Maija Renko, Ph.D.

Originally from Finland, I am a professor at DePaul University in Chicago, where I serve as the Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship at the Driehaus College of Business. I joined DePaul in 2019 after twelve years at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As a researcher and educator, my focus is on how entrepreneurs build financially successful businesses that contribute to positive social change. I shed light on subjects such as crowdfunding strategies, social impact entrepreneurship, inclusive management styles, company values, leadership styles, early-stage startup success, and more, all detailed here.

I have dedicated much of my life to studying and helping entrepreneurs with disabilities and those that have been historically disenfranchised understand their unique strength in the market.

In 2016 I worked with the Disability Studies Scholars, alongside Sarah Parker Harris and Kate Calswell, to establish a Coleman Foundation funded training program (CEED program) for entrepreneurs with disabilities. After CEED, I co-built and co-taught the first UIC-SEA Social Enterprise Certificate Program. Presently, I am a co-principal investigator on a $2.4M grant awarded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) for research on how entrepreneurship can help youth with disabilities.