Gisele Stolz

Gisele Stolz is the Director of Entrepreneurship Programs and Business Incubators in the Office of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at George Mason University.

In this role, Gisele is responsible for providing experiential learning programs, both within the university to graduate students, faculty and staff who want to launch a business, and to the regional ecosystem. In addition to the entrepreneurship programming, Gisele runs the network of Mason business incubators and GMU’s maker space.

Her role is to help small businesses launch, grow, and succeed by providing not only space, but also mentoring, training and education to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Previously, she was the Small Business Development Center Director at the Community Business Partnership (MEC Springfield) where she provided business counseling to small business owners. Gisele advised over 400 clients, providing guidance on growth, financing, marketing and business efficiency. Gisele is an adept of the Lean Startup Methodology and while at the CBP, she was one of the five winners of the Lean for Main Street National SBA Challenge to create and run a Lean Program for America’s Small Businesses.

Gisele started her career in corporate banking in Tokyo and then Hong Kong. Attracted to the idea of training and coaching, she taught finance and organizational behavior for a business school in Japan. After moving to the United Arab Emirates, Gisele became the Business Development Director at the French Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi where she helped SMEs expand their business in the UAE. She switched gears and jumped into the startup world in Switzerland, first working for a high-tech start-up before joining the business accelerator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, as the head of programming.

Gisele graduated from the French Grandes Ecoles system with a degree in Finance and obtained her MBA from INSEAD.

Gisele Stolz is the Director of Entrepreneurship Programs and Business Incubators in the Office of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at George Mason University.

In this role, Gisele is responsible for providing experiential learning programs, both within the university to graduate students, faculty and staff who want to launch a business, and to the regional ecosystem. In addition to the entrepreneurship programming, Gisele runs the network of Mason business incubators and GMU’s maker space.

Her role is to help small businesses launch, grow, and succeed by providing not only space, but also mentoring, training and education to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Previously, she was the Small Business Development Center Director at the Community Business Partnership (MEC Springfield) where she provided business counseling to small business owners. Gisele advised over 400 clients, providing guidance on growth, financing, marketing and business efficiency. Gisele is an adept of the Lean Startup Methodology and while at the CBP, she was one of the five winners of the Lean for Main Street National SBA Challenge to create and run a Lean Program for America’s Small Businesses.

Gisele started her career in corporate banking in Tokyo and then Hong Kong. Attracted to the idea of training and coaching, she taught finance and organizational behavior for a business school in Japan. After moving to the United Arab Emirates, Gisele became the Business Development Director at the French Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi where she helped SMEs expand their business in the UAE. She switched gears and jumped into the startup world in Switzerland, first working for a high-tech start-up before joining the business accelerator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, as the head of programming.

Gisele graduated from the French Grandes Ecoles system with a degree in Finance and obtained her MBA from INSEAD.