Rebecca Rodriguez
Currently working at Columbia University as Senior Associate Director, of the Engaged Entrepreneurship Program (http://ctice.columbia.edu/pages/entrepreneurship/index.html).
| Headline: | Innocent Bystander |
| Work status: | Living The Dream |
| Skills: | Business, Entrepreneurship, Event planning, Leadership, Management, Negotiation |
| Groups: | Center for Technology Innovation and Community Engagement, CIA- Columbia Ideas in Action, Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE), Columbia Venture Competition, Global Social Venture Competition, HBA Business Plan Competition, William James Foundation Socially Responsible Business Plan Competition |
| Interested in: | Advising startups, Brainstorming, Career advice, Consulting opportunities, Creating a group, Employment opportunities, Finding engineers, Finding experts, Finding hot stories, Finding mentors, Getting press, Giving back, Growing my group, Helping friends, Helping members of my groups, Internships, Learning about entrepreneurship, Meeting new people, Mentoring, Offering Expertise, Partnering with other groups, Professional opportunities, Providing services to startups, Shadowing, Trading services |
| Tags: | all things columbia!, all things entrepreneurship |
| Schools: | Long Island University |
FULL BIO
Rebecca Rodriguez is Senior Associate Director for Entrepreneurship at The Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement (CTICE) at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Ms. Rodriguez has been a part of the Columbia community since 2001. She brings a diverse array of operational, strategic, and program development experience to the CTICE team. Ms. Rodriguez has shown a true appreciation for entrepreneurship, identifying the need for a thriving entrepreneurial culture at Columbia by taking a strong hand in creating her prior entrepreneurship-focused position at Columbia, managing the Student Enterprises Program. During her tenure she administered a program overhaul, created a training and business curriculum, developed a brand image, and instated successful human capital development techniques to enhance the student growth experience. She has also served as an advisor to new student entrepreneurial groups and managed a social entrepreneurship internship program.
Ms. Rodriguez also provided individual business plan advisement and support to students. Prior to her position with the Student Enterprises, Ms. Rodriguez’s professional background includes strategic planning, budget management, event planning, program management and administration. Ms. Rodriguez is also Executive Director of her own small business enterprise. She devotes time to community engagement through a multitude of organizations and serves as a mentor to underrepresented high school students. Ms. Rodriguez attended Long Island University for a Bachelor’s in International Studies, with a concentration in cross-cultural management.
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Columbia University, New York, NY |
| Position: | Senior Associate Director, Entrepreneurship, School of Engineering & Applied Sciences |
| Time period: | August 2008 - Present |
| Description: | Developing first University-wide entrepreneurship center under the Center for Technology, Innovation & Community Engagement
Program Development: • Create, plan and execute four major Engineering initiatives: entrepreneur-in residence program, student venture competition, mentorship structure, and summer incubator program • Expand caliber of speakers via the Columbia network, with greater faculty, staff, and alumni integration. • Serve as umbrella organization for all entrepreneurial student groups at Columbia Entrepreneurship Expansion: • Provide structural vision for Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center • Create series of entrepreneurship events around community engagement, clean tech, and social entrepreneurship • Collaborate with administrative offices and student groups to expand entrepreneurship awareness and resources • Provide entrepreneurial coaching and advisement to student entrepreneurial ideas and development. |
| Employer: | Columbia University, New York, NY |
| Position: | Associate Director, Columbia Student Enterprises, Center for Career Education (CCE) |
| Time period: | December 2004 - November 2008 |
| Description: | Advocated for the creation of this position to develop the operations, strategic planning, and management of Columbia Student Enterprises and entrepreneurship at Columbia. Successful initiatives include:
Entrepreneurship Training and Program Development: • Create, plan and implement training for student managers and key staff on topics such as leadership development, team building, finance and budgeting, branding, and strategy definition and development. • Expand caliber of speakers via the Columbia network, with greater faculty, staff, and alumni integration. • Recruit and retain student managers and key staff through implementation of a direct feedback system. • Facilitate ongoing monthly professional and business development sessions for student managers. Entrepreneurship: • Lead CCE Entrepreneurship Committee aimed to create an expanded entrepreneurial model to a Columbia-wide audience through programming, networking opportunities, and resources for students. • Began series of entrepreneurship events around social entrepreneurship, including sustainable development and community impact events. • Recruit and facilitate social entrepreneurship internship program in Guatemala; doubled applicant and intake numbers from previous year. • Collaborate with administrative offices and student groups to expand entrepreneurship awareness and resources; partnerships include the Business School, Student Advising, and Dining Services. Strategy and Relationship Management: • Revised infrastructure of Student Enterprise program, creating a ‘checks and balances’ system. • Develop strategic marketing plan, expanding awareness of Student Enterprises to the Columbia community. • Conduct benchmarking outreach with other universities to further enhance the program. • Create quarterly review process to track agency and individual manager professional development. • Organized first-ever Student Enterprises conference, with 500+ student attendees. Advising: • Advise and supervise student managers on human resources, fiscal budget, operations and building strategy. • Liaise with counseling staff; provide career advice to student managers as part of the training process. • Conduct bi-weekly one-on-one progress review meetings with student managers. |
| Employer: | Foreign Policy Association, New York, NY |
| Position: | Assistant Program Coordinator |
| Time period: | December 1999 - November 2001 |
| Description: | Managed relationships with several departments, each with different objectives.
• Kept log and tracked profiles of 500+ members who attended monthly lectures. • Prepared and coordinated monthly meetings and publications for events. • Maintained extensive phone contact with members and guests. • Managed database of all expenses, attendance, and lectures. |
EDUCATION
| University: | Long Island University |
| Degree: | International Studies, BA |
Rebecca's Startups (6)
View all-
-
Electronic Transfer
Technology Submission: Our business method aims to eliminate the most costly phase in document transfer process.
-
Invuture
Social Entrepreneurship Entry: Invuture connects college entrepreneurs and investors and create a healthy entrepreneurial environment in China.
-
Pearlshark
Technology Entry - IndieGoGo connects filmmakers and fans to make independent film happen.
Rebecca is Following (3)
View all-
College Mogul
College Mogul is a weblog and online resource for college entrepreneurship. We cover and assist in the emergence, progress and impact of new and existing collegiate entrepreneurial activity.
-
Leaders Of Tomorrow
Leaders Of Tomorrow is to make new generation, with goals, aims, to make them leaders, and to let them unleash the powers inside them to help the society they are living in, and to improve the future, Leaders OF Tomorrow, To make to tomorrow leaders
-
Rebecca's Contacts (8)
View all-
Jeff Hui
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate from Berkeley, currently pursuing MBA at Columbia Business School. President and Co-Founder of Jing, Inc.
-
Mark Bao
USA, 16, in High School, parallel entrepreneur, President & CEO of Avecora, co-founder of Ramamia, co-founder of TickrTalk
-
Wayne Simonetti
Pursuing Operations Research, Engineering Management Systems degree at Columbia University. Co-President of Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE) and Staff Writer and Executive Board Member of Columbia Financial Investment Group (CFIG)
-
Drew Knapp
Founder & CEO of goodideazs, LLC, dreamer of A Greater Town .