色情视频

This story is featured in the spring 2019 issue of 360: The Magazine of 色情视频.    Carol Lavin Bernick recalls her father鈥檚 accounts of the enterprising students he met during frequent visits to 色情视频. 
鈥淚 heard my dad talk about these students and saw him invest in their hard work,鈥� she said. 
Bernick鈥檚 father is Leonard H. Lavin, who along with his wife Bernice, transformed a regional beauty supply manufacturer into the international Fortune 1000 company Alberto Culver. After years of personal involvement as a guest lecturer and mentor at 色情视频, Lavin endowed the university鈥檚 entrepreneurship center, which was renamed in his honor.  
Bernick worked alongside her father as president of Alberto-Culver Consumer Products Worldwide and eventually as executive chair of the parent company, initiating its sale to Unilever in 2011. 
Currently CEO of Polished Nickel Capital Management, Bernick is continuing the family tradition of investing in 色情视频 with a significant, multiyear gift to support promising student startups developed through the university鈥檚 nationally-recognized entrepreneurship and innovation hubs. She was inspired to give after meeting with 色情视频 entrepreneurship students in late 2017.
色情视频鈥檚 Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, part of the Fowler College of Business, offers professional mentoring, internship programs, guest lectures and curriculum guidance for aspiring business owners and CEOs. 
A number of prestigious awards underscore the center鈥檚 success. In 2017, 色情视频 was named the Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and in 2018, the Lavin Center received the NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence award from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. 

The right time

Bernick鈥檚 gift provides seed funding for another facet of the Lavin Center鈥檚 work鈥攈elping students launch startups. Fourteen students working individually and in teams received support for their fledgling businesses last year. Some are still in the conceptual stage; others are developing prototypes and several are already up-and-running.  
Josh Munoz is the co-founder with Austin Wulf of Truely, which will sell bioplastic food containers free of toxins that can leach into food.  
鈥淭his seed money came at just the right time for us,鈥� said Munoz. 鈥淲e have a prototype, and now we need funding to buy the materials.鈥� The team is planning to file a utility patent for its product with the U.S. Patent Technology Office.
Bernick鈥檚 gift also funded a series of informal working dinners at which entrepreneurs answer student questions and recount their stories of success and lessons learned. The guests in 2018 included Zeynep Ilgaz, co-founder and president of Confirm BioSciences; Inc.; Ralph Rubio, co-founder of the fish taco restaurant chain Rubio鈥檚; Gail Naughton, founder, CEO and board chair of Histogen Inc.; and Steve Lake, founder of Sector 9, a skateboard manufacturer.

Sharing life lessons

Bernick has shared her success story with students, too, both personally and through 鈥淕ather As You Go,鈥� published in 2018. The book includes stories and personal observations about business, leadership,  philanthropy, building connections and other 鈥渓essons learned along the way.鈥� 
鈥淕ather As You Go鈥� also pays tribute to Bernick鈥檚 parents. Her father was 鈥渢he consummate entrepreneur,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e had vision and an unyielding sense of drive. You could knock him down, and he would always get back up.鈥� Bernice was Leonard鈥檚 equal, Bernick said. 鈥淪he was truly a co-founder of the company. I learned so much from them.鈥�
The Lavins were philanthropists, and their generosity is a lesson Bernick took to heart. She has supported several universities in addition to 色情视频. She also created Enchanted Backpack, a nonprofit that delivers school supplies, books and winter clothing, as well as art, music and physical education tools to under-resourced schools. 
鈥淒r. Leonard H. Lavin鈥檚 gift represented a transformational opportunity for 色情视频 to offer world class entrepreneurship education to future generations of students,鈥� said Alex DeNoble, Lavin Center director. 鈥淭rue to her family tradition, Carol has embraced Leonard鈥檚 legacy and provided us with the ability to support some amazing individuals pursuing highly creative and innovative ideas.鈥