At the prestigious Triple E Awards, held this year in São Paulo, Brazil, Northeastern University clinched second place in the category of Most Impactful University of the Americas, all thanks to the thriving network of entrepreneurial programs and centers that exist throughout the university, and also its trailblazing student-led entrepreneurial initiatives, involving 400+ student leaders with an impact on over 3000+ students at NU this year alone.
“The award is based on the many entrepreneurship activities and collaborations that go on around all our campuses, and therefore reflect the true spirit of Northeastern, which is experiential entrepreneurship and cross-campus and cross-college collaboration while fostering entrepreneurship access for all,” says Marie Meslin, Managing Director for Northeastern's Center for Entrepreneurship Education, which is housed within the D'Amore-McKim School of Business.
This achievement was propelled by standout programs such as Mosaic, an interdisciplinary hub of organizations—many of which are housed at D'Amore-McKim—including IDEA, Northeastern's dynamic student-led venture accelerator, and NUImpact, Northeastern's impact investing initiative—the largest student-managed initiative at NU—dedicated to teaching students about impact investing while deploying meaningful capital to local companies.
“Student-led is one of our secret sauces at Northeastern,” says Meslin. “We have 14 different student-led entrepreneurship organizations—that's unheard of at any other university. And a lot of those involved are D'Amore-McKim students.”
Meslin was part of the group that journeyed to São Paulo for the ceremony. For her, the trip was a revelatory experience.
“One of my key takeaways was that many other universities are just starting to think about interdisciplinary and student-led, so we often get asked how we do it – especially since we're not only in Boston but also in Oakland, and London.” Campuses where D'Amore-McKim has a presence.
“It was a reminder of what a trailblazing university NU is and how wide-reaching the entrepreneurship ecosystem is. We know this makes us stand out,” she adds.
Other finalists for the Most Impactful University of the Americas category included Clark University, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Universidad del Desarrollo, and Arizona Western Entrepreneurial College.
The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts towards the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. They are the first awards to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission: to generate knowledge outside academic environments to benefit social, cultural, and economic development. The awards are organized in four regions worldwide (Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific).
Learn more about the Triple E Awards.
To get involved or learn more about Northeastern's Center for Entrepreneurship Education, contact Marie Meslin.