Pursue Your Passions

• Inclusivity. You belong here. We work to reach all people including those who are underestimated, overlooked or oppressed.
• Leadership. We help authentic leaders find their full potential.
• Entrepreneurship. We gravitate toward entrepreneurial minds that strive to solve problems; big and small.
• Wholeness. We demand physical safety and emotional wellbeing.
• The Collective. We bring people together to build connective communities that can create a positive impact.

Have you ever had a great idea for a product or service that you’d like to pursue? Are you passionate about a social or environmental issue that isn't being addressed adequately? Do you want to launch a new service that doesn't currently exist? Would you like the opportunity to earn credit while pursuing this great idea or passion? Register for Pursue Your Passion's introductory 1-credit course, offered every Autumn.

• Explore, hands-on, how to make a side-hustle or larger idea into something real.
• Brainstorm ideas with a community of women supporting other women.
• Build and lead a diverse startup team for your idea.
• Connect with an experienced entrepreneur mentor.
• Apply/learn approachable, startup frameworks that take you through bite-sized steps to rolling up your sleeves and digging in.

• Explore what it can look like to design your own career
• Weigh your values and begin to imagine where you fit in the world.
• Brainstorm with a community of women supporting other women.
• Connect with a professional, community mentor.
• Apply/learn how to be an entrepreneurial problem-solver for any career path.

• Connect with a community of intellectually curious women who support other driven women.
• Weigh your values and begin to imagine where you fit in the world or amongst these exciting peers.
• Experiment as a member of a diverse team working on a PYP startup idea.
• Gain a professional, community mentor.
• Apply/learn how to be an entrepreneurial problem-solver for any career path.

Are you a graduate or professional student looking to make impact?

If you are a graduate or professional student who wants to apply a practical application of your passions, PYP can help you:

• Explore, hands-on, what it looks like to design your career. Take your ideas for an organization, small business, or startup and make it into something real.
• Brainstorm ideas with a community of women supporting other women.
• Build and lead a diverse startup team for your idea.
• Connect with an experienced entrepreneur or professional mentor.
• Apply/learn how to be an entrepreneurial problem-solver for any career path.
• We have a 400-level, graduate increment and will work with you and your advisor to get you credit for the course.

• Inspiration- Hear from accomplished entrepreneurs and leaders from all over Montana. Keynote speakers discuss their experience of discovering their passion, and what it takes to live a life revolving around that passion.
• Special Event Invitations - local entrepreneurs and female leaders will be guest speakers at several events, just for Pursue Your Passions, to share their expertise with participants.
• Mentorship- After the introductory course, participants have the opportunity to be thoughtfully matched with a mentor that will help them reach their personal and professional goals during the program. The participants’ ideas, passions, and mentorship needs are all taken into account when pairing them with an accomplished and inspiring community member.
• LaunchPad Help- Throughout the course of the year, Blackstone LaunchPad employees will be at every meeting providing extra resources to participants as well as connecting them to additional services within and outside the organization.
• Credit for the Program- Pursue Your Passions program participants will take the EPIC Pursue Your Passion's introductory course on a credit/no credit basis (also known as pass/fail). For graduate students or those who have graduated within 1-year of our enrollment deadline, feel free to check-in with us about auditing the course without the attachment of credits if that's a deal-breaker for you.