Educator · Author · Speaker

Talent is evenly
distributed. Opportunity is not.

Opportunity is a design choice.
Dr. Matt A. Connell, MBA has spent 20 years building the infrastructure to prove it.

I help educators and program leaders reach the learners they’re losing. My specialty is entrepreneurship education, with 100+ businesses launched.

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100s
Entrepreneurs coached to launch and grow
100+
Businesses launched by people he's taught and coached
20+
Years designing opportunity for others
Dr. Matt A. Connell, MBA speaking to students
MC
What it looks like

A barber came home after 10 years. He went through the programming, opened his shop in East Hartford, and five years later he owns the building the shop is in.

Nothing about him changed on the way in. The path did. That is what Matt builds for the learners the traditional path loses.

Learning Outside the Lines by Dr. Matt A. Connell, MBA — book cover
Pre-order available now · November 2026

Learning Outside
the Lines

The memoir and systems argument behind everything Matt builds. Part personal story, part case for why opportunity is a design choice — for anyone who has ever been written off, or anyone who has written someone else off.

Pre-Order Now Every pre-order includes a card signed by the author.
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Start here

Three ways in. One argument.

01 — ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

Inclusive Economic Mobility Framework™

A five-phase, licensable entrepreneurship curriculum with mentoring and structured capital access, built for learners who don’t fit the traditional path.
02 — SPEAKING

Book Matt for your event

Keynotes and workshops on reaching the learners you’re losing, built from twenty years of documented outcomes, not theory.
03 — FREE TOOL

The One-Page Business Idea Validator

Five questions that tell you if an idea is worth pursuing, before you spend a dollar. Free in the toolkit.
Put it into practice

Tools you can use this week

The curriculum behind 100+ businesses, as workbooks for educators and program staff, plus a free toolkit to start with.

THE WORKBOOK — $49

The IEMF™ Field Guide

One workbook for the whole curriculum, built for the 6-, 10-, and 29-hour versions. Every core exercise, the Business Idea Validator, both pitch judging rubrics, and the full FAIL Forward™ Workbook. Works with a facilitated course or on its own.

Get the Field Guide
THE FREE TOOLKIT

Eleven free tools

Start with the One-Page Business Idea Validator, five questions that show whether an idea is worth pursuing. No purchase needed.

Get the Free Tools

Also available: the FAIL Forward™ Workbook ($37) and Meeting Students Where They Are, an educator’s guide ($17). See everything in the Toolkit