Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship’s Dr. Cynthia West Named Innovator of the Year at 2025 Women of Influence Awards

ORANGE, CA, UNITED STATES, March 4, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Greater Irvine Chamber will honor Dr. Cynthia West, Director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics and Associate Professor at Chapman University, as Innovator of the Year at their 2025 Women of Influence Awards. This recognition highlights her outstanding leadership in expanding entrepreneurial opportunities and fostering business innovation in Orange County.

Since joining the Leatherby Center in June 2023, Dr. West has raised more than $2.2 million in external funding, fueling the expansion of entrepreneurial programs and resources in Orange County. Under her leadership, the Center has launched eight new initiatives, including programs focused on female founders, Spanish speaking entrepreneurs, and first-time entrepreneurs. Her efforts have helped create greater access to mentorship, funding, and networking opportunities for those looking to start or scale their businesses.

Dr. West will be recognized alongside other distinguished honorees at the Greater Irvine Chamber’s Women of Influence Awards on Thursday, March 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Renaissance Newport Beach Hotel. The event will feature a keynote address by John Wayne Airport Director Charlene Reynolds, as well as a panel discussion moderated by Danni Remington Smithson, EVP of California Bank of Commerce.

For more information about the event and to register before the March 6 deadline, please visit https://greaterirvinechamber.com/signature-events/women-of-influence

About Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics
The Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics is a prominent center for entrepreneurial education at Chapman University’s Argyros College of Business and Economics. Founded in 1995 with an endowment by Ralph W. Leatherby, the center provides hands-on experience to the next generation of talent, guiding them to launch and scale ventures which aim to solve the world’s most challenging problems. In addition to serving as an incubator for new business startups and offering a diverse course catalog, the Leatherby Center complements its curriculum with public events, roundtables, guest lectures, and other programs that inspire, educate, and empower the entire community to have an entrepreneurial mindset. To learn more, please visit www.chapman.edu/research/institutes-and-centers/leatherby-center.

About Chapman University
Founded in 1861, Chapman University is a nationally ranked private university in Orange, California, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. Chapman serves nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, with a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Students can choose from 123 areas of study within 11 colleges for a personalized education. Chapman is categorized by the Carnegie Classification as an R2 "high research activity" institution. Students at Chapman learn directly from distinguished world-class faculty including Nobel Prize winners, MacArthur fellows, published authors and Academy Award winners. The campus has produced a Rhodes Scholar, been named a top producer of Fulbright Scholars and hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor society. www.chapman.edu.

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