Lepage Center and UNO announce entrepreneurship fellows program

The Lepage Center at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, in collaboration with the University of New Orleans’ Henry Bernstein College of Business Administration, announce the launch of the Student Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) Fellowship, a unique, cross-university program designed to equip students with entrepreneurial skills and real-world experience through collaborative, paid internships.

The Fellowship is an initiative of the University Collaborative, a joint program of Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, The Beach at UNO, Dillard University, Loyola University, Southern University, and Xavier University that seeks to expand access to high-quality entrepreneurship education. Through shared resources, co-developed curricula and joint programming, the Collaborative prepares a diverse new generation of students to become entrepreneurial leaders in the region.

The SEED Fellowship is open to all college students in the Greater New Orleans region. Through the Fellowship, students will work on intercollegiate teams with StudioBE and their non-profit, Eternal Seeds, to serve New Orleans artists on real-world projects that support their ventures.

Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, SEED Fellows will participate in workshops covering entrepreneurship fundamentals, business strategy, design thinking, finance and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. They will then apply these skills directly to practical challenges, building experience and expanding their professional networks.

“The SEED Fellowship embodies the spirit of collaboration that is essential to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Rob Lalka, Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business & Executive Director of the Freeman School’s Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “By bringing together students from diverse academic disciplines and institutions, we are creating opportunities for them to learn from each other, build valuable networks, and make an immediate impact in their communities.”

“The SEED Fellowship represents a bold step forward in cross-institutional collaboration and innovation,” said Dong-Jun Min, Chair of the Department of Management and Marketing at UNO. “By uniting students from diverse backgrounds across Greater New Orleans, we are not only fostering entrepreneurial mindsets, but also building a resilient, community-rooted ecosystem of future business leaders. Working alongside local businesses and fellow innovators, students will gain hands-on experience, build essential skills, and form connections that will shape their careers.”

"The Southern University community is excited to build on its collaboration with SEED, the New Orleans community and local universities," said Brian Adams, Assistant Dean and Undergraduate Program Director for the College of Business. "This partnership creates opportunities for our entrepreneur scholars."

“As a local business, StudioBE is excited to partner with the University Collaborative through the SEED Fellowship,” said Liz LeFrere, Gallery Director at StudioBE. “We’re looking forward to welcoming students from across our city into projects with artists that directly impact our growth and the community we serve.”

The program offers fellows:

·      Paid experience at $15/hour, approximately 20 hours per month

·      Intercollegiate collaboration with peers from regional higher education institutions

·      Practical application of classroom concepts to real-world challenges

·      Professional development through workshops and guest speaker events

·      Networking opportunities with regional entrepreneurship experts

Applications for the 2025–26 cohort are now open to students enrolled at participating institutions.

For more information and to apply, visit https://tinyurl.com/nhf2vzjh.