Panther Cage Match Competition
April 12 – 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Join us at Chapman University’s Panther Cage Match Competition, an exciting event that spotlights the thrill of presenting new business ideas to savvy and seasoned investors. This year, we're kicking things off with an extra dose of inspiration, featuring a special guest from Amazon Web Services (AWS), who will share the secrets behind Amazon's culture of innovation and journey from a humble bookstore to a global innovation leader.
PitchCraft: Film, Script, and Startup Edition
April 5 – 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
The Dodge Film School and Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship team up to talk about personal and professional pitches. In this joint workshop, we will show you how to pitch a movie to a studio, how to pitch a screen play to a producer, and how to pitch a startup idea to an angel investor. We will give students the opportunity to role play and pitch in a safe space.
Start-Up to Scale-Up: The Alteryx Success Story
March 28 – 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Be part of an enlightening evening as Libby Duane Adams, Chief Advocacy Officer of Alteryx, shares the remarkable story of organically growing Alteryx into a global analytics leader. Gain entrepreneurial insights, explore Alteryx's impact on companies like McLaren, Coca-Cola, and Siemens Energy, and take part in an engaging Q&A session. Don't miss this opportunity to uncover the strategies behind scaling a startup into a market leader. Reserve your spot now for an evening of inspiration and valuable business insights.
Generations in Business: Navigating Family Transition
March 14 – 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Take part in this insightful event that explores the dynamics of joining, leading, or stepping away from a family business. Our panel of esteemed family business experts — Ed Hart, Jenny Dinnen, Pamela Kellogg, and Miguel Gonzalez III — will share experiences and advice on preparing to enter the family enterprise, integrating outside leadership, handling succession when the next generation has different passions, and fostering innovation across generations. Discover strategies for respecting professional boundaries with family members, maintaining work-life balance, and managing generational wealth. This event is crucial for students and young entrepreneurs facing the unique challenges and opportunities within family-operated businesses.
SoCal Celebrates Entrepreneurship 2024
March 9 – 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
SoCal Celebrates Entrepreneurship 2024 brings together entrepreneurs, students, business leaders, service providers, and investors to celebrate Southern California as a diverse hub of innovation and entrepreneurship that fosters culture and upward mobility, and delivers an enhanced quality of life.
NOTE – This event is at Cal State Fullerton
Safeguarding Brilliance: Protecting your Creative Capital
February 29 – 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Learn how to navigate trademarks and safeguard your creative ideas and brand. This is your opportunity to gain actionable insights from our distinguished panel of experts at the forefront of intellectual property law, including Eric Jaegers, J.D., a Clinical Assistant Professor at Chapman University; Lynne Boisineau from Boisineau Law; Justin Sanders from Masterkey IP; and Stephanie Pottick, founder of Protect for Success®. Reserve your spot now for an evening that promises to strengthen your understanding of intellectual property essentials and empower your entrepreneurial journey.
AI & Media Arts Collide: Future Visions Symposium
February 23 – 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
This unique event offers an exclusive opportunity to interact with special guest Tim Bicio, CTO of Lightstorm Entertainment—the innovative minds behind James Cameron's Avatar films and pioneers in digital cinema. Pose your questions and gain insights into the groundbreaking enhancements transforming the cinematic experience.
Joining this insightful journey, AI experts from Dell Technologies, Craig Allen and Jon McKim, will share perspectives on the promises and responsibilities of AI, emphasizing the pivotal role of data in shaping its effectiveness. Uncover what the future holds as AI continues to shape the dynamic landscape of entertainment.
December 6 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
PitchPerfect: Refining Startup Brilliance
Pitch your startup idea in front of four seasoned angel investors ready to provide you with valuable feedback. It’s the perfect opportunity to refine and elevate your pitch to the next level.
November 9 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
David Friedman, Ray Chan, Tech Coast Angels, The Perfect Pitch
Venture capitalists from Tech Coast Angels will give a presentation on how to give a winning pitch for your startup. Learn what VCs are looking for in a great pitch to receive funding.
November 1 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Sylvie Bastardo, Niklas Myhr, Matt Prince, Neal Schaffer, panel on social media and entrepreneurship
Hear the story about Professor Prince offering to cancel the final if a student received over 1m views on Tik Tok. Sylvie Bastardo will relay the story of how she did it!
October 27 – 11:30 a.m.
Nathan Schulhof, Inventor of the MP3 Player
Mr. Schulhof is a visionary and entrepreneur who not only conceived of one of the best-selling word processors for the Apple 2 but is recognized by the Smithsonian as the inventor of the MP3 player. Come and hear Schulhof’s many awe-inspiring stories of innovation.
October 19 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Tansu Philip, Viva La Boba, actor and screenwriter
Leah de Leon, Founder Unreel Stories, video and content producer
Chapman alumni Tansu and Leah are both in the film, media and content professions. Leah will share how she started her content production company. Tansu will talk about balancing and running a boba shop with her profession as an actor and screenwriter.
