UIC Business Partners with Chicago Sky Foundation to Support Local Entrepreneurs
About the Workshop
The UIC College of Business Administration hosted a workshop on strategy, innovation and scale June 18 for local small-business owners selected to participate in the Chicago Sky Foundation’s 2026 Women’s Small Business Cohort.
This summer’s 12 cohort members were selected from a highly competitive applicant pool—with an acceptance rate of just 6.7 percent—to accelerate their Chicago-based, women-owned small businesses through networking, workshops and the opportunity to pitch for one of four $20,000 nondilutive grants at the conclusion of the program in July.
The one-day workshop, hosted at UIC’s Innovation Center, provided instruction, collaboration and coaching to help cohort members strengthen their value propositions, identify strategic competitive advantages and explore innovative ways to grow and scale their businesses.
The workshop was led by Kim Moon, Senior Marketing Lecturer in the College of Business Administration, and Dan Hogan, Senior Entrepreneurship Lecturer, with planning support from Shahnaz Ibrahim, Clinical Associate Professor of Managerial Studies.
Pitch Coaching Session at UIC
The partnership continued beyond the June workshop as Adjunct Lecturer Heather Aranyi, who serves as Pitch Coach and Business Strategist for the Chicago Sky Foundation’s Women’s Small Business Cohort, led pitch coaching sessions with the founders at UIC on July 14.
I am honored to serve as the Pitch Coach and Business Strategist for the Chicago Sky Foundation’s Women’s Small Business Cohort. This cohort is one of the most selective in the country, with a 6.7 percent acceptance rate, and I am working intensely with 12 phenomenal founders on how to scale their businesses to the next level.
– Adjunct Lecturer in the Managerial Studies Department, Heather Aranyi
Ongoing Collaboration
UIC’s partnership with the Chicago Sky Foundation builds on the university’s broader relationship with the Chicago Sky. This year, UIC’s Flames Athletic Center served as the team’s official training camp home, creating new opportunities for collaboration across the university. As an extension of that partnership, the College of Business Administration and the Chicago Sky Foundation launched this initiative to support women entrepreneurs through faculty expertise, mentorship and experiential programming. The June workshop served as the first step in what both organizations anticipate will be an ongoing collaboration.