YEA! partners with A. B. Freeman School of Business Class

YEA Class of 2026-2027 with Michelle Jackson and Natalia Sandor.

The Tulane Innovation Institute launched the third cohort of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) on Sept. 14, welcoming 30 students from 17 high schools across the greater New Orleans area. Louisiana Economic Development and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center support the tuition-free program.

Over 30 weeks, students identify business opportunities, conduct customer discovery, build business plans and study marketing, sales and financials as they develop and pitch their own ventures.

Michelle Jackson continues to lead the program as faculty instructor. She is an entrepreneur, an adjunct professor at the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement and founder of i.invest, a grant program for young entrepreneurs. Natalia Sandor joins the program as the Tulane Innovation Institute program coordinator. Sandor comes from ideaHUb at Hofstra University and was a teen entrepreneur who launched and operated a locally sourced ice cream sandwich business in New York.