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A groundbreaking initiative for undergraduate students is making the liberal arts even more actionable at a crucial moment in history.
The Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship (LPCE) empowers students to solve global challenges right now, says Harvard professor Robert Lue. He is leading the program, which has been generously funded by Brazilian innovator Jorge Paulo Lemann ’61.
“Do you have an idea that could positively transform society?” asks Lue, who is also the Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Through LPCE, which is supported by the innovative facilities at the Bok Center’s Learning Lab, students gain access to seed funding, mentors, a network of distinguished experts, and a vibrant community of creative participants.
Whether students are starting solo or with fellow students with a shared concept, this innovative program can help students move from early concept to ready-to-launch reality. It sparks and cultivates ideas generated by coursework within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences into ventures that make a real-world difference.
“We develop and strengthen the impulse toward innovation in any area,” says Lue. “We celebrate the cross-pollination of creativity among students, faculty, industry experts, and practitioners.”
Due to the unprecedented issues facing the world today, the focus of the Lemann Program this year is on ideas, ventures and products that help build a “better normal” related to one or more of the following: the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, and climate change.
Harvard College students in any year or concentration are invited to apply now to the LPCE Accelerator to take their thinking and venture to the next level. This spring, the program is launching a novel set of hands-on courses, the Entrepreneurship StudioLabs, which will help students develop key skills, including media development and the proper use of data, to further develop students’ entrepreneurial and creative mindset.
“Let’s apply the collective horsepower of Harvard undergraduate students to actionable ventures that transform society for the better,” says Lue. “This is an opportunity for you to take center stage as a change agent.”
