The inaugural Scarpa Faculty Change Makers Fellowship is a cornerstone initiative of the John F. Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway at HPU.
HPU is taking a bold, faculty-powered step toward deepening entrepreneurial thinking across campus with the launch of the inaugural Scarpa Faculty Change Makers Fellowship, a cornerstone initiative of the John F. Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway. Designed to empower faculty as innovators and collaborators, the fellowship supports the creation and transformation of courses, projects, and programs that help students navigate ambiguity, solve complex problems, and turn ideas into action.
Rather than limiting entrepreneurship to startups or business plans alone, HPU is embracing entrepreneurial thinking as a cultural value, one that belongs in classrooms, labs, studios, clinics, and communities across every discipline. The Scarpa Faculty Change Makers Fellowship invites faculty champions to lead that charge, embedding creativity, experimentation, and collaboration into both academic and co-curricular experiences.
Following a competitive review process, HPU selected the inaugural cohort of Scarpa Faculty Change Maker Fellows late last year. Awarded from 19 proposals and representing every college at HPU, the eight funded projects reflect a breadth of ideas and disciplines across the University. Proposals were evaluated by an interdisciplinary committee of faculty and an external community leader based on innovation, impact, feasibility, and alignment with program goals.
Each fellow receives funding and professional support to pilot their project in spring or summer 2026, with full implementation planned for the 2026–2027 academic year. In total, more than $50,000 will be awarded across this first cohort, supporting faculty as they design high-impact learning experiences that connect theory to practice and campus to community.
Awarded Projects:
Adam Burke and Ephraim Schwab, College of Liberal Arts
Ahupua‘a and AI: Designing Innovative Social Ventures for a Resilient Hawai‘i
This redesigned honors course uses the traditional Hawaiian ahupua‘a system as a framework for social entrepreneurship. Students will prototype ventures addressing sustainability challenges while integrating generative AI and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Mark Tjarks, College of Liberal Arts
Start-Up Deck: Business/Project Plan Competition & Entrepreneurial Pathways
A three-phase, cross-college initiative launching a campus-wide business plan competition that combines mentorship, hands-on learning, and pathways toward entrepreneurship certificates. Tjarks will collaborate with Charles Chen on the competition.*
Lei Wang, College of Natural and Computational Studies
Establishing a Company to Organize National and International Academic Conferences in Hawai‘i
Students will co-create and operate a company that hosts academic conferences, beginning with a chemistry and biology event in summer 2026—building entrepreneurial skills while positioning Hawai‘i as a hub for scholarly exchange. Interested students can reach out to Professor Wang.
Bei Zeng, College of Business
Entrepreneurial Finance Learning Project
Linking undergraduate and MBA finance courses, this initiative uses simulations, real-world cases, and a culminating Demo Day judged by alumni and industry mentors to support applied entrepreneurship pathways.
Charles Chen, College of Business
HPU Business Plan Competition
A university-wide competition in which students develop and pitch ventures to panels of academic and industry leaders, strengthening ties between HPU and Hawai‘i’s innovation ecosystem. Professor Chen will pilot beginning with the MBA Capstone in Summer 2026. He will collaborate with Mark Tjarks, College of Liberal Arts, on the Business Plan Competition.*
Han Nee Chong, College of Professional Studies
Introducing Teacherpreneurship in ED6670 Technology in Education
A redesigned graduate course introduces teacherpreneurship—blending educational leadership with entrepreneurial thinking— supported by a new Design Intelligence Lab focused on design thinking and AI literacy.
Emerson Hart and Jana Cason, Graduate College of Health Sciences
From Classroom to Community: Preparing OT Students as Innovators and Changemakers
Entrepreneurial education is embedded into Hui Mālama Olakino, a student-run occupational therapy program, where students design sustainable clinical and community-based care models.
Vincent Pair and Shayna Katz, School of Nursing
AI for Change: Integrating Entrepreneurial Thinking and Artificial Intelligence into Graduate Nursing Education
Graduate nursing students will use AI tools to design innovative, ethical healthcare solutions while developing entrepreneurial leadership skills across advanced practice tracks.
Click here to learn more about the John F. Scarpa Entrepreneurial Pathway, which includes a variety of events and resources designed to spark and promote entrepreneurial thinking across HPU.
The multiple Demo Days and competitions envisioned by faculty can complement and extend the HPU Startup Challenge happening now – which has a $10,000 finale on February 26, 2026 and eligibility for the $1,000,000 Hult Prize.
