Laurel Djoukeng MBA ’20 
Patrick Pierson-Prah MBA ’21
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) has awarded Fuqua alumni Laurel Djoukeng MBA ’20 and Patrick Pierson-Prah MBA ’21, student loan assistance from the Fuqua Entrepreneurial Grants to support these alumni in their roles as founders. Djoukeng is founder and CEO of Sparc, which connects people who have similar interests and arranges live engagements with them. Pierson-Prah is founder and CEO of Renmo, a credit assessment platform that enables tenants in Africa to pay rent monthly.
The Fuqua School of Business offers this competitive financial incentive to MBA, MQM, MMS, or Ph.D. students who have actively contributed to CEI programs and have founded or co-founded a for-profit business which they will pursue full-time after graduating. The Fuqua Entrepreneurship Grants provide funding to support students in paying the interest on student loan payments for up to two years post-graduation. This assistance allows emerging entrepreneurs to focus on building their companies full-time.
The Fuqua Entrepreneurship Grants Endowment Fund was established in 2016 and is funded by the generosity of Glenn Boghosian MBA ’91, Shankar Musunuri MBA ’06, and David Mudrick MBA ’91. These donors support the development of an entrepreneurial mindset among Fuqua students and alumni. Djoukeng and Pierson-Prah are the second cohort of recipients of the award. Alan Ma MBA ’20 was the inaugural recipient of the award.