Partners

Family Business Forum

The mission of the UNC Asheville Family Business Forum (FBF) is to provide professional learning opportunities to help family owned businesses maximize the overall well-being of their company and to assist with transition planning for the next generation of family ownership. The Family Business Forum is the only ongoing professional development and awareness-raising environment specifically designed for family businesses in western North Carolina.

Students in the Ideas to Action course present their pitches to the Family Business Forum to get their feedback.  Members of the Family Business Forum have also volunteered to mentor the students on particular projects.

Hatch AVL

The goal of the Hatch AVL Foundation is to help grow the next $10M companies in Asheville, with a combination of Place, Partnerships and Playbook. The ‘place’ is located at 45 South French Broad where we house 5 startups, and the HatchWorks Co-working space. This provides a space for high growth startups to support each other every day. Hatch AVL ‘partner’ with key stakeholders including Venture Asheville, with local businesses such as banks, accountants and law firms, with a group of talented and experienced mentors, and with universities in western NC, such as UNC Asheville, WCU and App State. In addition, they bring a ‘playbook’ of events, know-how and best practices assembled with the help of many experts.  Hatch This is a playbook example where aspiring local entrepreneurs come together to build a new business in a weekend.

Students in Ideas to Action have participated in the Hatch This weekend. In addition, Hatch AVL members have visited our classes to provide feedback on student pitches and have been judges in our Social Entrepreneurship Competitions.

Leadership Asheville

Leadership Asheville exists to enhance community leadership by developing, connecting, and mobilizing citizens throughout the region. This is primarily accomplished by engaging public, private and nonprofit leaders to support their growth and service to our community.

Students in the Ideas to Action course present their pitches to Leadership Asheville to get their feedback.  Members of Leadership Asheville have also volunteered to mentor the students on particular projects.

Learn More About Leadership Asheville

OLLI Asheville

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNC Asheville is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed learning community dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, leadership, community service, and research. Their goal is to enable their members to thrive in life’s second half.

Students in the Ideas to Action course present their pitches to OLLI Asheville to get their feedback.  Members of OLLI Asheville have also volunteered to mentor the students on particular projects.

Learn More About OLLI Asheville