Celeste Corrado: Wharton Small Business Development Center Director	Print Issue
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The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has announced that Celeste Corrado will serve as the new director of the Wharton Small Business Development Center (Wharton SBDC). Ms. Corrado was appointed after an extensive search by a committee of University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Entrepreneurship and Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center leaders. She brings to her new role over 20 years of professional experience in consulting, innovation, strategy and education.

“Celeste Corrado’s experience managing complex and challenging projects is perfectly suited to the role of Wharton SBDC director. We are delighted that local businesses and the Wharton student consultants assisting them will benefit from Celeste’s leadership,” said Karl Ulrich, Wharton vice dean of entrepreneurship & innovation. “With Celeste’s arrival, the Wharton Small Business Development Center continues its work to support Penn’s vision of inclusion, innovation and impact through guiding Philadelphia area entrepreneurs and business owners to achieve their growth objectives.” 

Founded in 1980, the Wharton SBDC leverages the students, faculty and staff of Wharton, as well as partnerships with experienced professionals and leading outside organizations, to provide courses, workshops and consulting services to hundreds of regional businesses annually. The Wharton SBDC serves the dual function of helping entrepreneurs start and grow their companies, while offering Wharton students the opportunity to apply their academic coursework to real-world entrepreneurial practice.

As director, Ms. Corrado will set the strategic direction for the Center, support regional start-ups and high-growth companies in their business development, manage all aspects of client recruitment, design student consultant training and education, collaborate with the Pennsylvania SBDC lead office on statewide goals and spearhead grant administration, fundraising and regional stakeholder outreach and communication.

Prior to arriving at Wharton, Ms. Corrado ran her own consulting practice, Vizeon Solutions. Prior to Vizeon, she was employed as senior strategy & innovation  lead for new ventures at Lockheed Martin, where she was responsible for launching and leading a commercial venture incubator. Ms. Corrado has also served as an instructor at George Washington University. 

She holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and an MS in information systems from Drexel University. Ms. Corrado is a Certified Management Consultant and a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and has completed Harvard Business School Executive Education courses in strategy & competition and corporate ventures.