Entrepreneurship at Cornell strives to lead by example with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion in our program’s offerings.  We welcome your input continuously.  Here is our policy statement for DEI for the Entrepreneurship at Cornell ecosystem, which we encourage our university partners to follow as well.

Checkpoints for Programming

We’d all like to see Cornell’s entrepreneurship programming, including speakers and mentors,  be more diverse and inclusive to reflect our spirit, Cornell student body and society as a whole. We believe diversity empowers our community and its participants and adds perspective to a greater and more informed understanding of the world. As such we welcome and celebrate people representing diverse:

  • Genders
  • Ages
  • Racial Identities
  • Religions
  • Sexual Orientations
  • Physical Conditions
  • Cultural / Ethnic Backgrounds
  • Countries of Origin
  • Educational trajectories (e.g., first generation, veterans)
  • Economic trajectories (e.g., low income)
  • Learning modalities (e.g., journeys impacted by ADHD, other cognitive or physical challenges)

Here are a few checkpoints we’ve found helpful:

  1. Are you striving for a significant diversity in your mix of speakers and experts?
  2. Have you checked that none of your panels or series are limited to all men?
  3. Are you seeking to include BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) as well as members of the LGBTQIAP+ community and other underrepresented voices?
  4. Are you ensuring that your featured underrepresented speakers serve as experts in their own right and not just as moderators?
  5. Are you ensuring underrepresented speakers are not limited to discussing topics of diversity, women in the workplace, balancing of work-family life, etc.?
  6. Are you planning your programming to feature a variety of subjects and topics in formats that are diverse and representative of an inclusive and accessible approach?
  7. Are you pro-actively marketing your programming to attract and include a diverse audience?