From left: Brock alumna Deborah Rosati, Don Cyr, Goodman School of Business Dean, and Cindy Dunne, director of Co-op programs.

Deborah Rosati was lured to Brock 34 years ago because of its groundbreaking co-op program, and the University alumna wants to make sure others get the same opportunity.

Rosati, during Tuesday’s Monster Pitch event, formally announced her donation of $100,000 to start the Deborah E. Rosati Entrepreneurship Co-op Fund.

The five-year pledge will support entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups.

“I believe in the co-op program, I believe in entrepreneurship, and I believe in business,” she told the crowd Tuesday at Amici’s Banquet Centre. “I would like to see new ventures (and) businesses created through this co-op entrepreneurship award that would generate employment in the Niagara region.”

Rosati chose Brock in 1980 because of the Accounting Co-op program, which was the first of its kind.

It’s not the first time Rosati has given back to the University.

In 2005, she was part of a group of co-op grads to gift $50,000 to the program.

Rosati graduated in 1984, and her astute business acumen translated into a successful career.

She is currently an “ambassador and advisor” for Karma Athletics, a Vancouver-based clothing brand, and sits on the board of Canada’s National Ballet School.

Rosati knows her career might have taken a different path if not for a life-changing decision 34 years ago.

“I am excited to be able to give back to Brock’s co-op program as I was in the first co-op accounting class to graduate from Brock in 1984, so I am most grateful for the co-op education that I received at Brock,” she said. “When the opportunity came up to develop a co-op entrepreneurial award for young entrepreneurs, it resonated with me.”