From launching an angel investment network to scouting startups, running a venture competition, judging pitches, and conducting due diligence alongside Atlanta investors, this year’s Entrepreneurship Fellows are doing more than participating—they’re helping build.
To understand what it means to be a fellow with The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, consider the verbs that come with the role: build, scout, evaluate, organize, judge, and lead.
The center gives students opportunities to put entrepreneurial thinking into practice, whether they are interested in founding a company, investing in early-stage ventures, or driving innovation within an established organization. Through hands-on programming and connections to Emory and Atlanta’s entrepreneurial communities, students can test ideas, work alongside founders and investors, and apply what they are learning beyond the classroom.
The entrepreneurship fellows program takes that experiential model a step further. Fellows receive tailored mentorship, access to faculty, Entrepreneurs in Residence, and community leaders, as well as financial support for entrepreneurship and innovation experiences. In return, they take active roles in center initiatives, leadership workstreams, student organizations, and major events.
Learning by Doing
This year, the fellows community includes 28 students across Goizueta’s undergraduate Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Full-Time MBA, Evening MBA, and MS in Business Analytics programs, bringing together aspiring founders, investors, operators, and innovators at different stages of their Emory experience.
And there is no shortage of ways for them to get involved.
The center’s portfolio spans opportunities including Dooley’s Angels, Venture Scouts, Startup Summer, Techstars Emory Founder Catalyst program, Emory Venture Mentoring Community, Pitch the Professors, the Goizueta Entrepreneurship Summit and it culminating Pitch the Summit competition, the Venture Atlanta Mini-Fund, and the Venture Capital Investment Competition, among others. Across the portfolio, the common thread is learning by doing: pitching, building, evaluating companies, conducting due diligence, supporting founders, and working alongside other Fellows and members of the entrepreneurial community.
For this year’s fellows, several opportunities illustrate just how active that role can be.
Building Dooley’s Angels from the Ground Up
Dooley’s Angels connects Emory-affiliated startups with alumni and accredited investors while giving Goizueta students hands-on experience in venture evaluation and due diligence.
For Entrepreneurship Fellows, the opportunity goes further. As the organization moves through its first year, fellows can serve in mangement roles across member relations, due diligence, and operations—helping shape how the new initiative operates.
Fellows can also participate as Venture Scouts, identifying emerging Emory ventures, conducting early research, and helping connect founders with relevant resources. Together, the two programs give fellows experience across the investment pipeline, from sourcing promising companies to evaluating them more closely.
The Playmakers Behind VCIC
In 2025, the center hosted its first Goizueta-wide internal Venture Capital Investment Competition, giving students the chance to evaluate ventures and practice making investment decisions.
Entrepreneurship Fellows were instrumental behind the scenes, helping lead the planning committee, recruit students and volunteers, and manage event flow. Many also brought leadership experience from the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club and Goizueta Venture Capital.
Their involvement helped make the competition both an investing experience and a leadership opportunity—one that fellows helped create for their peers.
Helping Founders Find Their Pitch
That behind-the-scenes leadership extends to the Emory Goizueta Entrepreneurship Summit and its signature student competition, Pitch the Summit.
In the weeks leading up to the event, Entrepreneurship Fellows work alongside volunteer MBA students to facilitate and help lead first-round judging. They also collaborate with the undergraduate BBA Program Office to support summit planning and day-of logistics.
The experience gives fellows a different perspective on pitching: evaluating ventures, offering feedback, and helping determine which founders advance—all while supporting fellow student entrepreneurs.
Taking Due Diligence Beyond Emory
Fellows also have opportunities to take their investing experience beyond campus through collaborations with Atlanta’s venture community.
Through the Venture Atlanta Mini-Fund, a partnership with TiE Atlanta Angels, students contribute to sourcing, due diligence, and fund operations for investments in companies presenting at Venture Atlanta.
Fellows can also apply for the Atlanta Technology Angels Analyst Program, where they work alongside ATA members and support the organization’s due diligence process.
Both experiences give Fellows exposure to real companies, real investment decisions, and the questions investors weigh when evaluating an opportunity.
More Than Access
Entrepreneurship Fellows bring a range of interests to the program, from founding companies to exploring venture capital, angel investing, and corporate innovation.
What connects those paths is hands-on responsibility. Fellows help build programs, scout ventures, evaluate founders, organize competitions, and conduct diligence alongside Atlanta investors.
The result is an experience that goes beyond learning how an entrepreneurial ecosystem works. Fellows help make it work.
Meet the 2026 Entrepreneurship Fellows
Cohort 4:
Noah Kann 27BBA
Cohort 5:
Dimi Deju 27BBA
Meher Jain 27BBA
Aagam Prakash 27BBA
Cohort 6:
Michael Hoppner 27BBA
Deesha Panchal 27BBA
Vidhi Tiwary 27BBA
Ashmita Bhandari 27MBA
Federico Morales Barrera 27MBA
Yolanda Morgan 27MBA
Jasia Barrett 27MBA
Varun Sheel 27MBA
Ayushi Chowksey 26BBA, 27MSBA
Khayla McCoy 28EvMBA
Cohort 7:
Ornella Adekoye 27MBA
Dylan Gibbons 27MBA
Ama Monkah 27MBA
Sophia Luo 27BBA
Andrew Jarzyna 27BBA
Shahid Karnai 28BBA
Kylinn Askew 28MBA
Christopher Brady 28MBA
Brijae Harper 28MBA
Alek Tirpan 28MBA
Rion Barnes 28EvMBA
Caelyn Sutton 28EvMBA
Christopher Tyner 28EvMBA
Anika Kablan 28EvMBA
Ready to put entrepreneurial thinking into action? Explore the programs, resources, and hands-on opportunities available through the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Explore the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