October 11 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Wing Lam, founder of Wahoo's Fish Tacos
Come hear Wing Lam’s entrepreneurial journey! Learn how he started Wahoo’s Fish Tacos and grew the business into a successful franchise.
October 5 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Karen Caswelch, CEO of Archytas Robotics
Calling all techies! Learn how Karen Caswelch’s career was and how she became an entrepreneur. Karen will share what it is like being a woman in tech and more.
September 20 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
JC Ruffalo, The Cove Fund, and founder of three startups
Chapman alum JC Ruffalo talked about how he started and ran 3 companies. Now he runs a $30m venture fund!
September 14 – 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Co-founders Arden Gilfillan and Margaux Reaume of Argaux a wine distribution company
Arden and Margaux shared how they met and discovered their passion for food and wine, which led to their successful wine distribution business.
April 21, 2023 - Leadership Conference
February 24, 2023 - Career Launch Boot Camp
February 23, 2023 - Parent Spring Summit
September 22, 2022: Hybrid Speaker Event: NFT & Digital Assets
April 23, 2022: Chapman Italian Studies Presents - Design & Culture: An Italian Perspective
November 18, 2021 - Leatherby Center hosted TIBCO Software and offered a chance to talk about interactive visual analytics, visual data science, TIBCO Spotfire Certification, and the TIBCO Academic Alliance Program.
October 28 - 29, 2021 - Octane OC and Chapman University for MedTech Innovation Forum. Our keynote speakers, Barry Arbuckle and Josh Makower, and other session leaders spoke on topics like innovation in mental health, augmented & virtual reality in healthcare, SPACs, clinical trials, and more!
April 22, 2021 - Commercialization of Blockchain Technology
December 3, 2020 - Pushing Through the Pandemic: From Chapman's Own Entrepreneurs
January 28, 2020 - Mater Dei High School partnered with the Leatherby Center for a seminar on "Business Expansion for Next Generation Small-Mid Business Ventures"
December 13, 2019 - Leatherby Center and the OC Department of Education hosted local students as part of a mission to stimulate entrepreneurs.
November 15, 2019 - Chapman Ventures hosted serial entrepreneur Max Beaumont
November 9, 2019 - Discover Chapman Day
October 5, 2019 - 2019 Panther Cage Match and Homecoming Tailgate
July 1-31, 2019 - Girls Inc. Smart-Ups Summer Program
July 23, 2019 - Teen Entrepreneur Academy Summer Camp Visits Leatherby Center
April 27, 2019 - Career Launch Workshop presented in partnership with the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
April 13, 2019 - Admitted Students Preview Day
March 15, 2019 - George Viegas monthly meeting of OC Chief Information Security Officers
Career Bootcamp - Alumni speakers talked about careers to Dodge Film School and Leatherby Center Students
Our panelists, Herwig Konings, Andrew Jiang and Gabe Stocker had an open forum about NFTs and Digital Assets which was moderated by Professors Mario Leone and Marshall Toplansky.
Professor Mario Leone spoke to high school and college students about entrepreneurship at the Economics For Life Bootcamp by the Simon Foundation.
Our panelists from the Design & Culture: An Italian Perspective celebrating Italian desgin and discussing the intersections between Italian fashion, industrial design, culture, and the arts.
Our panelists from Ernst & Young, JP Morgan, 7BC Venture Capital and Rubicon Venture Capital spoke about Commercialization of Blockchain Technology. They defined blockchain, delved into its potential applications in our modern world, and even spoke on how it can be used to secure elections.
Leatherby Center Director, Mario Leone speaks to a crowd of potential students and parents at the 2019 Discover Chapman Day.
Mario Leone, Leatherby Center Director, Sherry Delaney, Board Member of Girls Inc. and Dean Thomas A. Turk at the Girls Inc. Summer Showcase.
A group of young girl entrepreneurs at the Girls Inc. Summer Showcase.
The 2019 Girls Inc. Summer Smart-Ups group.
The Teen Entrepreneur Academy in front of the Leatherby Center.
The alumni panel from the Career Launch Workshop bootcamp.
Professor Mario Leone speaks at an event organized by the Orange County Department of Education to stimulate entrepreneurship in local high school students.
Students pose for a photo outside of the Leatherby Center following the OCDE entrepreneurship visit.
Seven students pose with Leatherby Center advisors Jake Aguas, Mario Leone and Eric Jaegers.
Don Tran, a participant in the Leatherby Center and co-founder of the Underwater Torpedo League, speaks at the Mater Dei-Leatherby Center seminar.
Argyros School professor Lacy Willis, CPA, JD '18, speaks at the Mater Dei-Leatherby Center seminar.