Course Description
Are you passionate about transforming the future of sports through innovation and entrepreneurship? Welcome to SportsTech, a course designed for the next generation of changemakers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Situated at the intersection of one of the world’s leading engineering programs and a top-tier Division 1 athletic program, this course offers a unique platform for multidisciplinary collaboration.
In this course, students will utilize AI to accelerate various aspects of the entrepreneurial process. From identifying market gaps to crafting compelling pitches and developing a Minimum Viable Prototype (MVP), the course integrates AI ethically and transparently as a tool for business development. Additionally, students will leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn for customer interviews, market validation, and professional branding.
Guest speakers from the industry will join the course to share insights on sports innovation and changemaking. Students will also engage in Berkeley Changemaker’s three core pillars: Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration. These elements aim to equip students with the skills and mindsets required to become changemakers in the sports industry.
The course culminates in a demo and pitch session where students present their MVPs to a panel of venture capitalists and industry judges, offering real-world validation and next-level venture development opportunities.
Dr. Christyna (‘Dr. C’) Serrano is a dedicated educator and entrepreneur focused on shaping the next generation of changemakers. A ‘Triple Bear’ with degrees from UC Berkeley, she holds professional faculty roles in SCET, the Haas School of Business, and the School of Education. Dr. C teaches a range of courses, from SportsTech to Critical Studies in Education and The Berkeley Changemaker Gateway, all designed to develop agents of change. Beyond Berkeley, she serves as the Director of Early Career Online Business Education at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and is the founder of Critically Conscious Design, LLC, crafting programs that foster changemakers in entrepreneurship and education.
About Challenge Labs
Challenge Labs are 4 unit courses for students of all academic backgrounds who seek a rigorous, interactive, team-based, and hands-on learning experience in entrepreneurship and technology. These courses use a unique pedagogy, The Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship, that involves the use of games, industry guest speakers, team exercises, videos and labs to cover the early part of the startup lifecycle. In these highly experiential courses, students form start-up teams to create technology solutions or services to address a broadly-defined problem posed by an industry partner or social challenge.
Instructor
Christyna Serrano
Dr. Christyna Serrano is an accomplished educator and entrepreneur specializing in learning innovation and technology. She’s a “triple bear” having received her BA, MA, and PhD from Cal. She now holds professional faculty appointments at UC Berkeley, in the Haas School of Business, Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) in the College of Engineering, and, finally, at the Berkeley School of Education. As a faculty member, Dr. Serrano teaches courses from Critical Studies in Education to EdTech & Entrepreneurship, SportsTech: Entrepreneurship and the Future of Sports, and The Berkeley Changemaker Gateway.
When she’s not teaching at Cal (Go Bears!), she works as the Director of Early Career Online Business Education at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) at Stanford University and is a representative for Executive Education on the GSB’s DEI Council. Dr. Serrano also serves as the Director of Learning Innovation & Technology with Conectado, Inc, a new model for Latino inclusion in tech and the future of work via a digital Web 3 multiverse, or “Conectado-Verse.” Conectado is a virtual destination that brings together a community of, educational institutions, social impact organizations, and corporations to increase representation of Latinx and historically excluded groups in the tech field.
Dr. Christyna Serrano is a board member of two organizations – DECODE and Zick Learn – that focus on entrepreneurship education and adult learning, respectively. She guides customer learning pathways and user experience design in both cases.
Finally, Dr. Serrano is the founder of Critically Conscious Design, LLC, which creates educational programming that develops change agents for entrepreneurship and the future of education and work. Her current project involves the development of a gamified entrepreneurship curriculum for middle school students, which is being delivered at Astra Nova School, born on the SpaceX campus and now fully online. She is also working on a financial literacy curriculum for middle school students for delivery in Spring 2023.