Casey Bridgeford graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and started his own successful company to help fellow entrepreneurs, all by starting at Ivy Tech.

Casey Bridgeford made the decision to enroll at Ivy Tech Community College after his first business venture was unsuccessful. At the start, his primary goal was to earn good enough grades to retain the Bowen Scholarship he had been awarded. It wasn’t long before he established himself as a stellar student, consistently on the Dean’s List. That led Casey to consider what else he might be able to accomplish. He joined the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society and started to apply himself. “I began to set my sights higher,” he says. “I began to inquire about the possibility of going to an Ivy League university.”

That dream became a reality after Casey was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania. He was able to transfer the credits he earned at Ivy Tech to earn a bachelor’s degree in Political Science-International Relations. During his time at the University, he was a member of the Onyx Academic

Honors Society and served as a Wharton Fellow, working on the roll-out of Wharton Social Impact Initiative-Africa.

Casey started his own company, OnCast Media, which helps African entrepreneurs overcome barriers and connect them to resources to help get their businesses off the ground. He has also received several honors, including the Citizen’s Energy “125 Leaders” Award and the opportunity to give a TED Talk titled “When Talent Isn’t Enough.” He was recently asked to be on a panel with Forbes 30 under 30 on CNBC Africa’s Young Money segment to discuss the state of entrepreneurship in Africa.

He is actively involved in his community, as a current advisor for My Brother’s Keeper, board member of 18TWENTY8 and advisory board member for NetLiteracy. Casey is also a member of Think Tanks and Civil Societies, a prestigious research group to produce content for the internationally acclaimed publication “The Global Go To Think Tank Index.”

Casey says his experience at Ivy Tech transformed him from someone who adamantly rejected the benefits of higher education to one who sees it as an essential tool for achieving his goals. Accordingly, he has become an advocate for young people to attend college.

“I can, and any other student can, make it from right here. Anyone can achieve anything from starting right here at Ivy Tech.”