Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Freeman School of Business brings together scholars, inventors, investors and students to solve problems and build businesses.
Mission
The Lepage Center is a center for entrepreneurial activity at Tulane, for knowledge about entrepreneurship in New Orleans, and for innovation in the Gulf South and beyond.
Vision
The Lepage Center will lead the effort to establish New Orleans as one of the greatest entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. Our work will be in service to Tulane University’s overall purpose to create, communicate, and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn, and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom.
Statement of Purpose
“There is a real need for research in the best practices of entrepreneurship and growing a business. But it is also important to bring that expertise back into the wider community — both the under-served and well-served — to help entrepreneurs and innovators in New Orleans and the Gulf South achieve their goals and thrive.” - Albert Lepage
Who We Serve
The Lepage Center offers programs and resources geared toward the entire Tulane community, including faculty, staff, students and alumni both within Freeman and across campus. In addition, we work with entrepreneurs in the Greater New Orleans and Gulf South regions.
Student programs include academic courses, a minor in Entrepreneurial Business, five monthly pitch competitions and the Tulane Business Model Competition. Community programs include the Tulane Family Business Center and the Greater New Orleans Startup Report.
Student Blogs
A salon for the 21st century
Mariska Morse (SOPA ’21) co-founded Salon22 on the idea that women work best when they’re collaborating and accomplishing goals together. She and co-founders Christa Talbott, Fay Kimbrell (SW ’17) and Fresh Johnson wanted to create an inclusive, thoughtfully designed space for co-working, networking, nurturing and growing.
Pitch Friday Finals
Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Pitch Friday Competition series allows student startups to pitch their ideas, receive valuable feedback, and win cash prizes.
Making Memoryz
Living with dementia, Alzheimer’s or any other memory-impairing disease can have significant impacts not only on the individual with the diagnosis but also among their loved ones. Memoryz founder and CEO Rishawn Dindial, a medical student enrolled in the double MD/MBA program, understands this complicated shift firsthand after acting as his grandfather’s caregiver for most of his life.
