Thought Leader Endorsements
Endorsements from Thought Leaders/Influencers/Administrators/Sponsors
“I am pleased to congratulate you on your selection for a Fulbright award to Ireland. Our presidentially appointed 12-member board is responsible for supervising the Fulbright Program Worldwide and approving the selection of all Fulbright Recipients. Your grant is a reflection of your leadership and contributions to society… through funds appropriated by the U.S. Congress and partner countries and host institutions… and is devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbrights is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. As a grantee, you will join the ranks of many distinguished program participants. Fulbright alumni have become heads of states, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEO’s and university presidents as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers…. As a Fulbright participant and a representative of your country, you will have cultural, economic, and scientific fields… We hope your Fulbright experience will be deeply rewarding professionally and personally, and that you will share the knowledge and experience you gain with many others throughout your life.” – Paul Winfree, Chair, The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
“I can’t speak more highly for GCSEN leader Mike Caslin. You (Wheaton Students) have a great opportunity which I think you'll see at the end that you'll be able to make changes and move the world to a better place. I am so happy that Wheaton is doing this. Mike, Kudos for all your efforts at Wheaton with GCSEN. You are truly making a difference.” – Diana Davis Spencer, Chairman, and President, Diana Davis Spencer Foundation
“Mike is an uber-connector and consummate entrepreneur- bringing energy and creativity to using entrepreneurship to help develop wealth and diminish poverty, especially through NFTE – Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the extremely successful nonprofit he co-founded.” — Melissa Madzel, Koya Partners
RE: Our IAJBS White Paper “This article adds to the literature on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, business education and career outcomes by formulating a Career Return on Investment (ROI) approach for identifying the benefits of student entrepreneur training and skillset building in terms of broad career outcomes. Beyond the direct effect of strengthening future entrepreneurs’ abilities to launch and grow their own businesses, entrepreneurship programs, particularly those with impactful experiential content, provide valuable training for the broader career spectrum across industries in all types of organizations.
The paper builds on prior research that establishes how competencies developed in entrepreneurship programs can positively influence employability and career outcomes in a dynamic labor market. The methodology for this study infuses alumni narratives from different universities that utilize the GCSEN Social Impact curriculum within both undergraduate and master’s level academic programs. Individual student stories and short- and longer-term career outcomes are explored to provide new evidence of the broad impacts of entrepreneurial training and competency development.” – Dr. Mary Kate Naatus, KPMG Dean, School of Business, Saint Peter’s University, Vice President, NJCBA
“This is all very exciting … you both are doing great things for our students and the greater good!!!” - James Joseph, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Wheaton College
“I just wanted to say thank you again for all the excellent work. I really meant it this morning when I said you (GCSEN) had delivered on the scope of work - KingstonMakers- 'with bells on'. I've just been pouring over the information again and it is a very strong foundation for what we're all about here at NoVo Foundation. You have been as creative as you have been thorough and professional, and never anything but a pleasure to work with. I'll be in touch shortly with ideas on what is next.” – Martin Kirk, Local Economy- Regional Resilience Advisor, NoVo Foundation (Peter and Jennifer Buffet)
“Thank you so much for having acceded to my request (for GCSEN information) so promptly, and I forwarded it to my brother, Roger Liddell, whom I hope you will be able to see in Sharon or Kingston before too long. Your successes are extraordinary, but anyone meeting you, with your wonderful mixture of warmth and intelligence, and kindness, would not be surprised.” – Jane Bass, supporter
“We shared some great times stateside and I’m always grateful to you for your support and experiences you and NFTE gave me. I would not be where I am today without it.” – James Moorhouse
“It’s been a tremendous help to work with GCSEN’s Tony DiMarco and Mike Caslin on our social venture, Digging Deep- Shadow’s Edge Gaming for Youth Emotional Resilience. Getting to one unified deck and alignment of our team is a big next step for us. We’re not perfect, but it is a lot better than it was. You have really gotten us over the hump. And we want to be your star performer! ”– Sheri Sobrato, Impact Investor, Philanthropist, Founder, Digging Deep Project
“I think there is value in GCSEN. Social Entrepreneurship is certainly worth promoting.”— Jonathan M. Holifield, Executive Director, White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Executive Office of the President, U.S. Department of Education
