Jake Zimmer '19

"Whatever you’re good at, be it graphic design, be it public speaking or accounting or whatever it might be, you can use it to do something valuable – and important,” says Changemaker Fellow Jake Zimmer ’19. “And I want to help people do that.”

For Zimmer, who majored in Leadership and Innovation and concentrated in Social Entrepreneurship, the 2016-2017 Changemaker Fellowship sponsored by Social Enterprise Greenhouse gave him the opportunity to connect young entrepreneurs across Rhode Island with resources they need to succeed.

“Entrepreneurship is so robust in Rhode Island,” Zimmer notes. “The fellowship was a great way to help people make their passion into something real.”

As a Changemaker, Zimmer worked alongside other representatives from Rhode Island’s universities to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Zimmer’s efforts as a Changemaker culminated with serving as the Executive Director of the 2017 Bryant University Northeast Entrepreneurship Conference (BUNEEC, pronounced be-unique), which works to provide students with skills and knowledge they can immediately apply to their entrepreneurial endeavors. The conference brought together 300 students from 12 different universities.

The goal of the conference, Zimmer states, is to help people find their own paths to success.

“The world needs people who can come up with innovative solutions to problems; Bryant can help you become one of those people.”

Zimmer, who today is an Inside Sales Consultant, Secure Power with Schneider Electric, credits Professor Sandra Enos, Ph.D., with helping him discover a new way of looking at the world. “Dr. Enos has an incredibly amazing way of teaching social entrepreneurship,” he says.

His advice to young aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: get involved. “Learning occurs when you leave your comfort zone,” Zimmer says. “Growth comes when you expand your horizons. If you do what’s comfortable your whole life, you’ll never grow.”

Real World Experience