ORANGE, CA, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics at Chapman University is proud to announce that its director, Dr. Cynthia West, has been nominated for the Orange County Business Journal’s 30th Annual 2024 Women in Business Award.

This nomination celebrates Dr. West’s contributions to the local business community, as well as her impactful leadership at Chapman University, where she spearheads the Center’s entrepreneurial initiatives.

Under her leadership, the Leatherby Center has flourished as a premier hub for innovation and entrepreneurial development. Since revitalizing the Center post-pandemic, Dr. West has launched 8 new programs including: the 4th Sector Innovation Incubator and Accelerator, Mentorship and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program, WomenEntrepreneurs@Chapman. She has partnered with La Asociacion de Emprendedor@s to offer an entrepreneurship course for monolingual Spanish speakers. In addition, Dr. West partnered with Brea Chamber of Commerce and Orange Chamber of Commerce offering a women’s workforce development program, Women Rising Leadership Academy.

Her visionary leadership secured a $1 million grant which made the Leatherby Center Orange County’s Accelerate California Inclusive Innovation Hub, an initiative supported by CalOSBA that empowers underrepresented innovators to achieve their entrepreneurial goals. The grant means that all programs offered are available to the wider community, not just Chapman students.

As a serial entrepreneur herself, Dr. West brings over 30 years of sales and marketing leadership experience to her role at Chapman University. Her extensive track record includes guiding four technology startups from the ground up, two of which achieved successful exits.

Notably, her work at TestDrive, an innovative software channel, led to a quick acquisition by R.R. Donnelley & Sons in just 14 months. Furthermore, she helped take Audio Highway public with a $42 million valuation in less than three years.

“It's an honor to be recognized alongside such remarkable women,” said Cynthia West, Director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship. “At the Leatherby Center, we strive to create opportunities for entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to thrive. This nomination reflects the collective efforts of our community, and I’m proud to see the impact we’re making on the future of innovation and business leadership.”


About The Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics 
The vision of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics is to inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of talent to have an entrepreneurial mindset. To teach students how to innovate and take risks, whether they are starting their own venture, or working inside a corporation. Through our curriculum and our incubator, we provide hands-on experience to the next generation of talent, teaching them how to develop, scale, and launch their own ventures as future global citizens in the world economy. Ralph W. Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics | Chapman University 

About Chapman University
Founded in 1861, Chapman University is a nationally ranked private university in Orange, California, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. Chapman serves nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, with a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Students can choose from 123 areas of study within 11 colleges for a personalized education. Chapman is categorized by the Carnegie Classification as an R2 "high research activity" institution. Students at Chapman learn directly from distinguished world-class faculty, including Nobel Prize winners, MacArthur fellows, published authors, and Academy Award winners. The campus has produced a Rhodes Scholar, been named a top producer of Fulbright Scholars, and hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor society. www.chapman.edu.

Kajal Reddy
Chapman University
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