International Entrepreneurship Panel, October 6 at NYU
I found a problem that I think helps no one last year teaching entrepreneurship at NYU, also as a mentor. Nearly all the students I worked with were born outside the U.S. They picked my course, “Entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales” or picked me as a mentor largely because they liked entrepreneurship. Many wanted to become entrepreneurs.
As much as they wanted to start businesses, many of our conversations had this phrase in them:
… but I have to get a job with a big company to sponsor my visa.
Non-citizens who wanted to start companies either had to leave the country to start one or work at a big company to stay.
Following on the success of the Women in Entrepreneurship panel I helped organize at NYU, I suggested to a couple people the idea of a panel on non-citizens who wanted to start companies here. People liked the idea and it took off. Now it’s happening.
The panel has
- Three non-U.S.-citizens who found ways to start companies here and stay
- One immigration lawyer who knows the rules
- One Director of NYU’s Entrepreneurship Institute, well-connected in New York’s entrepreneurship community to Moderate
The idea is to show non-citizens that staying is possible, despite the red tape by having a panel of similar people who found ways to stay. It’s not a how-to session, but I hope more inspiring. I believe it will help people like my students by showing them paths they could take and will help New York City and this country by retaining passionate entrepreneurs to start companies, create jobs, innovate, and all the other things successful entrepreneurs do. Otherwise they’d do it elsewhere. Members of the entrepreneurial community tell me the rules make starting a company too hard and pushes out people who would help our economy. In the long term, I support changing the rules. For now, I expect this panel will help people more immediately.
Click here to register. It’s free!
Here is the information from the registration page. We’re still finishing it, but I’d rather put it up early than wait.
Please tell people who might be interested in it about it.
Can you start a company in the United States if you’re not a citizen?
Can you get your great idea off the ground on a student visa?
What challenges do international entrepreneurs face here in New York, and what resources are available to them?
People have done it! The NYU Entrepreneurs Network, FWD.us, Bridge at Wagner, and the Wagner International Student Society bring you a panel of international entrepreneurs who found ways to start ventures here whose experience you can learn from, as well as an immigration lawyer and the Director of NYU’s Entrepreneurship Institute.
Please join us at 5:00pm for light refreshments and a showcase in the Rice Room, where you’ll get to meet current international students at NYU working on start-up projects and connect with resources to start your own. The panel will start in Rudin at 6:30pm.
Panelists
More coming!
Lindsey Marshall Grey, Programs Director, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute (Moderator)
Lindsey Marshall Gray develops educational programs and events to inspire, educate, connect, and accelerate entrepreneurs across NYU. Lindsey is also a member of the Teaching Team for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. Prior to joining NYU, Lindsey worked for Innosight, an innovation firm founded by Clayton Christensen where she worked with Fortune 100 companies to help them identify strategic growth opportunities and build and invest in new businesses.Lindsey was also a Director for the marketing analytics consulting firm, Kantar Retail, where she helped develop and sell new technology solutions for the consumer packaged goods industry. Lindsey also worked at CVS /Caremark in the pharmacy retailer’s strategic product development group.Lindsey received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Connecticut College.
Najia S Khalid, Associate, Wiggin and Dana LLP
Najia S. Khalid is an associate in the firm’s Labor, Employment and Benefits Group in the firm’s New Haven Office and serves as Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee. Najia concentrates in the area of Immigration and Nationality law, and since 2003 has gained extensive experience in the field in various capacities. She joined Wiggin and Dana in 2012 from the immigration practice group at Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs LLP in New York City. Najia has represented a wide range of clients, from national and multinational companies in a wide array of industries to artists, executives, journalists, religious groups, schools and scientists.She has represented clients in connection with nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions, labor certification applications, family-based petitions, adjustment of status and citizenship applications and immigration interviews. She also regularly counsels employers with respect to I-9 compliance and global immigration procedures.
Mehmet Kaptan, Feel Fresh Media
Kajal, Founfer, Founder, Kajal London
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