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Derek Ozkal

Senior Program Officer
Derek Ozkal

Derek Ozkal is a senior program officer – knowledge creation and research in Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he leads problem-based grantmaking initiatives. Ozkal manages a portfolio of research projects and provides thought leadership on key issues, including the changing nature of entrepreneurship, the “future of work,” declining business dynamism, and developing a holistic and inclusive research community.

Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Ozkal was the research director for the Kansas City Business Journal, where his duties included survey design, data gathering, and analysis in support of weekly lists of local industries and topics, writing articles on local economic topics, and various research tasks in support of editorial content.

Ozkal earned an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Truman State University.