Volunteer

All of our programmes are a blend of leading academic thought and real-life experiences from people who have been there and done it. We need volunteers from the entrepreneurial and business communities to give their time to bring our programmes to life. We are always seeking judges, mentors and speakers for our experiential programmes such as the Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship, Velocity and the programmes run from our innovation hub and maker space, Unleash Space.

“Volunteering and mentoring at the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) over the last year has been an absolute pleasure and an eye opener to the aptitude and energy of New Zealand’s youth.

Having had a fascinating and very fulfilling global career, most of it spent living in London and working through the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia – it is extremely important to me to give back to future generations.

Working with the CIE is an amazing opportunity to do this with students who are so hungry for the knowledge and exposure to others they can learn from. My work with the CIE has ranged from business mentoring to health and wellbeing workshops and being able to use my lived experience to help our future innovators has been extremely rewarding.

I have been absolutely blown away by the talent, idea generation and passion I have seen working with the students at the CIE – the learning has gone both ways and I am looking forward to doing more with them in the future! They are truly inspiring to work with.”

Leanne Prichard is an experienced business development manager and entrepreneur.

Give us a project

Both our Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship (MCE) students and Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) students undertake supervised projects that brings together their learning in the programme.

We need organisations to provide live projects that would benefit from our students applying their knowledge and skills to:

• Commercialise your science and technology (MCE)
• Identify, assess, and value strategic opportunities for growth for your business (Executive MBA)

The MCE project will enable students to develop an in-depth understanding of how to commercialise science and technology. In the past we have used technologies from universities, CRIs and technology-based enterprises. Project sponsors from the organisation receive regular updates via presentations and a final written report.

The MBA project presents an opportunity for students to apply skills in contextualising problems, analysing problems from multiple perspectives, and suggesting interventions in a consulting capacity. Projects come from a variety of New Zealand companies, and span concepts such as market entry, new product viability, feasibility analysis, strategic planning. Businesses must have a minimum of 10 employees.

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Sponsor

Many of our most successful programmes have only been possible due to the vision and generosity of our sponsors who share our values of instilling an entrepreneurial ethos and skills into the next generation of New Zealanders.

Sponsors benefit greatly from their involvement in our programmes through opportunities to identify and establish relationships with top talent, to network with others in New Zealand’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and through brand association with a cutting-edge centre at New Zealand’s leading university.

“We had such a great experience and I had a number of our people thanking us for the opportunity to participate and engage with the students and their fresh new ideas.”

Darryl-Lee Wenderlborn, Managing Director of Beca

“We know we need to explore the impact of disruptive technologies so we can build a sustainable port that enhances social, environmental and commercial outcomes. By partnering with the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, we can learn so much from the talented young people who are the future leaders of New Zealand.”

Tony Gibson, CEO of Ports of Auckland

“Yealands has enjoyed being a part of the Solve It program for two years now. We recognise that what is being done through the Solve It programme lines up perfectly with our philosophies around Innovation, and see the programme as a way to continue to drive innovation in our business, by using the great minds of future leaders within our community. With Yealands core focus on Sustainability, the program allows us to explore a multitude of sustainable business solutions in a very short, but meaningful amount of time. Our intention is to move the ideas forward in our business, to not only show our continued dedication to sustainability and innovation, but to illustrate that the Solve It programme is not only working, but is important to the success of New Zealand businesses today.”

Avram Deitch – Global Marketing Manager, Yealands

If you are interested in partnering with us as a sponsor, we are keen to find the right opportunity for you. To start the conversation, please contact Trudi Gwillim, Associate Director, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at: t.gwillim@auckland.ac.nz.

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Donate

If you are inspired by our mission of unleashing the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland and are interested in donating, then we would love to hear from you.

Connect with us by contacting Wendy Kerr, Director, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at: w.kerr@auckland.ac.nz.

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