CYNTHIA FRANKLIN

Director, NYU Stern Berkley Entrepreneurship Center

Cynthia Franklin is director of the Berkley Entrepreneurship Center at New York University’s Stern School of Business. There, she oversees the development and implementation of initiatives designed to nurture entrepreneurial talent at NYU. Each year, her team serves more than 1,100 students, alums and other aspiring entrepreneurs through its $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge Venture Competitions, extensive venture mentor network, venture accelerator program, and startup assistance programs.

Cynthia is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at NYU Stern. Her popular course, The Startup Lab, guides students through the thrilling ride that is the startup process. She also serves as faculty director of an Executive MBA Capstone Course, an intense two-year program that exposes senior-level managers to the entrepreneurial process. For the past 10 years, Cynthia has instructed Strategic Steps for Growth, an innovative, capacity-building program for high-potential women- and minority-owned firms. The program is a public-private partnership between NYC’s Department of Small Business Services and New York University.

Cynthia brings 16 years of experience launching, growing, and advising new ventures and small businesses to her role. Prior to joining NYU Stern, she was executive vice president of KIP Communications, a b-to-b marketing and media company she co-founded. The company’s flagship publication, the award-winning KIP Business Report newspaper, provided in-depth reporting on the business and economic issues impacting urban entrepreneurs. Cynthia also co-produced The KIP Business Report Success Stories, a weekly television segment profiling entrepreneurs, which aired on WCBS-TV, and co-hosted The KIP Business Report on WLIB radio, a popular morning drive-time program focused on small business issues.

For her work promoting entrepreneurship and business development, she has received numerous honors and awards on the local, state, and federal levels. Cynthia has appeared on MSNBC’s Your Business, and has been featured in The New York Times, Crain’s NY Business, The Daily News, Essence, as well as a host of other media outlets.

She holds an MBA from Stern and is chair of the NYU Federal Credit Union’s board of directors.