The McKenna Center's Urban Poverty Business Initiative has received the Award of Excellence in the Talent category from The University Economic Development Association.
The Talent category focuses on programs that teach people to thrive in the 21st-century Knowledge Economy. The summit's attendees select the recipient of the award through real-time voting for the program that most embodies the category's core principles: life-long learning (degree and non-degree programs), experiential education and discovery-based learning programs, and active alignment of curricula to industry needs.
The Urban Poverty Business Initiative, overseen by the Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame Professor Michael Morris, helps low-income and disadvantaged entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses. Over the past four years, the initiative has expanded to 32 partner cities in urban areas worldwide, from Ahmedabad, India, to San Diego. The McKenna Center coordinates the network and provides support to the partner cities.
“On behalf of the thousands of entrepreneurs that have been impacted by this program, we thank you. We are honored to accept this award and will continue our work through the Urban Poverty Business Initiative to further exemplify the principles and qualities of the UEDA Award of Excellence,” said Sue McDonald, the McKenna Center program manager, who accepted the award on behalf of Michael Morris.