Jack Adler – a rising senior studying Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises and Marketing Management in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management – has been selected as the Syracuse University Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar for the 2022 – 2023 academic year.
Inspired by Syracuse University’s Remembrance Scholar program, the role is funded by the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund to honor the life of Hunter Brooks Watson – a Syracuse University student majoring in Information Management and Technology in the iSchool who died tragically in 2016 in a distracted driving car accident.
In addition to raising awareness on the dangers of distracted driving among young people across the country, Hunter’s Fund provides grants each year to young people interested in areas related to Hunter’s passions – the performing arts, music, computer science, and entrepreneurship.
The LaunchPad coordinates the Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar program and the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards for Syracuse University.
Adler has been engaged with Hunter’s Fund for several years. He was a past recipient of a Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award and served as a judge in the 2022 Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Competition.
Adler was first introduced to the Launchpad through his first venture, 3 Dollar Challenge (3DC). Jack and his twin sister Kate launched the grassroots fundraising initiative during the peak of the global pandemic in April 2020. Urging friends and family to donate $3, then nominate others to ‘complete the challenge’, the 3 Dollar Challenge raised more than $20,000 for COVID-19 Relief organizations, and to date has raised more than $80,000 for various non-profits through their fundraising concept. 3 Dollar Challenge has also collaborated with Hunters Fund to advocate for is distracted driving campaign.
It was through these experiences that Adler found his true passion for entrepreneurship. While continuing to build 3 Dollar Challenge as a social fundraising tool, he tested out several other ventures, dipping into his love for sports.
In August 2020, Adler joined forces with Dan Zimmerman and Verse Gaming, a Syracuse originated start-up aiming to build a peer-to-peer sports betting platform allowing friends to wager directly against one another. Additionally, he took on a large role with the Syracuse Sport Business Conference (SSBC) with the goal of building an educational platform at the intersection of sports and business.
But he did not stop there. Early in 2021, Adler was given the opportunity to join Kevin Durant and Rich Kleinman in their sports media venture, the Boardroom.
After all these experiences in the sports business world, Adler decided he was ready to launch a venture of his own. In August 2021, he co-founded Out2Win Sports, a creative marketing agency helping college athletes and brands take advantage of the new Name, Image, and Likeness space. To date, Adler has built legitimate traction with Out2Win, and has the goal of continuing to build the venture past his days as a college student.
As the Syracuse University Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar, Adler will be helping to organize the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards at Syracuse University, an annual spring competition that is part of the Raymond von Dran iPrize competition.
Made possible through the generous support of the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund, four Spirit of Entrepreneurship awards of $2,500 each are presented to Syracuse University students who best demonstrate: passion and spirit; intrinsic drive; level of cooperation and candor between the team members; innovative idea; clear plan as to the continuation of the venture; proficiency and personality that exemplifies charisma and competence.
Along with the competition, Adler will be working with the LaunchPad to mentor and assist fellow students who are in the process of developing their own ideas for ventures or preparing for awards programs and competitions.
Adler is humbled to be this year’s Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar and is excited to get to work. “It’s an honor to have the opportunity to carry on Hunter’s legacy through my passion for entrepreneurship.”