BERKELEY ANNOUNCES THE LASHER BUSINESS INSTITUTE
Berkeley Preparatory School is proud to announce the naming of the Lasher Business Institute as a result of a generous gift from Karessa and Stuart Lasher. Stuart Lasher is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Quantum Capital Partners, Inc. and has long been a prominent philanthropist in our community. The family’s support will be used for endowing the program and providing need-based scholarships.
Starting this summer, the new Lasher Business Institute at Berkeley begins an intensive one-year, after-school elective program focused on providing rising Berkeley seniors substantive, relevant, and integrative instructional experiences in business fundamentals, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.
With so many core business skills translating into critical everyday life skills and impacting unlimited careers and pursuits, this learning experience is designed for both future business majors and non-business majors. Led by Berkeley teacher and Institute Director Carlo DiNota, students will engage in interactive lectures, intriguing and valuable case studies, problem-solving exercises, experiential projects, leadership development assignments, and practical career application of key business concepts in finance, marketing, and accounting.
"Thanks to Mr. Lasher’s tremendous generosity, we are able to add an exciting array of learning resources and content to our new program," said DiNota. "So many core business skills – from finance and accounting to marketing and management – translate into critical everyday life skills and impact unlimited careers and pursuits, and I feel very strongly that the knowledge and confidence gained through a year-long participation in the Lasher Business Institute will be incredibly influential in the lives of our students upon leaving Berkeley.”
"Thanks to Mr. Lasher’s tremendous generosity, we are able to add an exciting array of learning resources and content to our new program," said DiNota. "So many core business skills – from finance and accounting to marketing and management – translate into critical everyday life skills and impact unlimited careers and pursuits, and I feel very strongly that the knowledge and confidence gained through a year-long participation in the Lasher Business Institute will be incredibly influential in the lives of our students upon leaving Berkeley.”
Students will be awarded recognition as a Lasher Business Institute Laureate after the successful completion of the coursework and capstone project. The curriculum is designed to challenge students by exposing them to realistic business ventures with guidance provided by some of the top business leaders in Tampa Bay. For example, the symposium will introduce students to the Berkeley Investment Club, which will be comprised of Berkeley constituents highly experienced in the fields of business and finance, who will pool their own monies to make investments for the benefit of Berkeley.
“Karessa and I have been strong supporters of Berkeley for many years. Berkeley has always provided a challenging and innovative curriculum and we are excited for the launch of the Lasher Business Institute. Approximately 20 percent of college graduates are business majors and the new Lasher Business Institute will give Berkeley graduates a significant head start on their college business classes,” said Lasher, who is a parent of two Berkeley graduates, LJ ’14 and Celeste ’15, and current student, Colton ’24.
“We also believe it is critical for every high school student to learn basic life skills in personal finance. In order to live a healthy, happy, and secure life it is critical for everyone to understand the importance of budgeting, saving, debt, and investing.”
Berkeley Preparatory School
Founded in 1960, Berkeley is an independent, Episcopal, college-preparatory day school located in Tampa, FL, for boys and girls in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. Approximately 1,400 students gather here from the greater Tampa Bay area to form ONE Berkeley.