Check out the FORGE Ahead Resident startup in the news, meet our fellows, and apply for a scholarship
Five tribal entrepreneurs will travel to the November Native FORGE conference
University of Arizona Native FORGE has selected the San Carlos Apache Tribe as the first Native FORGE cohort. The San Carlos Apache Tribe nominated five entrepreneurs to participate in the program; Alice Juan of Bylas District Economic Enterprise (BDEE), Rachelyn Kenton of Seven Mile Wash Economic Enterprise (SMWEE), Davida Olivar of Hometown Events, Tristan Sneezy of Apache Fuel & Public Management and Davison “Beejay” Ward Jr. of Sewn by Beejay. The entrepreneurs will travel to Tucson, Arizona for the first Native FORGE Conference, held at FORGE at Roy Place from November 2nd – 3rd. The conference will provide entrepreneurs with access to venture resources, introductions to mentors and investors, and technical equipment including laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots.
“Working with these entrepreneurs is an exciting opportunity for both FORGE and the tribal community,” said Rafael Tapia Jr. “The University of Arizona learns more about how to best support the needs of tribal businesses and the entrepreneurs gain resources and education that they can share with the community and use to scale their businesses.” Tapia, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, is the Vice President of Programs at Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA) serving hundreds of reservation communities in 9 states and the dedicated Mentor in Residence for Native FORGE. Tapia holds an MBA from Eller College of Management and has worked extensively with tribal businesses. He will be mentoring and advising the entrepreneurs throughout the year.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe was selected out of several applications. Kodee Goseyun, the Economic Development Specialist, and Nathan Nash, the Economic Development Manager, for the San Carlos Apache Tribe, helped oversee the tribe’s application. Goseyun is looking forward to the resources the program will bring.
“The impact from the Native FORGE program, that I hope to see within the San Carlos Apache tribal communities is economic growth through small business,” said Goseyun. “The San Carlos Apache Tribe needs additional resources to provide business consultations, business outreach, and entrepreneurial opportunities for our tribal members to be successful in the business field.”
FORGE Fireside with Rafael Tapia
Join us live, or online, for a special Wednesday edition of Forge Fireside with FORGE founding director Brian Ellerman and Rafael Tapia. Rafael Tapia is the FORGE Mentor in Residence for the Native FORGE program to encourage tribal entrepreneurship. Rafael will discuss how the program will be helping entrepreneurs within the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
Rafael F. Tapia, Jr., of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, is the Vice President of Programs at Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA) serving hundreds of reservation communities in 9 states. He served as the senior advisor to the office of the chairman of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Arizona Department of Commerce Tribal Liaison to the 22 Arizona Indian Tribes, consultant, and is a small business owner. Rafael holds an MBA from the University of Arizona and an Economic Development Certificate from Oklahoma University College.
This event is the first to take place in our new STEAM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) FORGE location.
Full year scholarship available to undergraduate students in any program!
FORGE is proud to announce the launch of its Biomedical Entrepreneur Startup Scholarship and Residency. This program is part of FORGE’s commitment to applying proven entrepreneurial support, innovation, and commercialization services while catalyzing and stewarding the growth of biomedical companies at the University of Arizona Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building (BSPB) in Phoenix and at FORGE at Roy Place in Tucson.
The new scholarship and residency program is open to full-time University of Arizona undergraduate students, in any academic program, with an interest in creating a biomedical startup. This includes any startups that focus on technologies or processes to advance services and health in the industry to ultimately improve patient outcomes. Read more about the scholarship program here.
Students can apply online at forge.arizona.edu/biomed Applications are due October 28, 2022.
FORGE will also host an in-person info session on Thursday, October 13th from 9:30-10:30am, following the TIMESTEP presentation, to answer questions about the program. Register for the info session below.
FORGE Ahead Resident Startup in the news
FORGE at Roy Place in downtown Tucson is a great place to connect with entrepreneurial resources. The Arizona Daily Star profiled how FORGE Ahead Resident Startup PackDash entered the Tucson startup ecosystem by knocking on the front door. Read their story below:
The PackDash founders literally walked into their Arizona FORGE experience after arriving in Tucson last year.
They strolled into the FORGE offices at the historic Roy Place building downtown and were greeted by members of Startup Tucson, a nonprofit business incubator hosted by the UA at FORGE, who introduced Norwood and DiCosola to FORGE staff.
DiCosola, who has been involved in several startups and was a mentor at a Chicago business accelerator for nearly three years, said FORGE provides office space and a place to meet with other local entrepreneurs.
“FORGE has been a great way to be exposed to other entrepreneurs in the ecosystem,” he said. “A lot of the education you need as a business owner can come from structured resources, but so much comes from other entrepreneurs.”
Photo By Mamta Popat, Arizona Daily Star
Get to know our SVP Fellows
Our FORGE Student Venture Pathway Fellows serve as seasoned peer leaders and work across all FORGE programs to provide student voice and perspective. Fellows design and implement training for other students, assist with the planning and execution of FORGE signature events, and communicate FORGE student founder stories and impact to inspire innovation and problem-solving. This unique leadership role involves greater contributions towards, responsibility for, and influence over the design and implementation of FORGE activities and programs. Our Fellows are extremely talented individuals and we are truly fortunate to have them as part of our team.
Linnea Andersson
Hometown: Gotland, Sweden
Studying Management Information Systems (MIS). A fun fact about her is that she has been to 18 countries and her absolute favorites were South Africa and Croatia.
“To me, an entrepreneurial mindset means so much more than just starting a venture. It's about always striving to make things better, combined with the creativity and drive to actually implement the ideas even if it's challenging.”
Her favorite things about the University of Arizona are the sporting events and the fact that it's (almost) always sunny! She enjoys going to the gym, reading, and watching college sports.
Benjamin Lemon
Studying Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law with a minor in Psychology. Ben also works as a peer mentor with Project FOCUS to help support students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend the U of A and gain employment experience
To me, having an entrepreneurial mindset is to possess the skills you need to attack challenges in life. Embarking on an entrepreneurial journey will certainly bring about hardship, and it is through hardship that we truly learn and grow.”
His favorite thing about the University of Arizona is the beautiful, picturesque campus, he finds it inspiring to study and work in such an amazing environment. Ben enjoys playing the cello, video games, intramural basketball, and building friendships with all the amazing people he has met here in Tucson.
Want to get more involved in our Student Venture Pathways program to build an entrepreneurial mindset?
Learn more about Student Venture Pathways
Upcoming Events
Thursday, October 13 - Campus Spotlight - TIMESTEP
Wednesday, October 19 - 2022 Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo
Wednesday, October 19 - October FORGE Fireside with Rafael Tapia
Thursday, October 20 - Curiosity Club
November 1st - 5th - TENWEST Impact Festival