Sweet Briar College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Virginia, has launched the Center for Business, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, a new center of excellence that aims to prepare students for successful careers after graduation through new academic programming, internships, apprenticeships, opportunities to hear guest speakers, and more. In addition to the center, Sweet Briar is also launching a Business Council to support the center’s activities and serve as an advisory board for the women’s college.
Laura Townsend will serve as the inaugural leader of the Center for Business, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Townsend most recently served as director of engagement at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Earlier in her career, she directed the Innovate Living-Learning Community at Virginia Tech. In her new role, she will work closely with the Business Council and Sweet Briar’s faculty and staff to collaborate with local industry partners as well as alumnae entrepreneurs and business leaders.
“I have always been a strong advocate for women’s entrepreneurship and leadership,” said Townsend. “I have had the opportunity to lead women’s entrepreneurship programs and events in the past, and I love empowering visionary women with the tools, confidence, and connections they need to succeed. Sweet Briar’s mission to ‘challenge and inspire women’ immediately resonated with me because that aligns so closely with my own passion and the work I have pursued throughout my career.”
Townsend holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma.