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BALTIMORE — ������Ƶ’s Center for Strategic Entrepreneurship (CSE), within the College of Business, will host its 2025 Economic Inclusion Conference at Coppin (EICAC) on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at ������Ƶ, located at 2500 W. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD. This year’s conference, in partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, is themed “125 Years of Leading the Way to Wealth: A New Paradigm for Youth Economic Empowerment.” For more information and to register, click here.

“Our goal is to shift the paradigm in youth and young adult entrepreneurship instruction to one of sustainable opportunity preparedness through learning competence,” said Dr. Ron Williams, CSE founder and associate professor at ������Ƶ. “An entrepreneur must be, first and foremost, a competent learner. When we focus on developing this foundation, we enable young people to start businesses and recognize and maximize opportunities across industries and life stages.”

This year’s EICAC is part of the university’s ongoing commitment to reshaping how Baltimore’s youth and emerging adults are prepared for economic mobility and entrepreneurial success. The conference builds on the momentum of last year’s EICAC, which brought together over 450 students, educators, civic leaders, and community stakeholders. Coppin expects to welcome more than 800 students from Baltimore City high schools onto its growing campus. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in Mayor Brandon Scott’s Graduating Seniors’ Job Fair, featuring over 100 prospective employers and a full day of educational workshops designed to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

The upcoming EICAC will feature three distinct tracks of workshops designed to meet the needs of students, educators, funders, and employers. Attendees will:

1. Explore the intersection of entrepreneurship and workforce readiness,
2. Discover strategies to maximize investment impact, and
3. Examine the infrastructure needed to support young people in building meaningful and resilient economic futures.

Focusing on youth voices, cross-sector collaboration, and actionable insights, EICAC promises to be a pivotal gathering for those committed to reshaping and revitalizing the future of Baltimore’s entrepreneurial landscape and strengthening pathways to wealth for future generations.

EICAC represents the culmination of a multi-year journey that began in 2022, when the Center for Strategic Entrepreneurship initiated an ambitious two-year descriptive analysis of entrepreneurship instructional programs across Baltimore. This endeavor was made possible through the generous support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The findings were published in 2024 as EXCEL: Equipping Baltimore Youth & Emerging Adults for Opportunity—a resource intended to foster a deeper understanding of how entrepreneurial competence can drive sustainable economic empowerment for young people, which was released in July 2024.

Since then, collaboration with elected officials, institutional leaders, funders, and community stakeholders has established the foundation for the next phase, which will involve creating a unified, data-informed ecosystem that empowers young people to thrive.

For more information, visit /eicac