The University of Denver’s Women’s College Names Business Leader, Jeanne Callahan, to lead and launch new center
DENVER— The Women’s College (TWC) of the University of Denver has named Jeanne Callahan director of its new Center for the Advancement of Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Women (ABLE). The center is slated to open in fall 2011.
Callahan, who received her MBA degree from Columbia University Business School in New York, has an extensive entrepreneurial background and owns several successful Denver businesses, including Chris Kopp Bicycle Works and Avalon Development. In addition to conducting a feasibility study and managing the grant funds received from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Callahan will develop an ABLE business plan.
“The Women’s College of the University of Denver will be at the forefront in mobilizing and advancing women entrepreneurs in the Rocky Mountain Region. The entrepreneurship center is just another way TWC advances women leaders locally and nationally. I am thrilled to join the community and help move this initiative forward,” says Callahan.
Diane Gibson, chairperson of TWC’s Founders Committee and CEO and founder of Craters & Freighters Franchise Company, a national specialty shipping franchiser, says women need support to start and grow businesses.
“As a women business owner for the past twenty years, I have seen first-hand the challenges and opportunities that come with starting and growing a business. Through the strength, vision and innovation of the new Center for the Advancement of Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Women, female entrepreneurs will have support in shaping the future of business,” Gibson says.
Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D, dean of TWC, says the College already has a focus on educating women as leaders. “The new Center will provide women with the critical information and connections they need to move from start-up to the next level, so women-owned businesses are not just surviving, but thriving, growing and returning an economic investment to Colorado.”
Gangone notes Denver has the second largest percentage of women-owned start-ups in the country so locating a women-focused entrepreneurship center at TWC makes a lot of sense.
The new center will join TWC in making its home in the Merle Chambers Center for the Advancement of Women in the heart of the DU campus.
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The Women’s College of the University of Denver provides women the opportunity to earn bachelor’s degrees and certificates by taking classes on weekends, evenings, and blended-online.
The Women’s College offers four baccalaureate degrees in Business Administration, Communication, Information Technology Studies, and Law and Society. Certificates are also offered in Community-Based Research, Conflict Management Studies, Entrepreneurial Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, Information Technology Studies, Leadership Studies, Philanthropic Studies, and Writing. For more information about The Women’s College, or to set up a personal appointment, visit http://womenscollege.du.edu or call 303-871-6848.
The University of Denver is committed to improving the human condition and engaging students and faculty in tackling the major issues of our day. DU ranks among the top 100 national universities in the U.S. For additional information, go to www.du.edu/newsroom.
Contact: Nancy Hemming
Phone: (303) 871-6221
E-mail: Nancy.Hemming@du.edu