Entrepreneurship for Arts Graduate Students

Offered through the Winter 2025 semester, Entrepreneurship for Arts Graduate Students is a series of three synchronous online workshops and two in-person workshops that will allow you to learn a variety of skills and techniques to develop a venture idea.

Facilitated by Andrea Lloyd and Smruti Savkur from Innovation UBC, these workshops will occur online during the following times:

• Kick-off & Introduction: January 21, 1:00-3:00PM (in person)
• Developing Your Idea: February 5, 10:00AM-12:00PM (on Zoom)
• Identifying Your Distinction: February 26, 10:00AM-12:00PM (on Zoom)
• Fueling Your Idea: March 12, 10:00AM-12:00PM (on Zoom)
• Building Your Brand Story: March 25, 1:00 PM-3:00PM (in person)
• Project Showcase: April 1, 1:00-3:00PM (in person)

Attendance at all workshops is mandatory for completion of the program. Throughout the workshop series, all participants will have the opportunity to book one-on-one mentoring with our Alumni-in-Residence, Eric Franzo (Founder, Purposely and The Tea Drawer).

You do not need to have an existing business or venture to participate, but you do need to have an idea for a venture that you will workshop in the sessions. 

Registration closed

Facilitators

Andrea Lloyd (Associate Director, Engagement, Innovation UBC), As a member of the e@UBC team since 2015, Andrea brings her wide knowledge of the UBC community to support e@UBC collaborations and partnerships across campus. She manages the e@UBC Mentor Network and the internship program, which bring e@UBC entrepreneurs expert guidance and additional capacity to help accelerate their ventures.

Smruti Savkur (Engagement Specialist, Innovation UBC), Smruti builds partnerships across campus to democratize entrepreneurship, and supports the Mentor Network and internship program to build capacity for UBC founders.

Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Eric Franzo holds a Master’s in Asian Pacific Policy Studies with a focus on human rights. He is the founder of Purposely, a platform that helps companies build strong team culture through employee volunteering activities and The Tea Drawer, an online tea company that sells Yaupon, the only caffeinated tea that grows natively in North America.