Co-creating Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Innovative Enterprise Management
Dr. Patrick D. Walker (Patrick) is the inaugural Ruth Jones Lewis Faculty Scholar in Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise, an endowed position in the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky. In this capacity, he teaches courses that examine entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and conscious capitalism from legal, managerial, and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Patrick’s teaching, research, and workshops engage classrooms, court systems, corporate boardrooms, and diverse communities that include entrepreneurs, small business owners, farmers, charitable and religious nonprofit organizations, formerly incarcerated individuals, and large corporations committed to building equity through community economic development.
Patrick’s research agenda partners with stakeholders to co-create and design equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems and co-create sustainable multi-paths forward for allies of conscience capitalism and free enterprise in philosophy, policy, practice, programming, and profit who desire to use their power, platforms, and privilege to increase the success and significance of African American and minority-owned businesses. These avenues may also be used to bring together small business owners, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits from diverse backgrounds to provide shared experiences and collaboration.
Patrick is a first-generation HBCU graduate raised and inspired by his grandparents with over 20 years of combined expertise from federal research laboratories, higher education, and private corporations. For over 15 years, he served as an award-winning Professor of Business Law and Management at universities in St. Louis, Missouri, and Hampton Roads, Virginia. As Co-Founder and Chief Entrepreneurial Officer of a consulting firm, Patrick conducts training and evaluations for local and national organizations, and Fortune 500 companies as they navigate critical management and legal decision-making processes. He has facilitated training sessions for Boeing, Edward Jones, and Walmart.
A prolific fundraiser for multiple philanthropic causes, Patrick proudly serves on several national regional boards of directors. He frequently lectures on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, conscious capitalism, economic empowerment, and race. Patrick received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Master of Business Administration degrees from Hampton University and his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Regent University.
University of Kentucky Course Catalogue:
HON 251 Awakening the S.O.U.L. of Free Enterprise
HON 251 Law, Ethics & Entrepreneurship
HON 301 The New C.E.O.: Chief Entrepreneurial Officer
HON 301 Black Wall Street: The Color & Culture of Capitalism
HON 301 Batman: The Caped Entrepreneur.
University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College Faculty Page:
