A $500,000 fundraising challenge to support student entrepreneurs
Four years after its founding, the Donald R. Ryan Incubator in the Arts and Sciences has a new name and a fundraising challenge. If $500,000 is donated to the Ryan Accelerator Activities Fund before December 1, 2026, the Ryan family will contribute an additional $500,000 to the fund, which supports programming and activities for students interested in entrepreneurship.
The Ryan incubator, now known as The Donald Ryan ’69 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Accelerator, was established in 2022 with a $2 million donation from the Ryan family to encourage students from all academic disciplines to create and test ideas for new products, services, and organizations. It is directed by Kelly Ramirez Stone and supported by dedicated advisory boards of alumni and faculty members.
Mr. Ryan, a political science major at PC, embodied the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. He was chair and CEO of CareCore National LLC in Bluffton, South Carolina, a company he co-founded to provide benefit management services to healthcare providers. In 2011, when he died at age 64, it had more than 1,000 employees and contracts with 25 health plans representing more than 50 million insured patients. Prior to its founding, Mr. Ryan started several businesses where he saw opportunities to innovate in his field.
The Ryan Accelerator supports students by offering a robust menu of programs and services. Through the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellowship, more than 30 students have secured internships aligned with their interests and received financial stipends. Each year in the Elevator Pitch Competition, students compete for $9,000 in prize money to support their ideas. Through the accelerator, they can also access grant funding for their ventures, secure consulting opportunities with startups, and receive alumni coaching.
“The Ryan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Accelerator advances the college’s mission to promote interdisciplinary study and research, and hands-on, experiential learning experiences for our students,” said College President Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78, ’82G. “Thanks to the Ryan family, we now have an opportunity to raise another $1 million to support student creativity and scholarship.”
Neve Palmeri ’27 won first prize in the Elevator Pitch Competition for her proposed invention, SmartSip, a reusable straw that would detect date rape drugs added to drinks. Chemistry professors and students received financial support from the accelerator to work in the research laboratory testing materials for Palmeri’s idea. Palmeri also won the BIG EAST Startup Challenge and the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition’s statewide student pitch competition.
Palmeri was mentored by alumni, including advisory board member Christian Connors ’90, an executive and entrepreneur in the safety and security technology industry.
“The Ryan Accelerator provides life-changing high impact learning opportunities for students. I believe strongly in the power of entrepreneurial thinking and doing,” said Connors. “Working with PC student entrepreneurs as an advisor, coach and investor has been an absolute joy.”
Mary Gifford ’26 won the first pitch-ever competition and used $5,500 in prize money to research and establish Friartown’s Closet, an on-campus thrift shop now run by a student club. The club, with more than 20 members, hosts twice annual popups where neighbors in the Smith Hill community can shop for free.
Griffin Kovach ’29 received alumni support for his venture, Clerion, an academic planning tool for students that could be integrated with Canvas, the college’s learning management system. The system would reconcile due dates and grade weights across a student’s course schedule and advise them what to work on next.
The Ryan Accelerator, working with the School of Business, organized an Innovation Challenge in which 10 student teams worked with Citizens Bank to design the bank of the future. The accelerator partnered with a health policy and management capstone course, where students created and pitched ventures responding to healthcare challenges.
Money raised through the Activities Fund Challenge will expand programming to include opportunities for students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and learn more about how to create positive change within organizations. To donate, select “other” on the giving form, accessed through the button below, and add “Ryan Accelerator.”
