Michigan Tech’s EmpowerUP program is only five years old but has involved nearly 700
Huskies in community-engaged research. This year, the program received national recognition
for its civic engagement and community service
What started with two curious, caring and community-focused business students at Michigan
Technological University has evolved into a multiyear, multipartner ecosystem. Known
as EmpowerUP, the research-in-action program was nationally recognized this spring
as a 2026 winner of Insight Into Academia magazine’s Civic Engagement and Community
Service Award
All research begins with a question. Undergraduate students Jada Markham and Anderson
Lind approached their Michigan Tech College of Business instructor Jonathan Leinonen five years ago with theirs: How could they explore community-engaged research?
They went to the right person. Part of Leinonen’s teaching philosophy involves working
with entrepreneurial and economic development groups in the region. At the time, the
Michigan Tech alumnus, teaching professor in management and assistant dean of the
College was collaborating with the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation (CSCHF)
on research for what is now known as Copper Shores Bridges, an initiative to help
under-resourced people in the western Upper Peninsula.
Leinonen remembers it as a “chocolate and peanut butter” moment
Nationally Recognized
EmpowerUP received the 2026 Civic Engagement and Community Service Award from Insight Into Academia magazine for its innovative service and deep community
collaboration. It was featured in the April 2026 issue of the magazine alongside 51
other nationwide winners
“The 2026 winners represent institutions whose efforts are making a measurable difference in the lives
of the people and communities they serve, and beyond. They understand that their responsibility
extends beyond the campus walls, reaching into the neighborhoods, cities, and regions
that surround them and into society’s broader democratic and social fabric,” the magazine
noted.
“I saw the Bridges program originators had another piece of the initiative called
‘Engaging and Equipping Under-Re can put this together and make something.’ So the students did that first research
project, came up with some recommendations for what we could continue to look at and
work on, and it’s grown from there.”
Research, as it so often does, has revealed layers of complexity and new considerations
rather than quick solutions to long-standing problems. Markham and Lind’s preliminary
work established a roadmap of unmet community needs in financial literacy, resource
access and institutional communication. They didn’t know it, but they were creating
the framework for an enduring student research project with a direct effect on both
Michigan Tech’s campus and the local community.
Over the next five years, the initial study recommendations were woven into Leinonen’s
Team Dynamics and Decision-Making course. The curriculum he developed for the course,
which is open to students in all majors and disciplines, also tapped into his experience
with Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network’s (KEEN) Engineering Unleashed program, where he was named a fellow in 2021
Leinonen said the success of EmpowerUP demonstrates the “long fuse” of research. As
anyone who understands the scientific method can attest, true progress is most often incremental and gradual. EmpowerUP was an
investment designed to yield dividends over time. The benefits, he said, go both ways.In industry, communication and teamwork are often described as “soft skills,” but
Leinonen — a teaching professor drawing on 20 years of global industry experience
— views these as essential, high-level professional competencies.
He said EmpowerUP projects are designed to be difficult. Students are placed in teams
where goals aren’t strictly defined, forcing them to navigate the messy reality of
stakeholder feedback, teamwork and implementation
“They’re taking a project that I don’t define well for them. The projects are intentionally
friction-intense so students can work through the dynamics,” said Leinonen
“This isn’t about me lecturing, it’s about trying to get students engaged in the community.”
Jonathan Leinonen
teaching professor and assistant dean, College of Business
Even the program’s final presentations are designed to sharpen Huskies’ real-world
skills
“One of the goals that I have for them is to become more comfortable in their public
speaking, recognizing that that’s one of the greatest fears of people in general,”
said Leinonen. “And that ties right into civic engagement. I hold them accountable
to work on projects that are going to get publicized and promoted.”
Each semester wraps with students presenting their findings, complete with deliverables,
key performance indicators, details on snags they encountered, recommendations for
future action and what grade they would give themselves
From a professional standpoint, Leinonen knows the power of being able to formulate
and express concepts clearly. “When I was working in industry, my first job that I
had out of Michigan Tech was working for a guy who told me, ‘Jon, you have great ideas.
You just need to make more recommendations.’ That’s stuck with me,” he said
Through EmpowerUP, MTU students learn that civic engagement isn’t about easy fixes
or implementing temporary solutions. While the projects are diverse, all are centered
on creating a lasting impact through deliverables that future EmpowerUP members are
able to build on
Tangible Outcomes for the Western UP
The variety of student-led EmpowerUP initiatives in development at Tech showcases
the breadth of the program’s reach. Current EmpowerUP projects touch on topics including:
Financial Literacy and Accessibility
Students developed an “Insurance Basics” micro-website to distill complex financial
topics into accessible guidance. Using action-oriented language, they created a tool
for families, veterans and individuals working toward financial stability
Food Security and Systems Thinking
A team from Michigan Tech’s Husky Food Access Network (HuskyFAN) focused on the University’s food pantry. Recognizing that many community
members are uncertain about how the pantry operates, the team produced streamlined
guides and visual instructions to improve clarity and reduce stigma. Students working
on the project learned how small changes in communication influence whether someone
gets the help they need.
