Accelerating the Growth and Development of Entrepreneurship within the Neurodiverse Community

This paper shares the results of student efforts in a Fall 2024 undergraduate Capstone course at Molloy University’s School of Business. During the 14-week semester, eight students worked in two teams to address an opportunity for Backyard Players & Friends (BYP), a nonprofit organization based in Rockville Centre (Long Island), New York dedicated to inclusivity for people 14+ years old. To help fulfill its mission, BYP ventured into retail by opening a boutique named Front Porch Market (FPM) in December 2022. FPM was the focus of a Capstone in Spring 2024, and those efforts led to this follow-up engagement. The small specialty store features a mix of mostly one-of-a-kind merchandise conceived and produced by BYP program participants, local writers and artists, and neurodiverse entrepreneurs. As BYP celebrated the boutique’s second-year, its leaders asked Molloy students for ideas to help accelerate the growth of neurodiverse entrepreneurs and to incubate new ones. Students delivered their
recommendations in reports and presentations at the end of the semester. Recommendations were based on secondary research of current business incubator and accelerator programs, best practices, and organizational research and capabilities assessments. They included implementation plans, potential benefits, risks, mitigation efforts, and more. This was the third Capstone engagement for BYP—a testament to the valued work of Molloy business students. Molloy business students are required to take Capstone in their degree program’s final year or semester. This culminating course involves using the flipped classroom with community-based experiential learning projects to deliver a unique mixed methods approach to teaching and learning.