June 10, 2025 - As director of CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s Entrepreneurship & Small Business Institute (ESBI), Associate Professor
of Management Maria Ballesteros-Sola helps students discover their inner entrepreneur.
“Our mission is to nurture entrepreneurship in our students - many who don’t see themselves as entrepreneurs, but they are running these successful side hustles,” Ballesteros-Sola said. “They’ll say ‘I’m helping my parents with the family business,’ and I will tell them ‘You are being very entrepreneurial.’”
The ESBI marked several successes during the spring semester, not the least of which was winning an award at the New Venture Fair held at Cal Lutheran University in May. CSUCI Environmental Science & Resource Management (ESRM) major Austin Dent won a $1,000 award in the “Startup for Good” category for a nonprofit he launched called CalThrive Community Agriculture. CSUCI was among 65 competing teams from local high schools and colleges.
Dent, who is president of CalThrive, founded the nonprofit with three other volunteers he met through the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging. All were volunteering to work at the Senior Nutrition Farm, a 2 ½ acre organic garden that grew produce for older adults and citizens with disabilities.
“When the county closed the farm last November, I immediately started founding a nonprofit to take its place,” Dent said. “We officially launched in March and just received our 501c(3) status. We collectively organized and volunteer our time to the [CSUCI] Biology department.”
CalThrive’s primary focus on campus is the organic garden behind Modoc Hall, with fresh fruits and vegetables going to CSUCI’s Dolphin Pantry and Food Share of Ventura County.
“Part of the reason I like this kind of work is the people I meet,” Dent said. “There’s a certain vibe of being around people who are willing to spend hours volunteering.”
Ballesteros-Sola finds it extremely rewarding to work with entrepreneurs like Dent as he continues to develop CalThrive, or for those who just want to understand more about the ecosystem of startup businesses. Ballesteros-Sola stressed that the ESBI is “agnostic” in that she will help students of all majors or any community member with a nonprofit organization.
“We want to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset,” Ballesteros-Sola said. “Even if they don’t want to start their own business, this is a skill set that will be valuable in any career. You can work for a company and still be an entrepreneur. It could be for the family business or for a side hustle. We teach students how to connect and network.”
Ballesteros-Sola develops startup teams to compete in area startup competitions through her “Dolphin LaunchpOd.”
“The ‘Dolphin LaunchpOd’ is paying off as two teams represented CSUCI at the Cal Lutheran New Venture Fair and others will compete next year in The Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition.”
The Launch Competition is a startup competition designed exclusively for emerging startups in the California State University System.
Another ESBI-cultivated business was represented for the first time at the Startup Village in Santa Barbara in March, an annual event organized by UC Santa Barbara. The competition is a collection of startups from UCSB, Cal Poly, CLU, and CSUCI. Each startup is provided with a table to showcase the company to roughly 250 attendees.
CSUCI was represented by Leap Pharma, a startup launched by 2007 alumna Liliana Marghitoiu, who earned a Master of Bioinformation and Biotechnology from CSUCI. Leap Pharma develops unique pet nutrition products, and hard-to-find or specialized pharmaceutical medication for pets with specific health needs.
Finally, ESBI sponsored Startup Day on campus on April 25, when entrepreneurs from the campus and surrounding community worked all day with mentors and industry leaders to develop their ideas, which they pitched at the end of the day. The 2025 winner was Bink, a startup billing itself as the Expedia of second-hand clothing, aimed at saving Bink users time when searching for clothing at thrift shops.
Ballesteros-Sola plans to keep up ESBI’s momentum for Fall of 2025, helping student and community entrepreneurs develop and streamline business plans for competition, and ultimately, to enter the marketplace.
For more on ESBI, visit the ESBI website.