STEM Mentorship and K-12 Outreach
The Saturday Morning Academy team provided programming in conjunction with Tech’s
Center for Educational Outreach that blended academic support with STEM exploration. Through interactive games and
structured learning, EmpowerUP students served as role models for regional youth,
helping them imagine future possibilities and building stronger connections between
the community and Michigan Tech.
Strengthening the Innovation Pipeline
Entrepreneurship-focused teams are working with Patrick Woock, assistant teaching professor in entrepreneurship, to help revitalize the region’s
innovation ecosystem. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) team rebuilt
a previously inactive student organization, establishing the recruitment and communication
infrastructure necessary for its long-term survival. Meanwhile, the Husky Innovate
team has been working to create repeatable professional development events, such as
pitch workshops and networking sessions, to broaden access to entrepreneurial skill-building
for all students.
A Signature Pillar of Accreditation
Beyond award-winning community engagement, Michigan Tech’s EmpowerUP program tangibly
demonstrates that the College of Business meets the Assurance of Learning standard
required by its accrediting agency, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. This standard requires evidence that a school’s programs generate positive societal
impact through initiatives aligned with its mission
western Upper Peninsula share their findings.
EmpowerUP continues to receive support from the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation, with its most recently awarded grant wrapping up this year. Additionally, Leinonen
poured the $10,000 fellowship award he received from the KEEN organization’s Engineering
Unleashed program back into EmpowerUP. He’s also located other micro-grants and is
committed to continuing to find more resources to help the program grow in scale and
scope.
For Leinonen, it’s not just business. It’s personal. “I was raised in the mindset
of being specifically engaged and socially aware of what’s going on in the community
and taking some responsibility to use the gifts that I’ve got to help other people,
too. So there’s that kind of fundamental underpinning that goes with this,” he said
Leinonen doesn’t expect every project to be successful coming out of the gate. He
encourages out-of-the-box ideas to address community needs and student-driven initiatives.
“I’m happy to work with students who have an idea, but aren’t sure how to get it started,”
he said
He found two student-initiated projects particularly interesting during the 2025-26
academic year. One sought to create information about hydroponic gardening systems
as a rehool funding
for children in Zimbabwe
Like the project that launched EmpowerUP, both projects were created from a Husky’s
desire to answer a community need
Natasha Mwanandimayi, who is pursuing her master’s degree in accounting and analytics, spearheaded the school funding project for Zimbabwe, her home country, where she
completed her undergraduate degree work in accounting and finance in 2024
“The most rewarding part of the project has been seeing an idea turn into something
real. Setting up the social media accounts, building the website — seeing everything
come together and become operational was very exciting for me,” she said. “It gave
me the feeling that I had actually created something that has the potential to make
a difference.”
outcomes and recommended next steps in April 2026.
Mwanandimayi said the biggest challenge has been establishing the organization as
a formal entity, including securing nonprofit status and setting up an institutional
accounting and banking system. “There is still a lot for me to learn about that process,
but it has also been a valuable part of the experience,” she said. “Going forward,
I hope to see the project grow into a sustainable organization that can have a real
and lasting impact on children’s lives in Zimbabwe.”
Leinonen said the project is a first in EmpowerUP’s history, broadening the definition
of community
“We’re part of a global culture. Whether the project is down the road or around the
world, it doesn’t matter,” said Leinonen. His goal is to get students thinking about
how they can contribute to civic engagement and to help them discover both how daunting
and how rewarding it can be
As this spring’s year-end projects reports showed, roadblocks are a reality that often
can’t be navigated in a single semester. But Leinonen said every group that shared
insights found teachable moments in the obstacles. For example, students exploring
the local housing ecosystem for renters and landlords learned the nuances of establishing
relationships with area leaders in government, academia and philanthropic institutions.
Team member Sophie Valima, a forestry major, said one takeaway was understanding the importance of contacting stakeholders early
in the process, to make coordinating meetings and information-gathering sessions easier
Engineering management major Isaac Trockman is part of a two-person team examining how to improve limited access
to home computing in the region, a project idea prompted by Timothy Kiernan, assistant teaching professor in humanities. Trockman said the potential unintended consequences that they encountered — such
as the potential for increased e-waste that could be caused by asking people to donate
computer equipment — helped to lay the groundwork for future Huskies to carry on the
effort.
Leinonen sees endless possibilities for helping the program to grow, further bolstering
the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Michigan Tech in ways that positively affect both
the community and students
“I have two sections of 30 students, and that’s a lot already. But I would love to
get more faculty involved and get some other projects coming from other areas that
don’t necessarily need to be threaded through me,” he said. “The program can continue
to grow and build more of a life of its own that way. We’re investing in the long
game.”
In the here and now, Mwanandimayi recommends EmpowerUP and Leinonen’s course to every
student looking for a tangible way to make a difference
“The course teaches you so much beyond the classroom, including project management,
planning, problem-solving, and how to take an idea and actually bring it to life,”
she said. “For me, the most meaningful part was being able to build something from
the ground up and give it life under Professor Jon’s guidance. It was a very rewarding
experience and I’m excited to see where the project goes from here.”
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computing, forestry, business, health professions, robotics, psychology, social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
