Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Learn By Doing. Build Skills. Make An Impact.
Macathon is the the 24-hour competition where student teams work to develop and present a product or service that will help solve a real-world problem.
Live It Fund J-Term supports students with hands-on experience to pilot innovative solutions to complex problems.
The Idea Lab is Macalester’s community makerspace where students come together to explore creativity.
MacNest is a 10-week summer internship program with early stage Twin Cities startups.
For 10-weeks Summer project students – MacStartups, Live It Fund, and Zia & Priti Fund for Innovation and Impact, tackle real-world challenges using human-centered design and innovation resources to find the solutions.
Bold Idea. Bold Impact.
Is there something you can’t stop thinking about? How can you make your idea a reality, or take an action to change the world? Let’s build together – from Macathon to Zia & Priti Fund for Innovation and Impact to one-time human-centered design activities to creating in the Idea Lab, the Department of Entrepreneurship & Innovation is ready to take you to the next step. Bring your IDEAS, ask tough QUESTIONS, or stay CURIOUS!
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Events
Mission
We empower Macalester students to transform bold ideas into action through practical skills, resources, and collaboration. Together, we enhance the liberal arts experience with playful, purposeful, and real-world learning.
Vision
We envision a Macalester where every student sees themselves as a curious and confident innovator, ready to navigate uncertainty and shape a more just and sustainable future.
Values
Our Team values are: Trust & Respect, Whole Person First, Vision and Curiosity, Play & Humor, Teamwork & Initiative, and Order & Structure.
News & Highlights
BIO316 – Experiencing Human-Centered Design
Combining creative thinking with rigorous science: more innovation in one professor’s classroom.
Curious and Confident Innovators
We’re making progress towards our vision – students outcomes, campus partners, and outward projections.
AI and the Liberal Arts
Faculty in Silicon Valley – Innovation Fellows: conversations about artificial intelligence, teaching, and the future of learning.
Celebrating Momentum & Imagination
As we begin 2026, we’re excited to celebrate the Macalester’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation community.
Welcome New Director
Allan Martinez Venegas ’14 joins the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation as new Director.
Empowering Entrepreneurs
Basir Talayee ’25 awarded Live It Fund and Zia and Priti Fund for Innovation and Impact supports “life-changing” opportunites.
How It Started, How It’s Going
“At Macalester, students are encouraged to pair their entrepreneurial drive with a grounding in the liberal arts to build skills that will benefit them long beyond their time on campus.”
IDEAS TO ACTION
Entrepreneurship is not just studied at Macalester, it is lived. Driven by the college’s mission, the entrepreneurial spirit has been a part of Macalester’s culture from the very beginning. The urban environment of the Twin Cities provides an incredible ecosystem for students to experience entrepreneurship first hand and alumni across the world provide significant entrepreneurial opportunities for students.
At its core, entrepreneurship at Macalester inspires students to put their ideas into action. It gives students the courage to follow their dreams, the creativity to solve problems, and the resilience, grit, and hope necessary to create lasting change.
HOW IT BEGAN
In 2014, the college produced its strategic plan Thrive, which made Entrepreneurship a key strategic priority for the future. It called for the college to “draw upon the energy of our students, the success of our alumni, and the vibrancy of our urban location to make entrepreneurship, including social, commercial, and artistic, an area of distinctive strength at Macalester.”
Students have many opportunities in entrepreneurship, and often these opportunities were created by entrepreneurial students themselves. They include coursework, internship opportunities, seed funding, a 10-week accelerator program, community project funding, and hackathons. In 2017, the college unveiled the Idea Lab, a 7000 sq ft remodel of the library to open up a collaborative and innovative space for students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, students embed themselves in the Twin Cities startup community and continue to find new ways to innovate and create their own entrepreneurial experiences.
Macalester does not encompass a narrow definition of entrepreneurship but understands the broad tools of entrepreneurship to be powerful catalysts for change. “Entrepreneurship broadly understood means the bringing of creative thinking and a willingness to take risks to the formation of new businesses, the revitalization of existing businesses, and the mitigation of social problems. More fundamentally, in the words of a successful Macalester alumnus, it means having the courage, confidence, and necessary skills to follow the path to your dream.” -Thrive Strategic Plan.