Endorsements Administration & Faculty

ADMINISTRATION & FACULTY ENDORSEMENTS

“Mike Caslin is a true pathfinder in entrepreneurship for young people in America. He is one of the truly great social entrepreneurs of our time” — Dr. Jeffry Timmons, Babson College

Upon Tony DiMarco’s Departure from SUNY New Paltz: “Dear Kris and Tony,Kris, thank you for sharing this (not happy!) news.  Tony, I appreciate and have valued all that you have brought to the College and to this initiative. You leave behind an excellent legacy of accomplishment, new initiatives, and great connections for SUNY New Paltz.  I was hoping to tap into your experience and expertise (after I retire!) for guidance about turning my hobby of making deer antler jewelry into a side business!  Maybe I still can?! Best wishes and thank you again.” —  Don Christian, President, SUNY New Paltz

“I am so pleased to be able to collaborate with GCSEN Foundation and its 4P [People, Profit, Planet and Place] Social Entrepreneurship Framework. It is palpable, it is real, it is compassionate, and it is possible to move our world to a better place via universities, as vital placemakers in the local economy. Thanks also for doing our NJCBAA Keynote [New Jersey Collegiate Business Administration Association- Association of NJ’s 28 Business Schools and their Deans, Faculty, Administrators, and Students]. Your keynote on ‘Capitalism 3.0 - A Social Entrepreneurship Perspective’ was awesome. Let’s talk about how the NJCBA can work further with GCSEN to develop a formal collaboration. "— Dr. Germaine Albuquerque, Chairperson - Business Division - Essex County College

"NJCBA said your presentation was really great and super well received. Dr. James F. Konopack, Associate Dean of NJCU School of Business really enjoyed your keynote address and your underlying message about Social Entrepreneurship as well… We appreciate that you joined us to experience the live pitches and final Shark Tank 2020 event at Saint Peter’s. It was so clear which students completed the GCSEN certification, and they did a great job incorporating the social impact tools and framework into their business pitches.”— Dr. Mary Kate Naatus, KPMG Dean, School of Business, Saint Peter’s University, Vice President, NJCBA

 

“Babson College has had the benefit of Michael Caslin’s energy and counsel as an adjunct faculty member for years and I have personally witnessed his impact on students in teaching the Social Entrepreneurship course. He has served as a valuable advisor to many before the creation of the Lewis Institute and campus-wide initiative. As a National Board Member for NFTE, I can appreciate the magnitude of the challenges he faced over 20 years as the organization’s CEO…the reputational capital that was built far exceeded the formal resources they had available to them.”— Dr. Len Schlesinger, Babson College, President, Emeritus

“GCSEN has been with us every step of the way. It’s been an incredible partnership to grow together, in this innovative arena. Social Entrepreneurship is about the power of linking shared visions and shared missions, and making exponential social impacts."  — Dr. Dennis M. Hanno, President, Wheaton College, Emeritus

“I first met Mike Caslin when I joined Babson College as Division Chair. He had been an adjunct faculty member teaching social entrepreneurship and I became his direct supervisor and have known him for 6 years. His strengths are personal interaction, communication, sales and marketing, and non-profit/foundation work including NFTE, and knows the landscape of social entrepreneurship very well. He has built connections, knows how to do research, collect data, and importantly is committed to social mission ventures and non-profits. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses and I observed his teaching on several occasions and there is no question that he engages students in rich discussion and is an enthusiastic presenter…” — Professor Candy Brush, Babson College

“One of our long-time partners, who is a Wheaton Alum, Diana Davis Spencer, has awarded $10 million to Wheaton College to be able to increase our focus on Social Entrepreneurship. The work that has been going on with GCSEN here on campus is really transformative for our Social Venture Boot Camp individual students involved and has helped them see the impact they can have on our community and society in general. It is so heartening to see our work together over the years begin to see some of the ideas flourishing and coming into reality and my goal is to have the opportunity for hundreds more of those ideas to come into reality. And when Mike Caslin created GCSEN, you have been with us every step of the way and it’s been an incredible partnership to be able to grow together in this area. And I think it is always about having a shared vision and shared mission, that is what Social Entrepreneurship is. The power of linking that shared mission and vision together is exponential in terms of the impact that it has. Partnerships are really important and GCSEN and Mike Caslin, personally, have been an important partner for Wheaton College and for me personally and I thank you very, very much for that.” – Dr. Dennis M. Hanno, President Emeritus, Wheaton College

