Cali Brutz has guided hundreds of students through the process of building a business; now, she’ll be guiding the program that backs them.

Brutz, a former senior lecturer and associate director of UGA Entrepreneurship, has served as interim director of the program since August 2025. Her position as permanent director began this spring.

She succeeds the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s founding director Bob Pinckney, who passed away in February 2025.

“Cali has demonstrated exceptional leadership during her time as associate director and as interim director, and we are thrilled to have her lead the UGA Entrepreneurship Program,” said Santanu Chatterjee, dean of the UGA Terry College of Business. 

“Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset is a vital part of preparing students to lead in tomorrow’s economy. Cali’s expertise and passion for entrepreneurship will ensure our students have the creativity and critical skills they need to succeed.”

Brutz, who holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Virginia, is a serial entrepreneur. 

She co-founded Borrowing Magnolia, a Techstars-backed wedding dress marketplace powered by proprietary predictive fit technology, which was acquired in 2017, and Once Like a Spark Wedding Co., a national wedding services company that operates a network of photographers, videographers and other wedding service providers in 2008.

She came to the UGA Entrepreneurship Program in 2016.

“Our students are graduating into a world of extraordinary change, and with that change comes extraordinary opportunity,” Brutz said. “The entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to see opportunity and create value even when the path isn’t clear, is no longer just for people who want to start companies. It’s a critical capacity for every student walking across that stage.

“Our job is to equip UGA students with the tools, the capital, and the community they need to forge their own path. I am eager to deepen our reach across campus, accelerate the impact of the Innovation District at UGA, and lead the national conversation on what entrepreneurship education should look like.”

Brutz has taught hundreds of students in undergraduate and graduate Introduction to Entrepreneurship courses. Her focus also included courses on financing and managing startups and venture capital investing.

She’s helped strengthen and develop the structure of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s accelerator and pitch contest ecosystem, giving hundreds of UGA students the chance to put the principles of entrepreneurship to work by launching their own businesses.

After arriving at UGA, Brutz helped to restructure the Georgia Kickstart Fund, a student-managed venture fund that allows students to award startup grants to entrepreneurs. Since 2018, the fund has delivered $376,148 to 111 student-founded companies. Those companies went on to raise more than $7 million in subsequent investment.

In Spring 2025, she developed Startup Investing, an experiential course that generates due diligence reports on companies pitching to the Georgia Bulldog Angel Network.

Most recently, Brutz worked to build cross-campus partnerships among the UGA Innovation District, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences CREATE! and the UGA Entrepreneurship Program to strengthen UGA’s entrepreneurial impact.  

“There is a growing wave of entrepreneurial energy across UGA, and the most powerful outcomes happen when that energy connects and amplifies,” Brutz said. “The UGA Entrepreneurship Program is uniquely positioned to bring it all together, serving as a catalyst, resource, and partner for entrepreneurial initiatives across all corners of campus. Our job is to make sure that no matter where a student’s entrepreneurial journey begins, there is a clear path to the resources, mentorship and capital they need to take it somewhere real.” 

The mission of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program is to infuse and refine an entrepreneurial mindset in students through transformational experiences and comprehensive academic courses.