“Mike is the leader of GCSEN Foundation. I think there is much you will find incredibly valuable and I know that Mike has great programming that could be very helpful with Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).”–Todd E. Pauley, Esq., Office of Entrepreneurial Development, Director, Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Small Business Administration
“Your GCSEN Foundation would hold significant and strategic interest for the Business School and offer the potential to develop a viable and ongoing relationship with world-class social entrepreneurship best practices. This proposition offers exceptional opportunities for networking and the development of best practices which would rejuvenate our developments in this area between our existing partnerships with local governments in Donegal, Ireland and Derry, Northern Ireland.” – Dr. Michael Margey, Head of School of Business, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT)
“I’m delighted to read that you are coming to Donegal and LYIT (Letterkenny Institute of Technology) (as a Fulbright Scholar for Social Entrepreneurship). It’s an exciting and challenging time for Social Enterprises here in Donegal and we will appreciate learning from your knowledge and experience. Looking forward to meeting you.” – Leah Fairman, Manager, BASE Enterprise Center, TEDx Curator
“Thank you for the opportunity to participate in GCSEN’S Global Learning Platform, especially its ‘social venture experience’ program. SE courses 101 and 102. I gained a wealth of understanding of the level of commitment and passion required to successfully chart a plan, a social venture. I applaud GCSEN’s mission and vision, through its Social Entrepreneur courses, to influence new talent to enter your collaborative and supportive ecosystem (aka Club THEOS). In my opinion, GCSEN’s eco-system grows social entrepreneurs’ skills and aligns passions to make a difference in the lives of the participants and in our communities. As a result of the understanding that I gained from your courses, I have determined to abandon the specific social venture that’s much better suited for me at this time of my life… My heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to you and all of your team, especially Tony DiMarco. Keep doing the great work you do!” – Kirk Ritchey, IBM retired, Blockchain Visionary/Entrepreneur
“I reflect fondly on our time together back in the 2000s! It was such a special experience to be a part of the NFTE community. Your vision, leadership, contributions and accomplishments were extraordinary and inspiring! And from what I hear, you continue apace!” – Stephanie Bell-Rose, Senior Managing Director and Head TIAA Institute, Harvard University Alumna
“We are so looking forward to you coming (to Ireland for your Fulbright). It will be great to learn from someone of your caliber.” – Isobel Cunningham Ph.D., Lecturer at Letterkenny Institute of Technology
“GCSEN has a tremendous brand and tremendous momentum and brings a genuine learning product and experience to the market and we are happy to be now working together.” – Dr. Kenneth M. Karamichael, Director, Office of Continuing Professional Education, Rutgers University
“I would like to add how grateful I am for your time yesterday- I’m blown away by what you guys have accomplished with GCSEN as well as your future plans. Right here in Kingston no less. I look forward to our next conversation.” – Doug Menuez, American Photographer
“The USA Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) team is recruiting participants for this year’s National Expert Survey. Given your breadth of experience related to entrepreneurial education, we’ll like to invite you to be one of these experts.”– Benjamin Cox, Research Coordinator, National Expert Survey, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)
“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing both of you on Friday– Mike, hope you’re around at noontime. I will have Wendel Davis with me from SBA. Wendell is both Regional Administrator of SBA Region 1 (New England), but also the Manufacturing/Supply Chain Resiliency Recovery Task Force Chair for the Agency. We are visiting with some Hudson Valley manufacturers Friday and I always like to include FALA on the list, and with GCSEN it’s even better. We know there is a time constraint, so we plan on arriving at noon and wrapping things up by 1PM. Was thinking of a quick tour of the facility, then sit down to discuss challenges facing small manufacturers right now.” – Steven J. Bulger, Regional Administrator, Atlantic Region II & Mid-Atlantic Region III (Acting) U.S. Small Business Administration
“LeMoyne College Madden School of Business and the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS) have an interest in featuring GCSEN in our global magazine, INNER COMPASS, and bringing the innovative work of GCSEN and your proven campus programs to the attention of our global network of 190 Jesuit Colleges and Universities in 46 countries around the world. Our faculty are seeking proven, new ‘millennial learner-centric’ video and documentary case studies, academic journal thought leadership, teaching tools, and workshops for life-changing learning experiences and innovative classroom teaching practices from GCSEN for their network.” – Tracy Couto, Director of IgnitEd, home of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS), the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education (CJBE), and the Global Jesuit Case Series (GJCS).
