Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

The Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership will
be responsible for animating the vision behind the Center, for
bringing together interdisciplinary contributions from across
campus, and for building a vibrant academic ecosystem around
entrepreneurship and innovation. The newly-established
Center builds upon the strength of Gordon’s existing program
in nonprofit management and will incorporate this program’s
offerings into its portfolio.

The Center’s Director will focus on achieving the following
objectives:
• Catalyze a commitment to entrepreneurial leadership among
Gordon students through new and redesigned coursework
and strategic opportunities that prepares them for a lifetime
of entrepreneurial leadership informed by deep Christian
commitment.
• Build a network of enthusiastic advocates and financial
supporters among entrepreneurs (of all kinds) to sustain the
growth of the Center beyond the initial gift commitment that
is launching the Center.
• Actively identify and pursue opportunities for Gordon
students and faculty to learn about and contribute to the
fields of entrepreneurship and innovation by establishing
structured mentorship/apprenticeship opportunities, by
bringing successful entrepreneurs to campus for lectures
and mentoring; by cultivating an entrepreneur-in-residence
program; by creating new, and expanding upon existing,
strategic relationships such as the Gordon-Praxis Fellows
partnership; and by leading the College’s exploration of a
continuing education curriculum that integrates Christian
thought and entrepreneurial learning for mid-career
entrepreneurs and leaders.
• Establish a successful business plan competition on campus,
cultivating resources to underwrite a competitive seedfunding
program. Help faculty and students bring to market their intellectual property.
• Oversee the development of proprietary research reports, specialized white
papers and presentations, as well as marketplace and cultural updates that
can assist the Center’s corporate partners in strategic decision-making.
• Recruit and develop the Center’s inaugural advisory board of accomplished
entrepreneurial leaders.

The Director of the Center will also work with faculty and other colleagues to
develop the Center’s curricular and co-curricular offerings, and will teach at least one course per semester. The Director will report directly to the Provost.

THE CANDIDATE
The newly-announced Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership is seeking a highly
entrepreneurial leader who has the vision, drive and proven track record to
establish a campus-wide initiative focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.
The ideal candidate is an experienced innovator who is passionate about
developing new leaders and recruiting accomplished leaders in the vital work of
integrating Christian faith and organizational development in solving problems
and in identifying marketplace opportunities. The candidate should embrace
and embody the idea of entrepreneurship (of all kinds) as a principal means for
cultural improvement.

The ideal candidate will also have significant nonprofit experience as founder,
chair, or director, preferably with a start-up organization. The ideal candidate
is an accomplished leader who has built at least one successful and profitable
enterprise and who knows what it takes to build an organization from the ground
up. He or she will develop, sell and carry out a strategy that establishes the
Center within three years as the preeminent academic enterprise dedicated to
entrepreneurship and innovation among Christian liberal arts colleges and the
preeminent enterprise of its kind among U.S. liberal arts colleges within six years.

The Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, like all Gordon
faculty and staff, will be expected to live in a vital relationship with Jesus
Christ and be grounded in biblical principles. The selected candidate will have
a record of active involvement in Christian ministry and local church life and
can enthusiastically support the College’s Statement of Faith, Philosophy of
Education, and the Statement of Life and Conduct. The candidate will reflect
godly character, confident humility and impeccable integrity.