After 40-plus years in the construction, transit, entertainment and media industries, Dr. Oscar Edwards said he needed a reboot.
So he earned a doctorate in business administration in 2022 from Grand Canyon University and transitioned seamlessly to small-business consulting and helping prospective entrepreneurs.
But it was his devotion to education, inclusivity and development of science, technology, engineering and math among underserved communities that caught the attention of VentureWell, formerly known as the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. The not-for-profit organization funds and trains faculty and student innovators who want to create socially beneficial businesses, ultimately providing opportunities for STEM students and researchers to solve the world's most difficult problems and improve the world.
The not-for-profit receives funding from such organizations as the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of State and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to name a few.
Edwards was appointed to serve on a project conducted by VentureWell for the National Science Foundation INCLUDES initiative, a national effort to enhance leadership, broaden participation and expand opportunities in STEM. He is one of 25 scholars who will be part of the NSF's Reimagining STEM Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Centering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion project.
Edwards and others who are part of the project will work in groups of five to explore diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM in the K-12 pipeline. They also will look at community building, messaging, research and policy, and access to markets and capital.
“There’s a great opportunity. There’s a gap, obviously, in terms of getting that STEM-related education and the entrepreneurial connection with STEM – not just STEM but using STEM as a platform to connect to the innovation and entrepreneurial space," said Edwards, who added that bridging that gap is the push of VentureWell and the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).
For the last 16 years, Edwards has served as president and CEO of Higher Growth Strategies and more recently as a managing partner for Diversity Equity Inclusion Group. He also serves as the finance faculty lead at Los Angeles City College for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and serves on the board of directors of USASBE.
But Edwards, a first-team All-America defensive back in 1976 for the Bruins at the University of California, Los Angeles, sought more during his transition, despite earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UCLA.
“I was searching for an institution that would meet my requirements in terms of having a sound curriculum, but more than anything, having a network that worked for a practitioner,” Edwards said of GCU's doctoral program, which also provided the flexibility he needed.
Edwards made an impression on the doctoral faculty, including Dr. Melissa Singer Pressman, director of the Institutional Review Board for the University's College of Doctoral Studies.
“Dr. Edwards embraces each chapter in life with graciousness and motivation,” said Singer Pressman. “He is an inspiration.”
Edwards credited GCU’s vision and ability to maintain pace with the changes in the world that he couldn't find at higher education institutions elsewhere. He also relished the demands of the doctoral program, particularly the challenging discussions and rewrites in polishing and defending his thesis.
Edwards’ past and present have intersected at J.W. North High School in Riverside, California, where he is part of a committee that awards a $3,000 scholarship to a graduating senior who shows a commitment to education and inclusivity. The scholarship is named after former North principal Horace Jackson, who was an inspiration to Edwards and several students.
“When you sit back and reflect, those touches are turning points in your life,” Edwards said. “And you don’t realize it right then in that moment. But when you reflect on what motivated you on this or that, you say, ‘Wow, I never would have thought it was that way.’"
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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