Entrepreneurs in Residence

The EiR is one of the many programs the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center has created to empower students to think entrepreneurially.  The EIR program will assist in identifying innovative and promising student startups and support the student businesses when they launch and as they grow. The Entrepreneurs in Residence will counsel and advise students on writing business plans, marketing proposals, creating strategy briefs, business development cases and preparation for venture capital presentations.

“The Entrepreneurs in Residence are established and very successful business leaders with years of experience and sound business acumen,” said Johnetta Hardy, executive director of the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center. “They will work directly with the Center and the Maryland Innovation Extension team to provide advice to Bowie State’s students and faculty pursuing innovative ideas.”

Each program participant brings different skill sets that will enable them to address the needs of students individually and tailor their solutions rather than offering a one size fits all approach.

Current Entrepreneurs in Residence

Jainaba Ceesay is the founder of Ebrosso Consulting, LLC, a firm that provides business consultation services in the U.S. and internationally. She is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Bowie State. “My goal is to allow students to take what they learn from the classroom to pursue actionable steps in the real world and create viable innovative business models,” she said.

James W. Peterson, Jr is vice president and business banking relationship manager at M&T Bank. He is an expert in business forecasting, working with banks, developing appropriate strategies on collaborating with state and federal government agencies and experiential learning. “I have over 30 years of economic and business development experience that I will draw from to provide students with advice on operating a business,” said Peterson.

Tyrome Smith is the director of partnerships at Common Mission Project (CMP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs who are striving to solve critical national security, civic and social challenges. In his current position at CMP, Smith develops new strategic relationships with universities and corporate sponsors by providing leadership for the CMP Impact Fund, which provides financial support for student teams looking to scale their mission-focused solutions into sustainable businesses. “This is an opportunity for me to counsel these budding entrepreneurs on effectively managing a business and helping them to understand the steps they must follow to secure financing to expand their new ventures,” said Smith.