- Date published
Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program making more possible at Purpose Connect.
In the heart of Downtown Springfield, efactory’s Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program is connecting students with local startups in meaningful, hands-on ways. One of those success stories comes from Avas Basnet, a social media intern with Purpose Connect, and Dami Odunewu, the company’s founder and mentor guiding his experience.
For Avas, joining efactory had been a long-time goal.
“The mentors, the people I look up to… it’s such a collaborative community. When I met one of the interns from last year and heard her recommendation, I knew I had to apply.”
That decision led him to Purpose Connect, where he quickly began addressing real-world challenges in social media engagement.
Purpose Connect hosted an intern during the program’s first semester, and Dami says the positive experience made it an easy choice to participate again — this time with an even clearer vision.
“Last year, we were just trying to understand how The Great Game of Business’s MiniGame applied to our team,” she explained.
Dami and her previous intern enjoyed the experience of learning about applying GGOB and MiniGames into a startup business, and they took advantage of the opportunity to work alongside the Missouri SBDC at MSU team to put it to good use.
“This year, we’ve drilled it down. It’s more focused, more specific, and I can already see the effectiveness.”
Like Dami, Avas approached his project with a focus on learning, adapting, and collaboration — key traits of any entrepreneur.
“Our challenge was that our posts weren’t getting much reach or engagement,” he said. “That became our opportunity. I developed my MiniGame around growing Purpose Connect’s social media engagement in a way that’s collaborative—where everyone plays a role and contributes toward shared goals.”
And those efforts are already paying off.
“It’s been great to see the structure Avas is bringing to our content,” Dami noted. “Before he joined, I handled all of our social media myself. Having him on board has not only helped us grow our pages, but also shifted the effort from being just me to being a team focus.”
The Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program is doing exactly what it was designed to do: empower emerging talent, strengthen local startups, and create connections that turn learning into real impact.
The Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program is made possible by the Missouri Technology Corporation MOBEC grant, with additional support from the Hatch Foundation.