Center for Entrepreneurship (CEDE) | Empowering Entrepreneurs Online

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Here to Ignite Your Ideas and Fuel Your Success.

Center for Entrepreneurship Diversity and Education

The Center for Entrepreneurship Diversity and Education (CEDE) is your one-stop shop for small business success. We help entrepreneurs at every stage, from first-time founders writing a business plan to established owners preparing for their next hire.

With everything available in English, Spanish or Polish our free resources cover funding and grants, business certifications for woman-owned and minority-owned businesses, marketing and AI tools, market research, and one-on-one mentorship with experienced executives.

Workshops and events run year-round, online and in person, and our toolkits are open to anyone who needs them. Use the menu above to find resources built for your type of business.

Brought to you by the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University.

Which Best Describes You?

Pick a path, and we will show you the programs built for it.

Established Businesses

Training, certifications, and workshops to help you scale.

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Hispanic-Owned Businesses

Recursos, financiamiento y mentoría en español.

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Woman & Minority Owned

Certifications and funding that open contract doors.

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Student Businesses

Curriculum, the Innovation Lab and executives in residence

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Upcoming Events

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What We Help With

Every resource below is free. Most take one conversation to get started.

Funding & Grants

Grants, loans, and capital programs, plus help finding your fit.

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Workshops

Free sessions on funding, marketing and operations.

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Certifications

Get certified and unlock contracts reserved for diverse suppliers.

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Market Research

Know your customers and your competition.

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AI Tools

Which AI tools actually save a small business time.

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Mentorship

Get matched with someone who has solved your problem already.

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BUSINESS OF THE MONTH

One Less Hat

Affordable, stress-free digital marketing for small business owners who are already wearing too many hats. Founded by Dominican alumni Lexie (’25) and Casey (’25, ’27 MBA), serving the Oak Park businesses that make the community what it is.

Visit One Less Hat

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Business Tips

How to Get Certified as a Woman-Owned Business in Illinois

How to Get Certified as a Woman-Owned Business in Illinois If you own a business in Illinois and more than half of it belongs to you and other women, you are probably eligible for a certification you are not using. Woman-owned business certification opens doors to government contracts, corporate supplier programs, and bid preferences that uncertified competitors cannot reach. The problem is that “getting certified” is not one thing. There are at least five separate programs i

Small Business Grants in Chicago: Where to Actually Look in 2026

Search for small business grants in Chicago, and you will find dozens of listicles. Most of them are wrong. They recycle programs that closed years ago, quote dollar figures from expired funding rounds, and send you to application pages that no longer exist. The pandemic-era programs that made headlines are finished. Illinois's Back to Business grants and the earlier Business Interruption Grant program are both closed. Several corporate grants that still appear at the top of

Practical guides on funding, certifications, and growth, written by us.