IGEI ACTIVITIES
Small Business Boot Camp
During the first week of the program, IGEI learners receive a rapid introduction to all the steps needed to move a business idea from inception to an investor pitch. Delivered by business professionals from Lehigh's Small Business Development Center, students work together to create feasibility studies, business plans, marketing plans, financial plans, and ultimately a business pitch presented to a panel of expert consultants. The Small Business Bootcamp gives IGEI participants their first taste of the program's learning-by-doing approach!
Lehigh Concentration Course 
In addition to attending sessions with Lehigh faculty and industry leaders, IGEI participants have the opportunity to select a concentration course, focusing on an area of particular interest to explore in greater depth. Concentration course options vary from year to year based on faculty availability, and can include such topics as fintech, branding and marketing, AI and Business, ESG, technical entrepreneurship, among others.
Civil Discourse Leadership Seminar
At IGEI, we believe that Global Leadership is a mindset, a skillset, and a way of being that is informed by an understanding of how systems work and interconnect, that is committed to working within complex contexts of difference, and that is dedicated to learning within changing circumstances as we aim to create a more just and sustainable world.
A core part of our leadership training curriculum is a practical seminar on civil discourse. Global leaders must have the capacity to participate effectively in difficult conversations on challenging topics. IGEI's Civil Discourse Leadership Seminar puts our learners on this path.
Skills-Building Workshops
Throughout IGEI, learners will develop and practice practical, transferable skills such as public speaking, negotiation, design thinking, networking, and ethical decision making. The portfolio of skills acquired through our interactive workshops will equip participants to move into new situations and challenges with confidence.
Business Consulting Team Internship
An internship within the program, the business consulting project places IGEI learners at the heart of a local business to help it address a real-life need or issue. Working in small groups under the supervision of a mentor, project teams use the skills and strategies learned in the program to do research, analyze results, and make recommendations related to market trends, consumer preferences, competitor products: each project is unique and tailored to the needs of the client. Past client companies include Just Born, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Lackawanna College, PBS39, and The Stone House Group, among many others. The business consulting project epitomizes IGEI's philosophy of providing learners with tools, mentorship, and opportunities to be architects of their own learning.
Field Trips and Business Visits
IGEI heads out of the classroom for field trips to New York City and Philadelphia as well as visits to local and regional businesses. Meet business executives and get an inside perspective on everything from startups to global corporations.
Intercultural Learning and Collaboration
Each year, IGEI welcomes a global cohort of learners to Lehigh's campus. Since the program's start in 2001, citizens of more than 66 countries have participated in IGEI!
Our global perspective is not found only in the demographics of our participants and staff. As part of Lehigh's Office of International Affairs, IGEI's curriculum is grounded in our signature SOWL (self-other-world learning) pedagogical model, through which we prepare students intellectually, experientially, and personally to engage the world, address global challenges, and live lives of meaning.
Fun and Life-long Friendships
At IGEI, participants live, work, and play with a global cohort of future leaders who share their drive and passions. Today's friends are tomorrow's classmates, future colleagues, and creative collaborators. The connections made at IGEI can last a lifetime, forming the core of a professional network that will aid you on your path to success.