The Business Faculty of Mondragon Unibertsitatea strengthens collaboration in New York to promote entrepreneurship and innovation
The Business Faculty of Mondragon Unibertsitatea strengthens collaboration in New York to promote entrepreneurship and innovation
The Business Faculty of Mondragon Unibertsitatea strengthens collaboration in New York to promote entrepreneurship and innovation
The Business Faculty of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, represented by its dean, Lander Beloki Mendizabal, and the coordinator of the Faculty's entrepreneurship-area and of the international network Mondragon Team Academy, Aitor Lizartza Martin, made a successful visit to New York
In early October, the Business Faculty of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, represented by its dean, Lander Beloki Mendizabal, and the coordinator of the Faculty's entrepreneurship-area and of the international network Mondragon Team Academy, Aitor Lizartza Martin, made a successful visit to New York with the aim of consolidating collaboration agreements and exploring projects in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation with a strong focus on social and territorial impact, based on the cooperative model.
Collaboration agreement with The City University of New York
One of the main fruits of the visit was the signing by Mondragon Unibertsitatea of a collaboration agreement with The City University of New York (CUNY: https://www.cuny.edu) in order to promote entrepreneurship and encourage the exchange of students between the two institutions. The entrepreneurs of the Degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation LEINN of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, will develop their second year learning trip in New York. In this way, they will share resources and academic support at CUNY, while CUNY students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Mondragon Unibertsitatea (MTA) in the Basque Country, more specifically in Bilbao Berrikuntza Faktoria, working together on the following challenge: to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that will allow them to develop their entrepreneurial skills in the Basque Country.
About The City University of New York
The story of The City University of New York is an epic tale, a sweeping history of New York and New Yorkers, and of America, spanning nearly two centuries. It begins in 1847 with the birth of the Free Academy, where "the children of the rich and the poor sit together," in the words of Townsend Harris, CUNY's visionary founding father. Over many generations, CUNY grew into a great modern university with 25 campuses and half a million students, an Ellis Island of education and an engine of upward mobility for New Yorkers of all backgrounds. To this day, CUNY's motto is a proud expression of its ambitious mission: "The education of free people is the hope of humanity."
Collaboration opportunities at Brooklyn Navy Yard
This visit also opened up new opportunities to collaborate on entrepreneurship projects in New York. In addition to university collaboration, the first steps were taken to explore possibilities at Brooklyn Navy Yard (https://www.brooklynnavyyard.org/), a public advocacy initiative focused on fostering entrepreneurship in the context of a renovation and incubation project.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard is an urban manufacturing and innovation hub that is home to more than 500 companies. With a legacy dating back to the 19th century, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has played a pivotal role in the history of the United States since the early 1900s.
Presentation of the book "Humanity@Work&Life" and meeting at the United Nations
The promotion of these relationships in New York was part of a Mondragon Corporation mission in which the book "HUMANITY@WORK&LIFE - Global Diffusion of the MONDRAGON Cooperative Ecosystem Experience." was presented. This publication is based on the MONDRAGON experience and is intended to provide hope and inspiration, as well as serve as a resource for those interested in developing worker cooperatives. Potential profits from the sale of this book will go to fund the "1 worker 1 vote" initiative (more information at: www.1worker1vote.org), a platform that seeks to promote a fairer, more equitable, supportive and inclusive model of enterprise.
In addition, UN officials met with Mondragon representatives to discuss next steps, advancing on the Secretary-General's recent report on the deployment of worker cooperatives as a strategy to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, highlighting Mondragon's example (https://ncbaclusa.coop/blog/un-secretary-general-urges-governments-to-strengthen-co-op-ecosystems-as-strategy-to-accelerate-the-2030-agenda/).