Center for Enterprise Value
Where Bold Ideas Meet Real Impact
The Center for Enterprise Value is Creighton’s cross-campus hub for entrepreneurial thinking—where students learn to launch ventures, lead innovation and create value in any setting.
Housed in the Heider College of Business and open to all majors and disciplines, the CEV connects students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners around a shared goal: to prepare the next generation of bold thinkers, problem-solvers, and builders.
From starting a company to sparking change within one, the CEV blends coursework, applied research, and real-world experience to build mindsets that move ideas forward with purpose and momentum.
But why does this matter now more than ever?
Why It Matters
The future of work is changing faster than ever. Success won’t come from memorizing answers but from asking better questions, solving new problems, and creating value in unexpected ways. The CEV exists to give students those tools—so they graduate ready not just for today’s careers, but for careers that don’t yet exist.
The CEV Advantage
What sets the CEV apart is the way we connect classroom learning with real-world action. Here, students don’t just study entrepreneurship—they practice it. They test ideas, work with mentors, explore emerging technologies, and learn how to turn bold thinking into practical solutions.
This balance of academic insight and applied experience ensures that students leave Creighton with more than knowledge. They leave with the mindset, skills, and momentum to make an impact.
We bring this mission to life across four key areas of impact—each designed to give students hands-on opportunities to learn, test, and create: Academics, Research, Applied Learning, and Activities.
Impact Areas
Academics
The classroom can be more than a stopover—it can be a starting line. At the CEV, academic programming ignites entrepreneurial thinking across every college at Creighton, giving students the tools and frameworks to turn ideas into action. This unique approach is:
- Built around experience, iteration and problem-solving
- Includes venture simulation, pitch development and collaboration tools
- Uses assessment data to personalize the learning journey
Programs and Pathways
- An Entrepreneurship Minor – redefined (open to all majors)
- Amplify any major with an Entrepreneurship minor, including specialized tracks based on your passions
- Innovative and Intrapreneurial Courses
- Coursework focused on intrapreneurship – thinking entrepreneurially within an organization
- Designed for real-world application, not just theory
- Includes faculty collaborators across disciplines
- Applied Certificate Program
- Built for the flexibility needs of adult learners
- Ideal for anyone who is start up curious – alumni, graduate students, or working profesionals
- Microcredentials (via the College of Professional and Continuing Education)
- Stackable skills in leadership, innovation and venture design (via the CPCE)
Research
Entrepreneurship is as much about people as it is about ideas. Our research explores the human and organizational factors that drive (or stall) success in startups, social enterprises, and innovative teams. Key focus areas include:
- Predictive Assessment
- Measuring founder and team potential with proprietary, validated tool
- Longitudinal Dataset
- Tracking students' innovation journeys over time
- Designed for both internal insights and external scholarship
- Team Dynamics
- Role fit, communication styles, and collaborative success
- Piloting our “Flight Crew” model for high-functioning startup teams
- Research-to-Market
- Supporting faculty commercialization through tech transfer
- Bridging the gap between innovation and impact
- Publishing and Partnerships
- Faculty-led studies using real venture data
- Undergraduate research assistants welcome
- Publishing opportunities in business, psychology and education journals
Applied
Entrepreneurship means taking action. Our applied programs give students opportunities to test, refine, and launch ideas—with resources and guidance at every step. Key programs include:
- Flight School
- Our signature 10-level venture accelerator
- From concept to capital, with coaching, curriculum and community
- Flight Crew
- App- and skill-based team matching
- Helps student founders build effective, diverse and collaborative teams
- Pop-Up Cart
- A mobile minimum viable product (MVP)-testing platform
- Students bring ideas to campus, gather feedback and refine in real time
- First Flight Fund
- Early capital for student and alumni ventures managed by students
- Paired with mentorship and progress milestones throughout lifecycle
- Tech Transfer Support
- Working with faculty and researchers to commercialize university intellectual property (IP)
Activities
You don’t have to launch a startup to join in. Our activities create space for every student—no matter their major or experience—to explore innovation, connect with creators, and take that first (or next) step. Signature events include:
- Founder Fridays
- Weekly speaker series with entrepreneurs, investors and innovators
- Real stories, no sugarcoating
- 10-Hour Startup
- A one-day sprint challenge to turn ideas into action
- Fast-paced, high-energy, team-based competition
- JayTank
- Annual pitch competition for 5+ companies, tabling for 20+
- Real investor networking and seed capital prizes awarded
- Innovation Challenges
- Monthly themed problem-solving sprints
- Open to all students—creativity and collaboration are key
* At the heart of our activities is Creighton’s Student-Run Entrepreneurship Club.
Student-Run Entrepreneurship Club
The club’s mission is to foster a vibrant and inclusive community of aspiring entrepreneurs. Open to all majors and experience levels, it’s a space where students connect with opportunities to learn, collaborate, and explore the world of startups. The club:
- Hosts weekly meetings on topics from idea generation and business modeling to CEO speakers and company tours
- Fuels collaboration through weekly Founder Fridays meetups, focused on active business building
- Runs campus-wide events like the 10-Hour Startup Challenge
- Hosts the annual JayTank pitch event, awarding $5k+ in funding and prizes
Ways to Plug In
Beyond our flagship programs, the CEV offers regular touchpoints that keep entrepreneurial energy alive on campus all year long, including:
- Entrepreneurship Club: Meets every Wednesday
- Founders Fridays (Club): New local product / service featured each week
We'll continue to add opportunities, and plan to launch these initiatives next:
- Pop-up MVP-testing platform
- Innovation challenges
- Podcast
- CEV newsletter
Meet the Team
Sangeeta Badal
- Researcher-in-Residence
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Caitlin Feldman
- Innovation Program Manager
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Nathan Preheim
- Director
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