Inclusive entrepreneurship: Supporting entrepreneurs
Starts:
Finishes:
Venue:
Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street
Course timetable and cost:
The course will be held on a biweekly basis, beginning on Monday, September 29th, and concluding on Monday, February 29th. Each session will run from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, followed by a one-hour lunch break. After the break, sessions will resume from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
The course is priced at £1,200. The first and final sessions will take place in person at Birkbeck University, while all other sessions will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams.
We offer a 20% discount to those who are members of Birkbeck's alumni community. Please contact us if you are a member and wish to activate this discount.
Course content:
Developed by Jacqueline Winstanley in 2012, this empowering 10-session program is designed to help disabled individuals turn innovative ideas into successful businesses. Through a person-centered approach, participants will gain the essential skills needed to create and grow their own enterprises, while navigating the challenges of managing their health conditions.
What You’ll Gain:
- Practical business skills through certified short courses (e.g., Food Hygiene, First Aid, Health & Safety)
Expert-led sessions in Marketing, Social Media, Business Planning, AI, Digitalization, and more - Peer support for shared problem-solving and creative solutions
- One-on-one mentorship with a seasoned entrepreneur
- Wellbeing at the Core: This course also prioritizes mental health and wellbeing, recognizing their importance in entrepreneurial success. A dedicated wellbeing strand runs alongside the formal sessions, ensuring that disabled entrepreneurs thrive both personally and professionally.
- Tailored Learning for Every Need: With years of experience in assistive technology and inclusive learning, we ensure every participant receives personalized support. Our Universal Inclusion Framework addresses individual needs from day one, with ongoing feedback loops to maximize learning and growth.
- Celebrate Your Success: The course culminates in a Pitch Day, where you’ll present your business ideas with confidence—complete with refreshments and a supportive community cheering you on.
Join us and discover how innovation and enterprise can open new doors for your career, all while navigating your health condition with confidence and support.
Course Lecturers:
Helen Lawton Smith, FAcSS, FRSA, SFHEA, is Professor of Entrepreneurship, School of Business, Birkbeck, University of London. She is the Director of the Centre for Innovation Management Research. Her research career has focused on the links between entrepreneurship, innovation, public policy and regional development in national and international contexts. Her research focuses on innovation in emerging technologies and on geographies of support for minority innovative, entrepreneurship.
She is the author of 3 monographs, editor of 11 books and author of 160+ journal articles and book chapters. Her recent research with Jacqueline Winstanley was funded by Innovate UK and the Innovation Caucus. The resulting report The Road to Wonder analyses the challenges and opportunities facing disabled entrepreneurs in the context of the implementation of UK equality, diversity and inclusion policies towards supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
Jacqueline Winstanley, FRSA Founder and CEO of Universal Inclusion, the Inclusive Entrepreneur Network is best described as a global humanitarian & innovator, with a deeply held and proven conviction to increasing equality of access to life’s opportunities through the creation of inclusive environments and working practice. She is a recognised international expert and strategist on inclusion and accessibility challenges.
A Visiting Fellow, Visiting Lecturer and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Centre for Innovation Management Research, Birkbeck, University of London and a Research Associate at Lancaster University.
A thought leader in the reduction of global inequalities Jacqueline’s work is recognised as good practice in the UK and internationally. Over the years, she has built an audit trail in proof of concept and outcomes, most notably in Inclusive Economic Growth, Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Workforce Retention, Inclusive Play and Childcare, and Parks and Open Spaces. She has also influenced significant changes in government policy in the UK and internationally as a direct result of her clarity of vision in this area, setting up and providing Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, APPG for Disability.
She continues to develop and implement frameworks and solutions for global cities and communities, especially within inclusive entrepreneurship.
Jacqueline regularly presents at high level gatherings at the UN, in Windsor and Westminster. She is also an author, poet and regular contributor to national & international Advisory Boards, Good Practice Guidelines, White Papers & Select Committee evidence sessions. Co-Author of the 2023 report ‘Road to Wonder - A study exploring the barriers and opportunities to creating innovation and enterprise faced by disabled people’. Co-Author of the 2025 journal article 'Navigating serial inequities: the unmet support needs of disabled entrepreneurs.'
Occupying a number of Non-Executive roles, chairing Foundation of Independent Living Trust, Ability Today advisory board, Avanti Accessibility Panel Member, Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 Judge, Scope 2025 Awards Judge, Naidex 2025 Judge 'Elevate - Disabled Founders Pitch in Partnership with Lloyds Banking Group'. There is no doubt, her work has and continues to enrich lives and reduce inequalities.
Contact name: Innovation Support Unit
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