Architects of a New America

Since its creation in response to Martin Luther King's historic March on Washington, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce has been concerned with how to bring entrepreneurship into a growing minority population. The question is, says Alejandra Y. Castillo, national director of MBDA, how do we help entrepreneurs create jobs and wealth.

"This conversation is not only about civil rights — or even altruism," she says. "It is about an economic imperative for the nation."

Educators can play a critical role in business development, asserts Castillo, by helping students be critical thinkers and by helping them examine how and why things — products, inventions, businesses — work and how they can be improved upon. Encouraging minority students into entrepreneurship is particularly important, as they need to see that they aren't just users or adaptors of innovation, but they can also be the creators.

"There is a gap in our sociey and people need to be aware of it and understand it," says Castillo. "And this gap can be filled if we all play a part."

At HGSE to present the keynote address at the 14th annual Alumni of Color Conference, Castillo discusses the importance of minority innovators and entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy and how educators can help develop them.

About the Harvard EdCast

The Harvard EdCast is a weekly series of podcasts, available on the Harvard University iTunes U page, that features a 15-20 minute conversation with thought leaders in the field of education from across the country and around the world. Hosted by Matt Weber, the Harvard EdCast is a space for educational discourse and openness, focusing on the myriad issues and current events related to the field.