By Ella Alencar, Staff Writer
A new partnership between Wheaton College and consulting firm Elevate Innovations helps students turn business ideas into viable pitches through business mentoring and an experimental learning initiative called InnoHub.
Wheaton Endowed Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship Denise Daniels said, “We’re doing our best to make pathways for students, particularly students who have ideas and who want to do something innovative, and InnoHub is here to support that process as well.”
One student currently involved in InnoHub is Angie D’Andrea, a sophomore majoring in interpersonal communications and minoring in Spanish. D’Andrea is focusing on project management and said:
“InnoHub has given me the chance to be fully immersed in a project and gain experience that I would otherwise only get through working at a business.”
InnoHub offers two pathways students can choose from: Launchpad and Ventures. Launchpad, introduced in fall 2025, involves an application process and the course Center for Faith and Innovation 301. In Launchpad, students are paired with a mentor who guides them through a project of their choosing. Ventures, launching in January, involves an online application process in which students pitch an entrepreneurial idea. They are then paired with a mentor to help them develop their project or idea.
A goal of InnoHub is to lead students in Christ-centered entrepreneurship. “Jesus tells us very clearly to be in the world, but not of the world,” said Anne Ritchey, the director of student innovation and industry engagement.
“We want to help students work through what it means to follow that in business and entrepreneurial settings,” she said.
Regarding InnoHub participants, Ritchey said she wants to see “a growth in feeling completely confident and competent in these spaces, that they know what they’re doing, and they know why they’re doing it, and they’re ready to move forward with it.”
