Designing Your Entrepreneurial Roadmap

The Dyer Center offers a flexible yet disciplined pathway for fellows to develop a mindset, systems understanding, networks, and practical skills to build and thrive in fast-paced, dynamic organizations.

Are you interested in an opportunity to grow your capacity for innovative thinking and creative problem solving while building your professional network and launching yourself into your career from the moment you step onto campus? The Dyer Center Fellows program is a powerful way to create lasting connections, add value to your college experience, and empower you to an entrepreneurial future.

Believing that entrepreneurship can be nurtured and taught, the Lafayette Dyer Center annually offers a select cohort of 10 Lafayette students the chance to apply their passion for innovation and entrepreneurship to their academic, career and life goals. Fellows access flexible yet disciplined pathways to develop an innovative mindset, systems understanding, networks, and practical skills to build and foster future resilient organizations and communities.

Apply Today
 The deadline for applying is February 15.

Program stages over four years these key components of entrepreneurship and innovation:

Intensive Mentorship and Coaching
Dyer advisor and Student Innovation Lead Peer Advisor

Financial Compensation
$2.5k/year for fellowship work supplementing financial aid

Cohort/Individual Activities
Venture opportunities on- and off-campus

Networking/Internships
Access to a committed network of sponsoring innovators, entrepreneurs, and executives

Professional Investment
$4k infusion stipend during 3rd year for fellow’s venture/passion

 

Vision and Goals

Inventory and Interest – How do I find my “Big Thing”?   Head/Heart alignment & Intrinsic Motivation

Entrepreneurial Mindset – Ask the Right Questions!  How to find good ideas and manage risk?

Skill Building – How can I add value to my team?  Opportunities to grow and learn.

Prototype – Learn by doing!  Students gather resources to stress test their Ideas.

Networking – Connections Matter!  Deepen learning and foster community.

 

The structure of the fellowship has three components:

A four-year program to develop next-generation innovators

First Year
– Explore Your Own History, Passions and Skills
– Discover What It Means To “Think Like An Entrepreneur
– Connect with Peers, Older Students and Mentors
– Explore Organizations and the Culture of Easton

Second Year
– Build an On-Campus Venture and Continue to Build Skills
– Passion/Opportunity Alignment
– Connect to Networks and External Ecosystems

Third Year
– Strengthen Leadership/Mentor Capacity
– Pressure Test Ventures
– Connect Academic Training to Ventures and Systems

Fourth Year
– Continue to Build Venture
– Pitch and Raise Funds
– Mentor Others
– Compete for Post-Grad Opportunities

Meet Our Current Fellows

 

FAQ - Become a Dyer Fellow 

Who is eligible to be Dyer Fellow?
All students, regardless of intended major, are eligible for the Dyer Fellowship. All students (both domestic and international) who are motivated by innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship are encouraged to apply.

What types of qualities are you looking for in a typical Dyer Fellow?
Successful candidates for the fellowship are those who are: interested in developing and deepening their desire and ability to learn; possess intrinsic motivation along with a relentless focus on solving a challenge; have an opposable mindset, able to see details and big picture, the forest and trees; understanding complex systems yet communicating simply; have high expectations for themselves but also understand humility, and actively seek openness to collaboration and transparency in themselves and others.

When is the deadline for applications?
Applications for the Dyer Fellowship are accepted on the Lafayette application portal until February 15, 2023.

Can I use my college admission material for the fellowship application?
Yes!  Dyer Center staff do not access your full applications through the common app (we only see the essays that you submit). Feel free to use any additional material if it helps your Dyer Fellow application shine!

What happens after my written application is submitted?
Dyer staff will review all of the written applications and schedule the next steps of the selection process with you by email. Interview invitations will be sent out by email no later than March 1, 2023.

When will I know if I get accepted into the fellowship?
You will know by April 12, 2023.

Is this a separate program, distinct from the Major I chose while applying to Lafayette?
Yes, Dyer Fellows will be diverse intellectually with majors in social sciences, economics, engineering, liberal arts and independent majors.  Dyer Fellows will work on projects and ideas in and out of formal classroom settings.

Do I receive any qualifications after finishing this program?
Fellows will receive no additional academic credit, but financial benefits along with resume-building opportunities and potentially life altering experiences will be offered.

What will happen when I graduate from the Fellowship?
When you graduate from the fellowship, you will be leaving Lafayette having left your mark both on the college campus and Easton. You will have a cohort of like-minded individuals and life-long mentors who support and challenge you in your future endeavors.

Who will serve as fellow mentors?
Recent graduates, community and corporate leaders, faculty and staff look forward to supporting your personal and professional aspirations.

This fellowship has opened up a myriad of resources and opportunities on and off campus.
– Danny Weispfenning ’25		 The fellowship brings together people with such different experiences and deep convictions.
– Swetha Tadisina ’25
I was drawn to the Dyer Fellowship for the opportunity to not only strengthen my entrepreneurial skill set, but for the unique resources, workshops, and support that will help me make my dreams of being a social entrepreneur come true.
– Akeena Hall ’26		 The Dyer fellowship provides innumerable opportunities for one to grow as an individual, be it by forcing you to go beyond your comfort zone or by working on hands-on projects.
– Kashif Chopra ‘ 26