Over the last several years, Engler alumni have shared the challenges they face after leaving the undergraduate environment and the close-knit community that the Engler Program provides. Feelings of isolation in their community, dissatisfaction in their current job and figuring out the next steps with their business ideas are common challenges among Engler alumni. Perhaps you can relate to one or more of these. But, no matter the challenge, we each have a need for a community to support and encourage us in pursuing our purpose.

The purpose of the Engler Alumni Cohort is to provide a community of support while pursuing your purpose through entrepreneurship. Cohorts are small groups (about 8-9 in size) who meet monthly throughout the course of a year.

The greatest value delivered during the pilot cohort in 2019 was the feeling of connectedness and accountability that meeting with a group of entrepreneurial peers provided.  Additionally, pilot cohort members found value in educational content and easily being able to apply the concepts to their own business/career.

Each monthly session tackles a particular topic that the cohort is interested in exploring. Sometimes this includes bringing in an external facilitator. In the pilot cohort, a few topics we explored included:

• Building your team with the right hire
• Strategic planning
• Tactical approaches to negotiating
• Understanding financial risk
• Identifying consumer and macro trends