“As an organization that believes better business starts with better business education, IgnitEd has been inspired by GCSEN’s dedication to accelerating social entrepreneurship. We are thrilled to collaborate with GCSEN to facilitate life-changing opportunities for those who are discovering their passion and purpose, especially during these uncertain times where many people are ready to start a new chapter in their lives. What impresses us most is your good energy and focus on the student learner and the faculty and administrators who are all important to accelerating principled participation in business that moves the world to a better place. Your 4P Social Entrepreneurship framework of social ventures for people, profit, planet, and place is vital and urgent at this time of great change, fear and opportunity. We are thrilled to be working with you to promote your insights, values, tools, and practices to our global community and look forward to [a] true and enduring impact. IgnitEd is the home for IAJBS, CJBE, and the GJCS. These three founding members of IgnitEd provide content and programming to over 210 Jesuit institutions of higher education around the world (27 within the US) and including three journals- The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability (IAJBS), the Journal of Jesuit Business Education (JJBE) and selected case studies that emphasize compassionate leadership, ethics and social justice (GJCS). IgnitEd’s membership includes thousands of business school faculty from around the world who are interested in values-based business education. IgnitEd is housed at Le Moyne College's Madden School of Business in Syracuse, NY. Following three years of due diligence including a visit to GCSEN’s very impressive program at Wheaton College, I am pleased to announce that GCSEN has been selected as a key content provider for IgnitEd's global network of faculty and students. We are proud to align with an organization with your track record of creating values-based business curriculum as well as your innovative leadership relative to how this essential knowledge is shared through wide-ranging, blended learning methodologies,” –Tracy Couto, Director of IgnitEd, home of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS), the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education (CJBE), and the Global Jesuit Case Series (GJCS)
“It is great to see the progress Vassar College students made through GCSEN’s self-paced internship program, supported by coaching. We are pleased that four students represented us with social ventures they created through the program, and we’re especially proud to see one student’s social venture, Izana, take first place in the NY State Collegiate Business Plan Competition in the Products and Services category. GCSEN’s program has been a great way for our students to take a structured approach to [make] a meaningful social impact.” – Stacy Bingham, Director of Career Development, Vassar College, President of the Liberal Arts Career Network
“What a great report and what great presentations Tony DiMarco’s (GCSEN) Vassar Social Venture Interns students created! This partnership, and how quickly we collectively have advanced the topic of Social Entrepreneurship at Vassar College, is just short of amazing. Thanks to Tony and Mike Caslin for going above and beyond and we are looking forward to keeping this effort moving forward. President Betsy Bradley said, ‘SO GREAT!!!’ and ‘Terrific’ and Tim Kane our VP of Development said, ‘Now, that is great.’” – Dr. John Bradley, Executive Director, Urban Education Initiative, Vassar College
“Keep up the great work!” – Laurie Lane-Zucker, Founder & CEO, Impact Entrepreneur, an Impact Economy Company
“Thank you so much for providing our students with community-engaged learning opportunities during the Spring ‘19 semester. These positions help to deepen our students’ learning, provide them with experience, and foster engaged citizenship. Students are supervised by faculty during this experience and receive academic credit-based, in part, on evaluations from our community partners. Thank you for your time, assistance, and for providing our [Vassar College] students with this wonderful opportunity.” – Stephanie Fisher-Meyer, Assistant Director, Office of Community-Engaged Learning, Vassar College
