story taken from Technical.ly website – link here
Vince DiFelice, a senior instructor of entrepreneurship and the faculty director of venture support at UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, recently earned the 2024 Technical.ly Award for Educator of the Year in Delaware.
Delaware’s most nominated person this year, DiFelice is clearly well respected among UD entrepreneurship students.
“Vince consistently goes above and beyond, making a lasting impact on students’ lives,” said one nominator. “His passion for teaching is evident in the extra time he spends supporting, mentoring, and inspiring each student to reach their full potential.”
DiFelice answered a pair of questions from Technical.ly about his proudest accomplishments and future goals.
What accomplishments are you most proud of this year?
DiFelice: As an instructor of entrepreneurship, I am most proud of the learning and development experienced by our students and the impact they have on our entrepreneurial ecosystem and community.
There is no more powerful form of learning than entrepreneurship; no more powerful form of personal development than that which comes from working on a startup. Working on a startup while in school serves as a vehicle to accelerate learning about one’s interests and about oneself. Students realize potential and successfully pursue individual aspirations aligned with their interests; they begin to discover where they fit in the world. This reduces their uneasiness, and their uncertainty associated with their future helping them and their families.
These students also positively impact our entrepreneurial ecosystem and community. As evidenced by:
- Bryce Fender and Joel Amin Jr. of Wilminvest who help homeless families in Wilmington, or
- Adam Stager of TRIC Robotics who provides farmers with a chemical-free alternative for pest control helping to save the environment, or
- Maya Nazareth of Alchemize Fightwear who disrupts the sports gear market and in so doing empowers women, or
- Garry Johnson III of First Founders an organization that devotes its resources to developing underrepresented people into entrepreneurs, or
- Emilie Delaye of Relief who attempts to assist women with chronic illnesses manage the logistical burden of their conditions, or
- Annabelle Brame of her fashion startup of the same name, Brame which revolutionizes how people wear garments and reduces the huge impact of excess clothing in the environment.
What are you looking forward to in 2025?
DiFelice: I look forward to doing more of the same noted above with the great group of people I work with at Horn Entrepreneurship of the Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. It is this team that enables and facilitates all the above. Without them none of this would have been possible, none of this would have been realized. I also look forward to continuing to help our local entrepreneurial ecosystem as we all devote ourselves to solving important societal and customer problems.
Additionally, VentureOn, a program of UD’s Horn Entrepreneurship, was named Technical.ly Program of the Year in Delaware.
The program, which offers resources and services as well as weekly community sessions to aspiring entrepreneurs, has nearly tripled in size since the pandemic.
“VentureOn continues to serve as a launchpad for transformative ideas and entrepreneurial success,” Horn administrative assistant and minor academic advisor Kay Patel told Technical.ly. “In 2025 … we look forward to nurturing the development of innovative ideas and concepts and supporting students as they turn their passions into impactful ventures.”