Building a Social Enterprise with Victoria Chen and Victoria Doan

This is new elective programming for students interested in discovering new insights about a particular industry. For this elective series, we will be bringing in entrepreneurs to talk about their experience building ventures in the following areas: Creator Economy, Consumer Packaged Goods, Sustainability, Tech, Social Enterprise, Healthcare, and Finance.

More about the speakers

Victoria Chen is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of BridgeYear. Prior to starting BridgeYear, Chen joined Teach For America and taught high school biology at Sharpstown High School. She later joined the founding team of EMERGE, a then start-up nonprofit organization that helped academically high-achieving, underserved students apply for highly selective colleges and universities. Since then, she has been committed to helping students from low-income communities reach their full potential through postsecondary education. BridgeYear is a Houston-based nonprofit that connects underserved youth to careers and educational opportunities that led to economic stability and independence. BridgeYear focuses on well-paying careers that do not require a four-year degree and provides students with hands-on career exploration opportunities, tangible resources, and direct access to local training programs through MorePathways.org.

Chen received her undergraduate degree from Brown University in neuroscience and her MBA from the Yale School of Management. Through her work at BridgeYear, she received the Thorne Prize for Social Innovation at Yale University in 2017 and was named the Texas Executive Women’s Rising Star in 2019.

Victoria Doan is a former college access coordinator who received district-wide recognition for her innovative practices and processes of the “College and Career Center.” She co-founded BridgeYear in 2016. BridgeYear is a Houston-based nonprofit that connects underserved youth to careers and educational opportunities that lead to economic stability and independence. BridgeYear focuses on well-paying careers that do not require a four-year degree and provides students with hands-on career exploration opportunities, tangible resources, and direct access to local training programs through MorePathways.org.