GEW RD 2025: Patricia Acosta on what Entrepreneurship Week must mean nows

By Jonathan Joel Mentor | @jonathanjmentor 

When I wrote “The Entrepreneurship Week That Forgot Entrepreneurs,” the intention wasn’t provocation. It was clarity.

Clarity about a growing tension in the Dominican innovation ecosystem — a tension between the purpose of Global Entrepreneurship Week,  the execution that surrounded it and it’s impact for Dominican Founders and Dominican Startups.

The reaction was instant.

Founders, operators, investors, and institutions echoed a quiet truth: something in the national conversation around entrepreneurship had drifted off course.  I had one publicist who read the article go into a full blown spiral on Whatsapp.

But the most important response came from the one person responsible for shepherding GEW RD into 2026:  Patricia Acosta, the official GEW Country Host for the Dominican Republic.

This article is not a rebuttal. It is the continuation of a necessary conversation — and the first time Patricia has spoken publicly about the direction GEW RD must now take.

And she did not hold back.

“The article needed to be written. We cannot improve what we refuse to name.”

When I asked Patricia directly about the column, her answer was immediate:

“I read it. And I agreed with the core message: the ecosystem was reacting to a symptom, not the underlying structural issues. We needed the honesty.” She wasn’t interested in centering personalities or pointing fingers.
In her words:

“GEW doesn’t belong to one organizer or one group. It belongs to the country. And when something stops reflecting that, it’s our responsibility to correct course.”

Without naming it directly, Patricia made it clear:  this year’s fragmentation wasn’t about individuals — it was about alignment.

Events can be well-intentioned.  Programs can be enthusiastic. But if the outcome is exclusion, opacity, or confusion, then the execution missed the mark. Her message is calm, firm, and unmistakably adult. The overlooked forces that shape (or stall) a real startup ecosystem.

In my original piece, I argued that GEW must return to its founding purpose: founders first.

Patricia expanded that lens.

She identified three strategic forces that have remained under-activated:

1. Risk-tolerant capital

“Without investors who understand true startup risk, we cannot innovate at a global pace.”

2. Modern, adaptable public policy

“Regulatory frameworks must evolve. Incentives must align. The state has a critical role in reducing friction.”

3. The Dominican diaspora

“They hold experience, networks, and capital we have barely begun to integrate. This is one of our greatest missed opportunities.”

These are not complaints.  They are priorities — and they anchor the future direction of GEW RD under her stewardship.

What GEW RD must stand for in 2026

Patricia’s clarity here was striking. She didn’t speak in generalities or slogans. She spoke like someone who has lived inside the ecosystem long enough to know its strengths and blind spots.

“By 2026, GEW must feel like a movement — not a schedule of events.”

Her vision is built around five pillars:

1. Founders at the center

Workshops, yes — but also access to mentors, investors, and resources that produce tangible progress.

2. Institutional alignment, not logo-stacking

“Collaboration must be intentional. Not symbolic.”

3. National reach

Entrepreneurship outside Santo Domingo must be visible, supported, and celebrated.

4. Investment literacy

More conversations about capital, funding pathways, and how startups actually scale.

5. A year-defining moment for partners

A coordinated effort where universities, corporates, government, and community leaders converge with purpose.

This is not ecosystem pageantry.
This is ecosystem governance.

Reframing GEW: from who organizes it to what it produces

Without naming specific actors, Patricia addressed what many had whispered privately:

“Not everything that grows grows well. GEW must evolve with the ecosystem, not fall behind it.” This is the closest she comes to acknowledging last year’s missteps — including the organizational inconsistencies that sparked national frustration. But she never descends into blame.  She never personalizes criticism.  She never indulges in the drama.

Instead:

“We build better when we focus on the system, not the personalities.” That is leadership.

And it places her — unmistakably — above the incident that triggered this conversation.

The ecosystem finally has a true steward — and it matters

The Dominican Republic is at a turning point.
Universities are producing talent.
Institutions are engaging innovation.
The diaspora is reawakening.
Policy conversations are emerging.
Capital is showing interest.

In a moment like this, entrepreneurship week is more than a calendar date.  It’s a national signal.

Patricia understands this.

“GEW 2026 has to be bigger than inspiration. It has to be a catalyst for real movement — more partners, more startups, more mentorship, more investment, more country.”

That line alone tells you exactly where her altitude is.

To founders, investors, institutions, and the diaspora: this is your invitation

The subtext of our conversation was simple:

GEW RD 2026 will not be what it was last year.
It will be intentional.
It will be strategic.
It will be inclusive.
And it will be guided by someone who understands the stakes.

Patricia ended the conversation with what should become the official ethos of GEW RD moving forward:

“If you’re building something real — you belong here.”

And that, more than anything, is what the Dominican entrepreneurship community needed to hear.

Call to Action

If you’re an entrepreneur, institution, policymaker, investor, or diaspora leader ready to shape the next era of Dominican innovation:

Join us at Digital Nomad Summit 2026 – Hotel Catalonia:
digitalnomadsummit.co

The future of GEW RD — and the ecosystem — is already being rewritten.   And under Patricia’s leadership, it finally looks like something worthy of the entrepreneurs it was meant to serve.

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Jonathan Joel Mentor is the CEO of Successment and architect of the Provoke Visibility™ campaign, scaling startups and challenging institutions to evolve. UN World Summit & ADOEXPO Award nominee. www.jonathanjmentor.co