From April 15-18, the 12th annual California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference brought together leaders in entrepreneurship education across the country to learn from one another and exchange research in shaping the next generation of innovators. 

Held in the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center, over 100 scholars and educators gathered to spend the weekend engaging in thoughtful discussions and presenting their individual successes at their respective universities, fostering a sense of community and growth across the field of collegiate entrepreneurship. 

Organizer Riley Pierce said, “As a community of entrepreneurship, we are always trying to learn and grow with all the evolving things in the ecosystem, like the evolution of AI and programming to incorporate students and really being able to broaden their involvement in the ecosystem of entrepreneurship.”

The three day event featured keynote speakers such as Dr. Roy Suddaby from the University of Victoria, Canada, and Dr. Jeffrey S. Hornsby, from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. 

Aside from keynote lectures to begin each day, the weekend included roundtable discussions and presentations sharing successes and suggestions from each panelist.

Some educators had been attending the annual event for a multitude of years, while it was others’ first time participating. 

Educator Akhil Kanodia, from California State University, Fresno, shared, “
I learn about the interesting research that my fellow colleagues in different universities are conducting, and I learn from the pedagogical practices from my colleagues that I can then implement in my classes.”

For many educators, it was a chance to collaborate, learn and enjoy the presence of long-time colleagues. 

“We saw this clearly in a presentation so far, which is not just about how we talk about entrepreneurship in general, but how we can make it relevant to the communities that we serve so that people understand that it belongs to all of us,” said Isabelle Monlouis, an entrepreneurship professional from Georgia State University. 

Many individuals walked away with a recognition that entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool to empower individuals on both the innovation end and the receiving end. 

“The importance lies in broadening the definition of entrepreneurship and breaking this myth of the entrepreneur,” Nada Miljkovic, a professional in entrepreneurship from University of California, Santa Cruz, said. “The more we can bring this to those that maybe don’t feel power or feel that they don’t have the voice, the better.”