ReBrewed is uniquely Shuler’s own.

As a high school student living in a single-mother household, Shuler relied on her job at a local coffee shop. There, she discovered her passion for coffee and experienced firsthand how flexibility and support at work made it possible to stay engaged in schoolwork and in her community while saving for college.

Supporting foster youth is central to Schuler, whose extended family includes several foster and adopted children. Throughout high school, Shuler also cared for and mentored foster children through an organization that started in Chicago, RePlanted.

The experience gave her an in-depth understanding of the challenges many foster youth face. Many lack access to reliable transportation, making it difficult to participate in extracurriculars, access employment or even attend school regularly. According to the Juvenile Law Center, over 50% of foster youth face incarceration by the age of 17. Children moved to five or more placements are at a 90% risk of being involved in the criminal justice system.

ReBrewed aims to change that.

Shuler envisions a workplace built around the emotional and financial needs of foster youth. Mentorship for employees will be part of that.

“Integrated into the workday, there would be an hour of meeting with your mentor,” she says. “Or you do your homework assignments while you’re at work, rather than when you’re in a home environment that might be chaotic, unsupportive or unsafe.” Shuler’s vision of mentorship is expansive. It’s not only about connecting youth with volunteer mentors, she says; it’s about connecting them to networks of support.

Gretchen Shuler reaches over a table crowded with coffee supplies to hand a student a cup of coffee
Shuler serves up one of ReBrewed’s first cups of coffee at the CEC’s Welcome Back Market

In this way, Shuler’s vision reflects her experiences at DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC).

“If I had not been mentored throughout this process, I would be so lost,” Shuler says. CEC Program Manager Kathia Hernandez (BUS ’22) guided her through the process of setting up her LLC. The center’s mentorship program connected Shuler with Jazmyn Lopez, a Chicago-area growth strategist specializing in marketing and operational solutions. Lopez was instrumental, Shuler says, in supporting Shuler as she established her online presence and her continuing steps in opening ReBrewed.

CEC’s pitch competitions acted as their own form of mentorship. Shuler competed in, and won, the Student Innovation Expo in February 2023. She placed third in the student category of the Purpose Pitch competition later that spring. Over the summer, she was selected as the DePaul student representative for Pitch Madness. She placed fourth in this competitive, regional competition.

A ReBrewed coffee cup. It is medium-sized with a bright, modern logo made up of the letters RB super imposed on brightly colored coffee beans
A ReBrewed cup, designed and sustainably produced in collaboration with Sharath Kalappa (CDM ’24)

Feedback from these competitions helped Shuler refine her business model. It got more streamlined. It became more focused on doing good, not only for the foster youth she’ll employ but also for the environment. She collaborated with Sharath Kalappa, founder of EcoPlate and a student in the M.S. in Business Analytics program at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, to create cups from sustainable materials. She sourced her coffee from Alma Coffee, a sustainable, farm-to-cup operation founded by Leticia Hutchins (BUS ‘16), whose family has been farming coffee in Honduras for five generations.

When Shuler reflects on her entrepreneurial journey, it’s about dualities: a willingness to ask for help paired with the ability to stand your ground. She has figured out how to delegate even as she found herself taking on role after role: founder, accountant, designer, barista.

“Entrepreneurship,” she reflects, “is that sense of holding your own ground, even when people don’t necessarily believe in you or in what you’re doing. It’s collaboration, independence, innovation, iteration – just a whole mosh pit of self-reflection.

“One last thing I’ll say: It’s about never getting comfortable. Never settling. There’s always something you can do better or affect more people. It’s about being open to change.”

Where the Classroom and Careers Meet

Meredith Carroll Alumni Profiles, Faculty Focus , , , , ,

To take a class with Andy Clark (MBA ’87) is to get a “master class” in networking – one that launches you straight into your career.

Senior Instructor Andy Clark.
Director of Sports Business program and Senior Instructor Andy Clark.

Andy Clark is the director of the sports business program at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. In 2023, he was one of two faculty selected by graduating seniors in business to win the Lawrence W. Ryan Distinguished Teaching Award at Driehaus.

When he was his students’ age, he didn’t know a career like this existed.

He recalls one moment when it all came together.

It was a basketball game: DePaul vs. Northwestern. It was the early ’80s: the height of Ray Meyer’s tenure as DePaul men’s basketball head coach. The stadium was packed: a sea of blue on one side and purple on the other, Clark recalls.

