University News

Bishop’s Student Entrepreneur Joins the Second Cohort of "The Next 36"

December 2, 2011

Sherbrooke, QC. – Fourth-year Bishop’s University student Samantha Juraschka will participate in The Next 36, a prestigious entrepreneurial leadership program launched in 2010 through the University of Toronto. She will join 35 Canadian undergraduate students for a challenging eight-month program designed to foster a new generation of Canadian business leaders.

Juraschka, a Williams School of Business Finance and Marketing major from Waterdown Ontario, is a three-time Academic All-Canadian varsity soccer player. She is a former member of the SEED Investment Portfolio program in the Williams School of Business, and President of the Bishop's Student Alumni Association.  Founder of the Gaiter Walk for ALS in 2009, Juraschka has served as chief organizer of the event in 2010 and 2011. To date the Walk has raised nearly $13,000 for the ALS Québec Tony Proudfoot Fund. In 2011, Jurashcka won the Eileen Healy Prize for Leadership from the LAMPE Foundation and was named University Athlete of the Year for Leadership from the Fondation de l’athlète d’excellence du Québec.

“It’s very exciting. I’ve already learned so much about my abilities just by taking part in the intense selection weekend,” said Samantha Juraschka. “I’ll be working with three students from other universities. It’s going to be daunting to meet the redefined program expectations but I think it will motivate me to rise to the challenge. I’m honoured to have the opportunity to participate and I’m truly proud to be representing Bishop’s University.”

Participants in The Next 36 will work in teams of four to develop a new business venture. Each team will be given $50,000 in capital as well as access to mentorship from business leaders and technical support to help invent, launch and sell a product or service for a mobile environment.

The 36 students will work remotely until May, when they will gather in Toronto for an intensive summer session of entrepreneurship education led by some of Canada’s top CEOs, professors, and business mentors.

“This is an amazing storyline for the talent within our walls,” states Dr. Steve Harvey, Dean of Bishop’s University’s Williams School of Business. “The competition for this program is very real and intense, so we are very proud of Samantha's performance.  That two of our students have won a spot in the program in its first two years speaks to the quality of the education offered at the Williams School of Business and the Dobson-Lagassé Entrepreneurship Centre.”

The Next 36, a program made possible through the generosity of individuals and charitable foundations, was founded by volunteer professor and serial entrepreneur Reza Satchu. It is championed by founding patrons Galen Weston, Paul Desmarais Sr., Jimmy Pattison and a long list of prominent Canadian business leaders. The program also has partnerships with Ernst & Young, Rogers Communications, MaRS Discovery District, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, McGill University and University of Waterloo.

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