September 12, 2017 | Pamela Whiteley McLaughlin 

Kennedy Patlan ’18, a triple major in advertising in the Newhouse School, citizenship and civic engagement in the Maxwell School and women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the first Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar at Syracuse University. The Engagement Scholar position was created as a part of the LaunchPad’s goal to grow social enterprise ventures across the campus.

Through her time at Syracuse University, Patlan has looked for ways to merge public and private sectors for impact. After conducting research on the relationship between nonprofits, technical fields and sustainability, she is interested in building programs that serve as a campus-community collaborative. She has been involved with an array of organizations such as Hill Communications, the POSSE Foundation and the Syracuse Philanthropy Council. She is a resident advisor and a current Remembrance Scholar. Patlan will develop the outreach, branding, marketing, recruiting and organizational aspects for the first annual Impact Program.

As the first Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar, Patlan will provide peer mentoring of student ventures, with a special focus on social enterprise and civic ventures. The goal is to encourage more students to think about developing for-good, not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises as part of the entrepreneurial landscape. Patlan is helping develop a special business plan competition for entrepreneurs who are developing ventures that serve a broader social purpose.  She will help coordinate the upcoming Impact Prize and Hult Prize competitions, as well as organizing a series of Impact Workshops to explore topics related to social entrepreneurship and assisting with events for Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 13-17.

The Blackstone LaunchPad, part of Syracuse University Libraries, is a campus-based experiential entrepreneurship program open to students, alumni, faculty and staff.  It offers ideation, coaching and venture creation support, along with co-working space in Bird Library.