“DePaul won on a last-second shot,” Clark says. “To be there for that — to be a small part of that — was amazing.”

At the time, Clark was an intern for DePaul Athletics, after graduating from Fordham University. It was a position he’d heard about through a friend from Fordham.

“A hundred bucks a week, a room in McCabe,” he recalls of the arrangement. The flight to Chicago, he says, was his first time on a plane.

The internship gave him a glimpse into what was possible at the nexus of management, marketing and the sports world he loved so much. After his internship, he got hired as the manager of DePaul Athletics ticket sales. Eventually, he decided to earn his MBA from DePaul.

Forty years and an extensive career in sports management and marketing later, Clark has returned to where he started.

“Making relationships and keeping them”

Getting work done, Clark says, is all about “making relationships and keeping them.” This is the central message he hopes to impart to his students.

Gridiron in the Classroom: Referee Tony Michalek helps Clark's class make the right calls.
Gridiron in the Classroom: Referee Tony Michalek helps Clark’s class make the right calls.

Clark has cultivated connections with an impressive roster of guest speakers. There’s an NFL referee and an NHL player agent. There’s an Olympic silver medalist who started a nonprofit to empower girls in swimming. There are DePaul alumni, many of them Clark’s former students, hailing from every corner of the sports world.

Clark has also forged partnerships with Chicago’s top sports organizations. He’s worked especially closely with the Chicago Cubs, where a number of alumni hold posts in senior leadership. Every so often, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts makes an appearance to speak to Clark’s students.

Clark has two criteria for each guest speaker he invites: Can they keep students — and Clark — engaged? (He “never gets bored” of site visits, he says.) And can they discuss their career in a way that imparts lessons relevant to any field, not just sports business?

“What I like about teaching,” reflects Clark, “is being a connector: connecting experts to our students, so they can learn how their skills apply to the workplace.”

In this regard, taking a class with Andy Clark is like getting a master class in networking. He schools students in crafting thoughtful, well-researched questions for speakers. He teaches them how to dress for site visits (a suit and tie are no longer required). And as part of his final exam, he tasks each student with writing thank-you notes to three guest speakers — by hand.

From classroom to career

In Clark’s courses, students aren’t only learning from the sports business world, they’re also contributing to it by partnering with leading sports organizations to carry out real-world research.

Andy Clark's classes visit where the action all happens.
Andy Clark’s classes visit where the action all happens.

Projects for the Chicago Cubs have included an analysis of their customer service and a study on their rollout of a mobile ordering platform.

“Knowing that the work we were doing was going to be useful right away was highly motivating,” says Kenzie Mocogni (BUS ’19), who worked on the Cubs customer service study. “Working with a real client reminded us that what we are learning in the classroom at DePaul is preparing us for the business world.”

The Cubs aren’t the only team with close ties to Clark and to DePaul.

“It’s been incredibly inspiring to see DePaul students come up with innovative, impactful ideas,” says Tony Rokita, a onetime DePaul student and the former director of alumni relations for the Chicago Bulls, regarding a project that worked on a Bulls community partnership in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood.

For Clark and his students, there’s a direct line between theory and practice and between classroom and career.

“I’m not a teacher by training,” he’s quick to say. “With most of the stuff I do, no one told me I had to do it this way. For me, teaching feels like an evolution of what I was doing before [in the business field].”

As Clark reflects on teaching, he says the best part has been seeing how students’ careers unfold, outside sports as much as within it.

“It’s almost more gratifying,” he says, “when I hear from former students who don’t work in sports that they apply things from my class to their jobs now. That’s what this is all about: helping students apply what they learn.”

Teaching has taught Clark a lot, too.

“Every day,” he says, “is an education in empathy.”

—

On the first day of his Introduction to Sports Management course, Clark has one question for his students. It’s perhaps the best summary of what Clark accomplishes in his courses — and how Driehaus overall approaches preparing students for their careers.

“When do you think your career in sports is going to start?” Clark asks.

Clark’s answer? “If you’re in this class, it already started.”

Researcher in Residence Program Builds Bridges Between Theory and Practice

Meredith Carroll Alumni Profiles , , , , ,

In the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) program, industry insights and research acumen meet. A new program in the marketing department amplifies the impact of DBA research.

Thomas Dammrich (BA ’74, MBA ’78, MS ’85, DBA ’19), Research in Residence.
Thomas Dammrich (BA ’74, MBA ’78, MS ’85, DBA ’19), Research in Residence.