“Mike Caslin and GCSEN Foundation, in addition to the Wheaton Edge Intern Program and Semester in the City, have been an integral part  of the recent national recognition by the Washington Center and the National Society of  Experiential Education of me and Wheaton College as the 2021 College President Leadership in Innovation Award. Mike has been a partner every step of the way and I have so much excitement as I watch what his organization has built from an idea in 2014 with us. I believe the real test is the level of interest on campus by our students for the opportunities and programming the GCSEN offers and that interest and engagement has grown every year.”– Dr. Dennis M. Hanno, President Emeritus, Wheaton College

“Tony DiMarco has done an outstanding job in preparing our students for the 2019 NY State Business Plan Competition. Thanks to his hard work and our students' creativity and professionalism, five winners at this year's regional competition were from SUNY New Paltz! Congratulations to our 14 entered teams and to Tony for his fine work!” — Dr. Kristin Backhaus, Dean of the SUNY New Paltz Business School

“I am so pleased to be able to collaborate with GCSEN Foundation and its 4P Social Entrepreneurship framework. It is palpable, it is real, it is compassionate, and it is possible to move our world to a better place via universities, as vital place-makers in the local economy.” —  Dr. Mary Kate Naatus, Dean, Saint Peter's University, NJ

“It is great to see the progress Vassar College students made through GCSEN's self-paced internship program, supported by coaching. We are pleased that four students represented us with social ventures they created through the program, and we’re especially proud to see one student's social venture take first place in the NY State Business Plan Regional Competition in the Products and Services category. GCSEN's program has been a great way for our students to take a structured approach to make a meaningful social impact.” — Stacy Bingham, Director of Career Development, Vassar College; President & Executive Chair, Liberal Arts Career Network

"What a great report and what great presentations Mr. DiMarco's SVI students created! This partnership, and how quickly we collectively have advanced the topic of Social Entrepreneurship at Vassar College is just short of amazing. Thanks to him and Mike Caslin for going above and beyond and looking forward to keeping this effort moving forward." — John Bradley, Executive Director, Vassar College Urban Education Initiative

“Mike is the leader of the GCSEN Foundation. I think there is much you will find incredibly valuable and I know that Mike has great programming that could be very helpful.” — Todd E. Pauley, Esq., Office of Entrepreneurial Development, Director, Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Small Business Administration

“I wish you all the best in this endeavor. It is definitely a great cause and I fully support it.”— Prof. Jay Rao, Babson College

“Mike Caslin, was a terrific student of mine, is a wonderful friend and a true champion of the disadvantaged.” — Professor Ed Ryan, Manhattanville College 

“Thank you for supporting GCSEN and Wheaton College to hold the 2nd annual Social Venture Research Institute (SVRI). This has been an amazing and wonderful 2-day journey, filled with lessons for a lifetime!... I’m happy that GCSEN continues to be an important part of our social entrepreneurship program at Wheaton; you and Dennis are indeed the SE pioneers for our school, the individuals who have done the most to help our students along their personal social entrepreneurship journeys over the past 5 years. Thank you for providing an overview of SE 101 SE 102. GCSEN online course, the discussion I had with you helped to fill in some gaps following my own endgame with the courses as a student (myself) this week and back in January 2020 GCSEN SVRI Fellows faculty development session. I believe the SE 101 course can continue to be an important part of the pre-work that students complete in preparation for the January ‘21 Social Venture Boot Camp portion of the SE Launch Program… Thanks for a great meeting tonight. It was wonderful to see the students so excited about the boot camp, I appreciated the way you presented both the opportunities and the real work that will go into making the 2020 version of the Social Entrepreneurship Launch Program a success… as we work to develop Wheaton into the leading liberal arts school in the country for social entrepreneurship and innovation.” – Dr. Imran Chowdhury, Diana Davis Spencer Chair of Social Entrepreneurship, Associate Professor of Business & Management, Wheaton College