Welcome to the newest edition of MOBI’s Newsletter. With each issue we reach out to our students, alumni, partners, and readers to share important highlights from the My Own Business Institute at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. We hope you will enjoy these updates and continue your relationship with MOBI on your path toward entrepreneurship!

Feel free to opt-out of this newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom. Para leer este boletín en español, haga clic aquí. 

Thank you from MOBI!

Greetings!

It is incredible to think about our beloved founders Phil and Peggy Holland, and the inspiration that led them to create MOBI: a vision to support community rejuvenation and growth following the Los Angeles riots of 1992 through free entrepreneurship education. They believed that by empowering individuals to pursue their dreams and create new opportunities for themselves, the entire community can benefit. It is a particularly poignant reflection at this time of such unfathomable devastation in Los Angeles, and our hearts and prayers are with all who are impacted by the fires.

Since we launched MOBI at Santa Clara University in 2015, we have made incredible strides, serving 300,000-400,000 website visitors each year, growing our partner program to over 100 organizations around the world, and closing 2024 with our highest number of annual enrollments to date. 

As I reflect on the past ten years, I am grateful for the time we shared with Phil and Peggy as MOBI began its chapter here. I am inspired by the MOBI students who harness courage and determination to continue their education and take the first steps toward pursuing their dreams, and I am uplifted by the dedication and ingenuity of our partners in bringing free education to those who need and want it most in the ways that work best for their communities. 

The road to entrepreneurship is not always smooth, nor easy, and I commend students and partners alike for embracing and fostering the belief that anything is possible. In the spirit of Phil and Peggy’s vision and the spark that ignited their dream of free entrepreneurship education, I thank you.

Sincerely,

Drew Starbird, Ph.D.

In 2024 MOBI’s enrollments increased by 17% over 2023, and the number of students who earned Certificates of Completion increased by 12%. During 2024 MOBI’s website visitors generated over 99,000 clicks and created over 23 million impressions for our most popular page, the blog post entitled, “Ethics in Life and Business.” (As this blog has long been a popular source of information for those interested in exploring ethics, we added its content to the Managing a Business course we added to our course catalog this past summer!) We also added 22 new partners, seeing particular growth in our engagement in Africa and around the United States, among other regions as well. Additionally, this newsletter was sent to over 65,000 subscribers. We are excited to witness the continued growth of our program, and we look forward to all that 2025 will bring!

In the study led by MOBI Executive Director Drew Starbird, Ph.D., data were collected using Universal Analytics, a version of Google Analytics from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. During this time 435,273 users visited MOBI’s website, and engaged in 664,216 pageviews.

The research was published on February 20, 2025 by Technology, Knowledge and Learning, a hybrid online/print publication provided by global publisher Springer Nature. Click the button below to read the full paper on the publication’s website.

Topics include:

• Everything You Need to Know about Taking a MOBI Course
• How Do I Get Started with a MOBI Course
• Earning a Certificate of Completion and/or Digital Badge from MOBI and Santa Clara University
• MOBI Program Support and Resources
• For Students Participating in NYS SEAP
• Technical Assistance
• MOBI Partnerships

MOBI Partners are an important part of the MOBI program! By forming partnerships with diverse communities of students around the world, MOBI can inspire entrepreneurship in ways that best meet the specific opportunities of each group, and always for free. In this newsletter, we feature Twajali Empowerment Network (Twajali) from Nairobi, Kenya. We thank Founder Mary Mutua for sharing her thoughts and photos, and for her inspiring partnership. Learn more about the unique ways four of MOBI’s inspiring partners in Africa are empowering entrepreneurship in their communities by reading our recent blog post here.

Twajali is a registered nonprofit organization in Nairobi that seeks to empower the marginalized youth of Kenya to create opportunities through a process including skills training, job placement, and personal development. Youth in impoverished communities and semi-urban areas can be susceptible to crime, drug abuse, and prostitution while searching for livelihood opportunities. Through holistic training and experiential learning methods focused on the hospitality management industry, Twajali aims to uplift Kenya’s youth to lead and inspire change in their communities.

In November 20204, Twajali began its offline entrepreneurship training program with 19 students learning MOBI’s curriculum in a customized 15 topic course. Twajali provided instruction in person with delivery methods that included group discussions, illustrations, and case studies to promote interactive learning. 

(Photos taken of the first training session were provided by Twajali Founder Mary Mutua.

On January 28, MOBI published a blog post highlighting the unique approaches four MOBI Partners in Africa are taking to build opportunity in their communities with entrepreneurship education. Click here to read how US-Africa Initiatives, Twajali, tuiFUND, and The Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus are customizing MOBI's curriculum.

For more information and to see a partial list of partners, visit our Partnerships page. Learn more about our three partnership levels by viewing our MOBI Partner Comparison Chart. Interested in becoming a MOBI partner? Submit a Partnership Request.

MOBI Sr. Director, Institute Relations and Program Development Trish Kalbas-Schmidt made a guest appearance on the “Just Jania” podcast, hosted by Jania Bailey, CEO of FranNet. Each month Just Jania features industry leaders to discuss education, trends, and relevant topics in franchising. In this episode Jania and Trish talk about how MOBI got started, the power of entrepreneurship education, the shifting demographics of entrepreneurship, technology as both a challenge and opportunity for small businesses today, and what’s next for MOBI. 

In speaking about her passion for empowering people through MOBI, Trish comments, “At the heart of vulnerability is creativity. If we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, allow ourselves to believe in ourselves, and allow ourselves to pursue and achieve our dreams, anything is possible. The power to create our own future is priceless and that’s really what entrepreneurship does for people. It doesn’t get any better than helping people achieve confidence in their dreams.”

Regarding the value of learning about entrepreneurship and business Trish adds, “Even if it isn’t about starting your own business, we are our own minimum viable product (MVP), we are a business, and so we need to look at ourselves that way in terms of marketing ourselves, evaluating our skills. Entrepreneurial education is not just about starting businesses, it can make you a better employee, it can help you market yourself for other jobs, it can make you a better consumer, and it can help you understand the greater economy that is always around us. Having any education in business is going to help you be a more successful citizen all around." 

Click the button below to listen to Trish Kalbas-Schmidt on "Just Jania" at Social Geek Radio.

Here are some events from the past few months.

In our last newsletter we asked why you started your own business or became an entrepreneur. We gave you several choices and invited you to pick as many as you like. Here is how the answers ranked based upon your answers:

Suggested by one of our readers, here is our new survey question: 

How do you use technology in your business?

Here are the options you can choose from when you click the survey button below:

• I use technology for Marketing
• I use technology for Finance
• I use technology for Communication
• I use technology for Operations
• I use technology for Sales
• I use technology for Research and Development
• I use technology for Human Resources
• I use technology to provide my product or service (web design/graphic design, app development, content creation, social media manager, online teacher/coach, writer/editor, etc.)
• Other

Bonus question:

What is your primary device for your business?

• I use a smartphone for my business
• I use a computer for my business
• I use a tablet for my business
• I use shared technology/library workspace/internet workspace/co-working space/family computer
• Other

Click the button below to visit the survey and submit your choices. Then stay tuned for the next newsletter where responses will be shared.

We wish you good health and all the best in business success!

The MOBI Team