When industry experience and academic research join forces, both fields benefit. This is a core tenet of the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) program at DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. It’s the same principle that led Associate Professor of Marketing Richard Rocco to establish the Researcher in Residence program within the Department of Marketing.

Rocco, who teaches in the DBA program, saw firsthand how industry experience amplifies the impact of research, first through writing his own dissertation while working full-time and later through advising DBA students.

Rocco launched the Researcher in Residence program in Fall 2022 based on feedback from DBA alumni. These researchers wanted to amplify the impact of their work and publish it in peer-reviewed journals where it could reach a wider audience.

To do that, they needed access to university resources, ranging from databases and data sets to Kellstadt’s vast network of faculty, students and alumni.

The program provides access to these resources. The university, Rocco says, will benefit in return. Faculty and current DBA students will gain new collaborators. As researchers publish more widely, their work will extend the reach of Kellstadt and DePaul.

As the program enters its second year, all three researchers in the inaugural cohort have returned for another year. They represent a wide range of fields.

Chris Hansen (MBA ’98, DBA ’21), vice president of university partnerships at Everspring, has over 25 years of experience in educational technology, where he has helped senior administration and faculty bring their offerings to life online.

Tammy Higgins (DBA ’18), a consult partner at Kyndryl, brings more than 35 years of experience in the information technology (IT) industry to her research on IT sales strategies.

And Thomas Dammrich (BA ’74, MBA ’78, MS ’85, DBA ’19) earned his DBA after more than 20 years as CEO of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

As for Rocco, he hopes that the program as it exists now is just a starting point. The model could easily expand to other departments and programs, he says.

“We have a wealth of resources in our DBAs,” he adds. “This is a way to expand on that. It’s a way for DePaul to get our name out there. It’s a way to influence the conversation. You never know where those kinds of connections might lead.”

Researcher in residence Q&A

Thomas Dammrich reflects on his research and its impact and how the Researcher in Residence program helped him expand on that work.

College of Business: Give me the elevator pitch for the research you conducted for your DBA. How are you building on this work as a researcher in residence?

Dammrich: I worked in an industry where manufacturers and dealers do not advertise the price of boats for sale. You can only find this out by speaking with a boat dealer or attending a boat show.

Every model of the consumer purchase journey includes an evaluation phase. Much has been written about other aspects of that phase. But very little, if any, empirical work has been done to understand what happens to consumers’ path to purchase when an objective price is not available.

I designed my dissertation research to address that gap in the literature.

As a researcher in residence, I have been working with DePaul faculty to extend and publish the results of my work in a Tier 1 or 2 academic journal. Not only have we identified a gap in the literature, we also believe we can provide practical advice to practitioners.

College of Business: How did your industry experience influence your research?

Dammrich: Because of my knowledge of the industry, my relationships with many industry players and the willingness of a third-party website that was a significant resource for consumers shopping for new boats, I was able to design and conduct a field experiment with random assignment. This form of research provides the opportunity to learn causation, not just correlation.

The third-party website believed the industry would sell more boats if prices were more available on their website. They were eager to help me gather evidence to test this proposition. And because of my relationships with the CEOs of many boat builders and dealers, I was able to get them to agree to participate in an experiment where price was randomly shown or not shown to visitors to the third-party website.

My research confirmed that displaying price increases search, leads and purchase intent.

College of Business: How has the Researcher in Residence program allowed you to further collaborate with the DePaul community?

Dammrich: I was delighted to be invited to be part of the Researcher in Residence program. I had been working closely with Richard Rocco to publish an article related to my dissertation. As we began this effort, I quickly realized that I was at a disadvantage because, after graduation from the DBA program, I no longer had access to library resources, Qualtrics and other necessary tools. The Researcher in Residence program gives me access to those resources.

The program also allowed Dr. Rocco and me to speak with other faculty about what we were working on. Associate Professor of Marketing Zafar Iqbal has joined our team and contributed excellent recommendations that extend the analysis to create an article that should be of great interest to academia and practitioners.

College of Business: How is the Researcher in Residence program allowing you to amplify the impact of your research on industry?

Dammrich: One of the primary goals of the DBA program is to cross the chasm between academic research and practitioner implementation. By bringing additional faculty, Dr. Iqbal, and new perspectives to our work, I am confident we will be able to publish our work in a journal read by academics and practitioners alike.

The research I did for my dissertation has a high level of relevance for industry while addressing a gap in the literature that should be of interest to the academic research community. Getting the results published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is our goal, will significantly magnify the impact of the research I did for my DBA dissertation.

