THE JOHN Gokongwei School of Management of the Ateneo de Manila University recently launched its Entrepreneur-in-Residence initiative to equip students with the skills and mindset necessary to thrive in the business world.

“The beauty of this pilot program is that it is extra-curricular, outside of your degree programs. So you are free to ask for any sort of guidance and advice from real-world practitioners in the fields you are hoping to innovate in,” Dr. Roberto Martin Galang, dean of Ateneo JGSOM, said.

The EIR initiative seeks to bridge the gap between the academe and the business sector to transform the way entrepreneurship is taught.

It will also bring students closer to the frontlines of innovation and entrepreneurship through hands-on mentorship.

Moreover, student-led startups will gain access to expert legal advise through lawyer Catherine Gonzales, who helped guide the legal operations of organizations such as ABS-CBN, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank.

According to Ateneo, the first two entrepreneurs-in-residence will be Malaya Laraya, founder of the Ronin Group of Founders and Noreen Marian Bautista, founder of sustainability startup Panublix.

“What we want to do here is develop the Philippine startup ecosystem. Most startups in the Philippines don’t get funded because they don’t understand the Philippine context. That’s what we’re here to provide,” Laraya said.

“My entrepreneurial journey actually started as a student here at the Ateneo School of Management. We didn’t have a program like this back then, so I’m actually a little jealous that you get to build your startups in this space,” Bautista said.

“As founders, we are always being fed with learnings from Silicon Valley that just aren’t relevant in the local context. So this is a great opportunity to build more localized playbooks to guide the growth of your future ventures,” she added.