The Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University in Detroit has received a $500,000 commitment from JPMorganChase to help expand student access to opportunities, entrepreneurship, and innovation. // Photo courtesy of WSU
The Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University in Detroit has received a $500,000 commitment from JPMorganChase to help expand student access to opportunities, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
The two-year commitment, announced by the Ilitch School and Wayne State’s Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, will support the school’s entrepreneurship and innovation programs and the Multicultural Professional Readiness Education Program (MPREP), enabling both to hire more staff, expand their offerings, and strengthen community outreach and engagement.
Wayne State estimates the commitment will allow MPREP to grow its service volume by at least 140 percent. By Fall 2027, MPREP will be able to serve approximately 100 students every academic year and support roughly the same number of program mentors — more than doubling the program’s current capacity.
“This transformational commitment from JPMorganChase will open doors for more students to access mentorship, engage in hands-on entrepreneurial experiences, and access the resources they need to turn their ideas into meaningful solutions,” says Virginia Franke Kleist, dean of the Ilitch School.
“I am deeply impressed and grateful to the leadership of JPMorganChase for their partnership and substantial support. This investment will yield a lasting impact on our students, the Ilitch School and the greater Detroit community.”
Terrah Opferman, Michigan Region manager for J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking and chair of Michigan’s Market Leadership Team, says, “At JPMorganChase, we are dedicated to expanding career pathways and helping more people have access to the skills and experiences needed to thrive in today’s economy.
“We are proud to support the Mike Ilitch School of Business as it prepares students for in-demand careers and provides opportunities for work-based learning and mentorship. This effort builds on over a decade of deep engagement in Detroit, working across sectors to advance economic growth and expand opportunity throughout the city.”
In addition, the commitment is expected to create opportunities to engage more than a dozen small businesses and provide roughly 50 students with hands-on service experience that strengthens these businesses. These experiences empower students with entrepreneurial skills that complement their academic studies.
“This grant will enable us to accomplish two important goals at the Ilitch School,” Kleist says. “First, it will enable us to exponentially accelerate the success of our students and improve generational mobility through education. Second, it will allow us to continue our already significant efforts to spark education in entrepreneurship and innovation across the Wayne State University community and beyond.”
MPREP and the Ilitch School’s entrepreneurship and innovation programs are designed to increase student mobility, fuel innovation, and create a unifying collaboration between Ilitch School academic resources, corporate supporters/mentorship, and community engagement.
Originally designed to increase the diversity of entry-level employees in accounting and finance, MPREP has grown to provide circles of support for students from all majors within the Ilitch School. Key pillars of the MPREP experience include:
Corporate mentorship: Each student is paired with 1-2 professional mentors, aligned with their major and interests, which they remain paired with until program completion.
Professional development: Students engage in Wayne State career fairs, fellowship programs, company leadership programs, virtual events/conferences and other professional networking opportunities.
Industry exposure: Students are exposed to companies representing all six Ilitch School majors — accounting, finance, global supply chain management, management, marketing, and technology, information systems and analytics — through twice-weekly corporate workshop presentations.
Academic support: All students will receive individualized evaluations and support plans, including monthly check-ins to review coursework performance, time management, tutoring needs, and more.
For more information, contact corpengagement@wayne.edu or visit here.