“Getting the job done in a human way”: William E. Hay Leadership Accelerator Convenes

Meredith Carroll Features, Scholarly Pursuits
Students building marshmallow structure: Student teams competed to build the tallest spaghetti-and-marshmallow structure -- and learn how different kinds of leaders emerge from within teams in the process.
Student teams competed to build the tallest spaghetti-and-marshmallow structure — and learn how different kinds of leaders emerge from within teams in the process. [Image by Kathy Hillegonds.]

By Meredith Carroll

What does leadership look like? Not just in general, or for people in positions of power, but for you, right now?

These are the kinds of questions that the inaugural cohort of the William E. Hay Leadership Accelerator will work together to answer. The cohort met for the first time on Friday, September 15, kicking off a year of collaborative workshops, networking opportunities, and other programming designed to empower students to lead with purpose.

To Meghan Anderson, a senior studying digital marketing,  the accelerator’s approach to developing leadership skills felt familiar.

“You can be a leader at every level,” said Anderson. It’s a piece of advice an internship supervisor gave her early in her time at DePaul and it’s stuck with her ever since. “Often, that looks like having really good soft skills, or being a really good listener.”

Anderson is part of a select group of forty juniors and seniors from across DePaul. Together, the Hay scholars represent 21 majors – ranging from theatre and animation to finance and marketing. Forty percent of the scholars are first-generation college students. Half of the cohort are students of color.

Over the coming months, students will learn directly from real-world experts and engage in experiential exercises and self-reflection. In this way, the accelerator offers a rare opportunity; these experiences were modeled after the top training programs in companies known for their emphasis on professional development. In recognition of this effort, each student will receive a $2,500 scholarship and a certificate of completion.

Most importantly, the accelerator will  equip students to enter the workforce as purposeful leaders. With learning opportunities spanning skill assessments, in-person and live sessions, as well as microlearning, the accelerator leverages multiple tactics to deliver engaging and impactful experiences to boost leadership competencies. Students will also participate in résumé reviews, job interview skills exercises, and networking opportunities – gaining skills that are critical to employability and career building.

In-depth and focused leadership training is rare in companies even at senior levels, according to Professor and William E. Hay Leadership Fellow Erich Dierdorff. Dierdorff leads the program along with Associate Dean of Graduate and Executive Education Robert S. Rubin and Associate Director of Operations Clarissa Short.

“To have something like this at the undergraduate level is exceptionally rare and represents such a unique opportunity for our students to get significant boosts in the competencies that we know underlie long-term professional success,” Dierdorff said.

These skills are only becoming more crucial in a workplace environment that is rapidly changing. A recent study by Business Name Generator surveyed 1,000 employees and employers across the U.S. to uncover the changing demand for soft skills in the workplace. Findings indicated that 84% of employees and managers believe new employees must demonstrate soft skills upon entering the organization. Foremost among these? Leadership, which was the skill rated most valuable for career advancement.

For many Hay scholars, like Meghan Anderson, it was precisely the chance to develop these soft skills – and to develop them in collaboration with others – that drew them to the accelerator.

“When you’re a college student, you get so focused in on your major. This is an opportunity to meet new people and broaden your horizons,” said Harper McCoy, a senior majoring in film and television who hopes to become a film director.

Andrew Gomes, a junior studying finance, cited his experience launching an investment club in high school as the beginning of his leadership journey.

“I want to contribute value to the next generation,” he said of his career goals. “Maybe one day I’ll be able to help a student like me.”

And in this emphasis on people and purpose, the accelerator is part of a broader legacy left by  William E. Hay (MBA ’66, DHL ’06), a longtime trustee and benefactor of DePaul.

The inaugural cohort pictured with President Robert L. Manuel.
The inaugural cohort pictured with President Robert L. Manuel. [Image by Kathy Hillegonds.]
“Hay didn’t just the job done,” said DePaul President Robert L. Manuel in his remarks to the  cohort. “He got it done in a human way.”

A substantial gift from Hay’s estate funded  the founding of the Hay Center for Leadership Development, which houses programs in executive education along with the leadership accelerator.

“You can study management and business” at any number of schools, Manuel concluded. “But to couple that with the human, organic nature of the world — that’s a special gift.”

The William E. Hay Leadership Accelerator is a comprehensive, co-curricular leadership development experience open to juniors and seniors from across DePaul. Students can  learn more and apply here.