The Caruso Challenge is a college accredited entrepreneurship program that teaches students how to identify and solve real problems. The project-based curriculum gives students the opportunity to work with mentors, entrepreneurs, and UIF staff to grow their entrepreneurial mindset and increase their social capital.
Caruso Challenge in Action
Students from the Franklin Institute STEM Scholars program learned about problem solving when they took part in the Caruso Challenge. They tackled several important social and environmental issues while growing their entrepreneurial mindset.
See for yourself!
Virtual Caruso Challenge
The Virtual Caruso Challenge is your chance to learn from top startups and entrepreneurs in the community while expanding your entrepreneurial knowledge. Using tools developed by UIF staff and mentors, you will identify a problem and solve it using “entrepreneurial mindset” concepts taught over 16 virtual sessions. Through the Virtual Caruso Challenge, you will have the opportunity to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and develop entrepreneurial mindset skills that are useful for personal and professional endeavors.
Students that complete the Virtual Caruso Challenge and pass the exit exam are eligible to receive 3 college credits at select partner colleges and universities in eastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey.
The numbers
At UIF we love to keep track of everything we do, so it’s only fair we share some of the good we are doing within our community. Since 2019, the Caruso Challenge has helped dozens of students earn scholarships and career opportunities. Check out our latest statistics.
Students who completed the Caruso Challenge increased their:
- social capital by 95%
- entrepreneurial confidence by 95%
students completed caruso challenge since 2021
partner universities that accredit the challenge
students who continue to work on entrepreneurial projects
The Team
Meet the team of mentors behind the Caruso Challenge
Ben Pietrzyk
Director, Caruso Challenge
Ben helped launch UIF’s Caruso Challenge. He believes in teaching entrepreneurship and echoes Dr. Caruso’s philosophy of “thinking like an entrepreneur.” Ben holds a Bachelor of Arts from La Salle University in Sociology and Criminal Justice and a Master’s of Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sean Hackman
Coordinator, Caruso Challenge
Sean enjoys facilitating the Caruso Challenge workshops to students in the Philadelphia area and beyond. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and delivers workshops to students and teachers focused on emerging technology.
Molly Furlong
Instructor, Caruso Challenge
Molly joined UIF in 2019 as part of the technology mentoring team and most recently joined the Caruso Challenge as an instructor. She enjoys educating students about problem-based Entrepreneurship. Molly holds a Bachelors of Science in Education and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership from Penn State University.