For the second year in a row, Byline Bank donates $15,000 to DePaul Social Impact Incubator
CHICAGO, IL (APRIL 3) - For the second consecutive year, Byline Bank is serving as mentor and helping fund DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center's Social Impact Incubator Program with a $15,000 donation to reward graduates for their hard work. Participants each received a $1,000 stipend from Byline Bank as well as training, mentorship, and ideas to assist socially impactful businesses in achieving their goals.
“It was an incredible experience mentoring Elijah Obasanya, owner of software development and digital marketing company, Termnl, and watching the creativity, passion, and talent the Termnl team demonstrated each week,” said DePaul Advisory Board member and incubator mentor Stephen Ball, senior vice president at Byline Bank. “Small businesses make up a majority of the economy and workforce, and this group of future business leaders is not only looking to make a difference, but their willingness to do what it takes to be successful also teaches us all that hard work pays off.”
Founders from 13 startups participated in a six-week bootcamp that included guest speakers, an entrepreneurial curriculum, group discussions, and assignments.
These sessions provided resources to incubate and accelerate startups that have a clear social impact purpose to help their community, create jobs, support sustainability, or otherwise create positive social change.
“We are thrilled to have completed our second annual CEC Social Impact Incubator and are grateful to Byline Bank for its $30,000 sponsorship over the past two years to help make this program a success,” said Bruce Leech, executive director and clinical professor at the Coleman Center. “The collaboration of our participants with each other and the instructors was fantastic, as they learned a lot from each other. We look forward to our ongoing support of these startups in leveraging our additional resources at DePaul and the CEC to help them move their businesses forward.”
Now in its second year, DePaul's Social Impact Incubator program helps students, alumni, and Chicago area entrepreneurs, interested in having a social impact through their businesses, gain the skills and tools needed for their businesses to be successful and to continue the tradition of small businesses being a jobs engine in their community.
About Byline Bank
Headquartered in Chicago, Byline Bank is a full-service commercial bank serving small- and medium-sized businesses, financial sponsors, and consumers. Byline Bank has approximately $7.3 billion in assets and operates more than 30 full-service branch locations throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. Byline Bank offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking products and services including small ticket equipment leasing solutions and is one of the top Small Business Administration lenders in the United States. For more information, visit www.bylinebank.com. Byline Bank is a member of FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.