At Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) certain students, professors and alumni stand out among the crowd. As a way to celebrate and distinguish these individuals the Islander university has what is known as the “Outstanding Islander” award, and one of these outstanding islanders is at the Innovation Center.
David Fonseca, Incubator Manager at the Innovation Center, was presented the “Outstanding Islander” award in March 2015.
According to the “Outstanding Islander” article on the TAMU-CC website entitled “David Fonseca: Outstanding Islanders—A Business Innovator,” “Fonseca started as a volunteer at the Innovation Center in 2009, eventually became a student worker and, upon graduation, was asked to be a Graduate Assistant and received a scholarship covering his MBA tuition.”
Fonseca’s achievements, however, go beyond earning his MBA. Fonseca has also completed the Incubator Management Certificate Program of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) and is now a part of the training team that certifies Spanish speaking incubator managers in the United States and Latin America.
Fonseca is also a certified coach in the WKI and Growth Wheel models and is currently on the board of the Young Business Professionals of Corpus Christi, Texas. In Feb. 2015, through his position at the Innovation Center, Fonseca took the lead role in hosting the “La Idea Incubator Program,” which was sponsored by the State Department. “La Idea” brought companies from the Pacific Alliance countries of Latin America to the United States to learn about the best practices in manufacturing and business.
“The first time I heard the concept of an Innovation Center and a Business Incubator, I fell in love with it,” Fonseca was quoted as saying in that same article. “Coming from an entrepreneurial family, I knew the potential of learning from early stage companies was huge.”
For more information:
http://www.tamucc.edu/profiles/mar15/profile_fonseca.php