The ESHIP Way: Ecosystem Building 101

A rare professional development experience for entrepreneurial ecosystem builders

Dates & Format

🗓 November 11 – December 4, 2025
⏰ 8 sessions | 90 minutes each
💻 100% Virtual | Small cohort format (limited to 8 participants)

Entrepreneurship drives communities forward—but ecosystem builders are the ones who make it possible. The ESHIP Way is a first-of-its-kind course designed to equip early- to mid-career ecosystem builders with the clarity, skills, and confidence to lead with impact.

This 4-week immersive program combines reflection, practical tools, and applied learning. Through interactive sessions, expert guest speakers, and coaching support, participants will leave ready to:

• Apply ecosystem building principles in their own professional lives.
• Amplify their impact by putting these principles into daily practice.
• Multiply change by modeling and equipping others across their ecosystems.

You’ll gain strategies, tangible frameworks, and innovative tools to strengthen your leadership, facilitate collaboration, and sustain long-term impact.

What to Expect

This isn’t a passive webinar series — it’s a hands-on, highly interactive learning journey designed for real-world application.

• 8 Live Virtual Sessions (90 minutes each)
  Engage in dynamic, cohort-based sessions where you’ll workshop your own challenges, exchange ideas with peers, and practice applying frameworks to real scenarios.
• Expert Guest Faculty
  Hear directly from nationally recognized ecosystem builders who bring diverse perspectives — from technology and data, to community wealth, storytelling, higher ed partnerships, and equity-centered practice.
• Interactive Online Learning Platform
  Between sessions, you’ll access supplemental resources, videos, and exercises designed to reinforce your learning and deepen reflection.
• 1:1 Coaching Sessions
  Receive personalized support from experienced instructors to clarify your goals, refine your strategies, and apply concepts directly to your work.
• The ESHIP Way Digital Workbook & Toolkit
  A practical companion filled with templates, exercises, and frameworks you can immediately use in your own ecosystem building practice.
• Peer Collaboration & Network Building
  Build trusted relationships with fellow ecosystem builders from across the country — creating a support network that lasts long after the course ends.

By the end, you’ll walk away with greater clarity, confidence, and resilience, plus concrete tools to design, evaluate, and sustain impactful ecosystem initiatives.

Who Should Join

This course is designed for early- to mid-career ecosystem builders who want to deepen their impact while building the systems around them. It’s especially valuable if you are:

• Entrepreneur Support Organization (ESO) leaders and staff — those running incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, or community-based entrepreneur programs.
• Philanthropy and foundation program officers — professionals funding entrepreneurship and economic development initiatives who want a stronger systems lens.
• Economic development and chamber of commerce leaders — those seeking to shift from transactional programs to long-term ecosystem building strategies.
• Higher education practitioners — faculty, administrators, or center directors working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community engagement.
• Government and policy professionals — local, regional, or state-level staff advancing inclusive economic growth and entrepreneurship policy.
• Community-based changemakers — individuals and organizations committed to advancing equity, opportunity, and collaboration in their local entrepreneurial ecosystems.

No single organization or role can build an ecosystem alone. This course is for anyone ready to lead collaboratively, build trust across silos, and create conditions where entrepreneurs can thrive.