The WBENC Entrepreneur Incubator at Howard University

Attendance at all in-person and virtual session dates are mandatory for acceptance into the 2025 Incubators.

• Mon, Sept 15 – Session 1: Kick Off
  Marks the beginning or continuation of an exciting entrepreneur journey to unlock the passion behind your business idea or venture. The session will focus on important steps and resources to help build your business, as well as provide an opportunity to network with corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, and others.
• Mon, Sept 22 – Session 2: Refining ideas & Opportunities
  Transform your business idea into an innovative solution which addresses marketplace or community needs. This session will delve into three core principles of entrepreneurship – clarify the need, define the solution, and differentiate your product and/or service offering from others.
• Mon, Sept 29 – Session 3: Creating Protypes & Experiments
  Build for the future by designing unique products and/or services; important step to help develop your brand identity. This session will focus on the art of prototyping and experimentation – create prototypes, conduct experiments, and consider feasibility based on the outputs.
• Mon, Oct 6 – Session 4: Understanding Revenues & Expenses
  Set up your business to be profitable, as well as generating wealth to support family and community. This session will cover financial acumen necessary to manage your business – pricing, sales forecasting, budgeting, and other key principles to facilitate long-term success.
• Mon, Oct 13 – Session 5: Planning for Success
  Develop a purposeful and strategic business plan that enables continued progress on your entrepreneurial journey. This session will focus on creating a roadmap of key milestone activities designed to advance your business objectives, as well as tracking progress with the plan.
• Mon, Oct 27 – Session 6: Pitching with Purpose
  Craft a compelling and concise narrative about your business to attract customers, investors, partners, and others. The session will cover the art of storytelling, specific techniques and best practices to communicate key aspects of your business plan and objectives.
• Subject to change Mon, Nov 17 – Session 7: Pitch Competition
  Celebrate and showcase the accomplishments of participants by concluding the program with a pitch competition and opportunities to win a variety awards.

Aspiring student entrepreneurs or recent graduates accepted into the WOC Incubator will learn how to test the viability of their ideas and discover how to transform their idea to a minimum viable product. Participants will engage in entrepreneurship curriculum taught by subject matter experts from some of the most successful women-owned businesses and America’s largest Fortune 500 companies. The Incubator will culminate with a Pitch Competition awarding a thousand dollars in seed capital and the opportunity to attend WBENC’s National Conference & Business Fair in Denver, CO for FREE to access a network of 4,000+ attendees.

Applicant Eligibility

• Women of Color female student entrepreneur
• Applicant must be enrolled at Howard University a recent graduate within the last 12months of the University.
• Have a business idea or early-stage venture
• Ability to participate in all scheduled classes held in Eastern Standard Time. Accepted applicants will be required to attend the entire incubator, inability to attend the entire incubator will result in not being accepted.
• Completion of the online application, including an essay stating the desire to attend the incubator and how the program would enable you for future growth and success and resume.
• Applicants are selected on first come, first serve based on their comprehensive application, no one element is weighted more.

Contact aawasom@wbenc.org for more information.

• Who should consider applying for this Incubator?
  • Aspiring Entrepreneur: Students with a business idea looking to develop it into a thriving business.
  • Early-Stage Entrepreneur: Students who have already launched their business idea but would like to learn how to scale it to new heights.
• Who is eligible to apply for the Incubator?
  • The WOC Incubator at Howard is open to all individuals who are students at Howard regardless of major or class standing.
• How many participants are typically in each cohort?
  • The cohort size ranges from 30 to 60 entrepreneurs.
• Who will teach the sessions during the Incubator?
  • The sessions will be facilitated by accomplished women-owned business owners who are subject matter experts in each topic.
• Where will the sessions be held?
  • Sessions for the WOC Incubator at HU will be conducted in a virtual format via Zoom Meetings, and the culminating Pitch Competition will take place in-person at the Marriott International Headquarters in Bethesda, MD.
• When are the sessions scheduled to take place?
  • WOC Incubator at Howard sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 PM EST, starting on Wednesday, September 18th. Please see the class schedule section of this page for more information.

• APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN
• Applications for the 2025 WOC Incubator at Howard University are now open and will close on Friday, September 6, 2024, at 11:59pm EST. Spots in the program are limited.
• Attendance at all in-person and virtual session dates are mandatory for acceptance into the 2024 Incubators.
• Apply Now