“Prof. Tony DiMarco [GCSEN] has done an outstanding job in preparing our students for the 2019 NY State Collegiate Business Plan Competition. Thanks to his hard work and our students’ creativity and professionalism, five winners at this year’s regional competition were from SUNY New Paltz! Congratulations to our (14) entered teams of (51) students and to Tony for his fine work. President Don Christian of SUNY New Paltz said, ‘Excellent! Congratulations to the students and Tony.’” – Dr. Kristin Backhaus, Dean, School of Business, SUNY New Paltz
“As your first Strategic Advisory Board Member, I wish you all the best in this endeavor. It is definitely a great cause and I fully support it.” – Dr. Jay Rao, Babson College, Global Subject Matter Expert on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
“You and the Program are certainly reaching the next plateau and I am so pleased for you and GCSEN. You have all of your former mentors (Philanthropist Gloria Appel, Drs. Jeffry Timmons, Natalie Taylor, and Greg Dees) proud of what you accomplished. Your entrepreneurial mind is amazing. You are the epitome of the expression that if you step in manure at the racetrack, you immediately are happy because there must be a horse nearby. Seriously, I admire your out-of-the-box thinking.” – Professor Len Green, Babson College, Founder The Green Group, Harvested Investor- Sobee’s and Blue Buffalo
"RE: IAJBS White paper - Mike, My congratulations to the entire GCSEN Team that was involved in this work. It is a real “feather of achievement. Regards, Len" - Professor Len Green, Babson College, Founder The Green Group, Harvested Investor- Sobee’s and Blue Buffalo
“I first met Mike Caslin when I joined Babson College as Division Chair [Entrepreneurship]. He had been an adjunct faculty member [at Babson] teaching Social Entrepreneurship and I became his direct supervisor and have known him for 6 years. His strengths are: personal interaction, communication, sales and marketing, and non-profit/foundation with NFTE; he knows the landscape of social entrepreneurship very well.This leader has built connections, knows how to do research, collect data, and is importantly committed to social mission ventures and non-profits. Mike has taught graduate and undergraduate courses and I observed his teaching on several occasions. From what I’ve witnessed, there is no question he engages students in rich discussion and is an enthusiastic presenter.” – Dr. Candy Brush, Babson College, Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
“Mike Caslin, a terrific student of mine, a wonderful friend and [a] true champion of the disadvantaged.” – Professor Ed Ryan, Manhattanville College
“Mike is an uber connector and consummate entrepreneur - bringing energy and creativity to using entrepreneurship to help develop wealth and diminish poverty.” – Melissa Madzel, Koya Partners
“Roger Babson once said, ‘It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.’ It also takes people like you...Together (Mike Caslin, GCSEN, and Babson), we will transform lives, businesses, and communities for the better.” – Edward Chiu, Governor Craig R. Benson Endowed Sr. V.P, Babson College
“A great deal has happened since you were awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and we never got the chance to talk about it. Just knowing you have received such an award is an incredible accomplishment. Under better times I would have liked us to have dinner together. Until such better times come, just having a quick meeting to discuss it is all I ask. (I’ve never met a Fulbright Scholar ☺) –Frank Falatyn, CEO, FALA Technologies- 70 yrs. design-build concept to commercialization firm of the Hudson Valley, NY
“This is all very exciting … you both are doing great things for our students and the greater good!!!”- James Joseph, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Wheaton College
“Very enthusiastic about what you have created and are setting in motion. Let's keep in touch as I figure out The Institute's 'next'." – Cheryl Kiser, Executive Director, The Lewis Institute