Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation
Studying entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation is not just about starting a business, but about using the entrepreneurial mindset to analyze, adapt, innovate, and execute.
Why Choose a Minor in Entrepreneurship?
With a minor in entrepreneurial leadership and innovation, you will integrate critical thinking, analytical abilities, and communication skills to create and test solutions in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. Use our program’s four pillars—entrepreneurial mindset, concrete skill sets, experiential opportunities, and networking—to leverage your bachelor of arts degree. You will develop a greater understanding of yourself and others in order to collaborate more effectively and be an agent of positive change through substantial hands-on experiences. You will gain a powerful toolkit and network, enabling you to translate your entrepreneurship minor into action as you prepare for the future of work, ventures, and adventures. The Bates Center will connect you directly with Portland business and nonprofit leaders who understand the value of a liberal arts education. And when you graduate, you will find that the Lewis & Clark network extends far beyond the Pacific Northwest.
What You’ll Study
Our interdisciplinary program combines critical thinking, one of the chief benefits of a liberal arts education, with direct and hands-on links to the worlds of entrepreneurship, business, and positive social change so that our students are prepared for the transition to work and life. You will take courses in sustainability, design thinking, nonprofit management, future technologies, and much more, plus participate in at least one of the Bates Center’s cocurricular programs. We also offer one-credit skills classes designed to help you in your ventures, activities, current work, and future of work. Many of our students earn course credit while on an overseas program.
Outside the classroom, we engage the local for-profit and nonprofit communities and provide experiential and networking opportunities via our classroom lecturers, internship class, programming, and practica. Our dynamic programming includes
- Winterim, an immersive week of building venture and life skills that culminates in a pitch competition
- Lunch With a Leader, a series of free lunches with successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders
- The Bates Center Seed Grant Program, money for students to launch their entrepreneurial endeavors
- Experts in Residence, numerous experts in a variety of fields—such as law, investing, food/agriculture, and health care—who meet individually with students during office hours
- Entrepreneur in Residence, an industry professional who coaches, supports, and connects students to test and implement ideas
Connect With Lewis & Clark!
Complement Your Education With One of These Majors
Students from nearly every major have minored in entrepreneurship. The most popular majors for our entrepreneurial leadership and innovation minors are computer science and mathematics, economics, and rhetoric and media studies.
Bode Dalton BA ’25More about BodeI have really enjoyed the applicable life lessons woven into the classes. The entrepreneurship program is truly proving to be the definition of a liberal arts education.
Kate Milne BA ’24More about KateI learned about sustainability through my Introduction to Environmental Studies course and in an entrepreneurship class about sustainable practices in business. The best part of my experience so far has been understanding the different ways individuals perceive and experience the physical world.
Latifatou Savadogo BA ’24More about LatifatouThe Bates Center sustainability internship class helped me by providing great internship options, giving me interview and resume advice, and then getting to talk to my professors about priorities and going over what would be best for me.
What Can You Do With a Minor in Entrepreneurship?
Our alumni use their minor in entrepreneurship in a variety of careers, including running an expedition company with an environmental focus; working for adidas, KPMG, Adobe, and Intel; and launching sustainable businesses, such as a refill technology startup to reduce plastic consumption and a circular sanitation company that raised $5M of investor funding this past year.
Dedicated Faculty
Our expert professors are your expert mentors. You will learn directly from faculty (no graduate assistants here!) that are nationally recognized in their fields of study and who love to work with and learn from their students. Your professors will inspire you to be a thoughtful and passionate participant in a diverse world. Your small classes will support you as you explore new ideas, find your voice, and speak your truth.
Our program uses industry adjuncts, in addition to our faculty, who have a special ability to engage with students as well as provide context and contacts that will help when you graduate.
Invest in Yourself
A private liberal arts education is often more affordable than you think. Last year, Lewis & Clark distributed over $74 million in assistance from institutional, federal, state, and private sources. Additionally, we’re so confident that our first-year students will graduate in four years with their bachelor of arts degree that if you don’t, we’ll cover the extra semester of tuition.
Find Your People
Students can join a variety of student-run organizations, such as Entrepreneurship Club and Investing Club. Don’t see what you’re looking for on the club list? Start something new and build your own community of peers!
Where Lewis & Clark Will Take You
Ben Kolligs BA ’18More about BenL&C taught me the value of being multifaceted. If your desired path through life doesn’t exist, then you have the tools to figure out how to create it.
Mia Babasyan BA ’22More about MiaI have been working remotely as a project manager for a boutique film company; allowing me to gain new experiences while being able to travel occasionally to visit family and friends.
Raiven Greenberg BA ’17More about RaivenThe interdisciplinary nature of Lewis & Clark influenced my thinking in terms of how I could bring various fields of thought together to create positive change. This led me to develop my theory of change of using business and cross-sector partnerships as a lever to make a positive impact for people and the planet.
Featured News
Career Accelerator Fall 2025
Thanks to a generous donation from alumna Heidi Hu ’85, Lewis & Clark is expanding its Career development programs. The Bates Center and Career Center are launching new opportunities this fall to help students gain real-world experience and job ready skills.
The Career Accelerator is a game changing program designed to combine the power of a liberal arts education with technical, job-ready skills. Employers value critical thinking, adaptability, and communication, but they also look for technical skills and work experience. The Career Accelerator bridges this gap, helping students land competitive, mission driven jobs after graduation.
