Join us for the 3rd Annual L.I.F.E. Teaching Conference on Faith & Entrepreneurship taking place online on Thursday, November 5, 2026. The conference creates space for faculty and higher education leaders from public, private, and faith-based universities to share best practices, exchange ideas, and discover fresh approaches for integrating faith and entrepreneurship across diverse contexts. Hosted by the Center for L.I.F.E. at Miami University, we invite educators to contribute to and learn from cutting-edge ideas that are transforming the field.
Exploring innovative ways to integrate faith and entrepreneurship in higher education.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026 | ONLINE ONLY
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About the Conference
WE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE PRESENTING THE
Faith + Entrepreneurship Innovation Award
Discover the Faith + Entrepreneurship Innovation Award and learn how to submit your work advancing faith and entrepreneurship in and beyond the classroom.
Our Featured Presenters
Hilary Hambrick Taft is the Academic Director of the Belmont Innovation Labs for Social Impact, where she leads programs that combine faith,entrepreneurship, and social innovation to prepare students for lives of leadership and service. Her experience spans social enterprise development inGuatemala, workforce and youth development initiatives in Nashville, global entrepreneurship with Ashoka, and international development work withUSAID. A Belmont alumna, she is dedicated to helping the next generation of changemakers turn purpose into impact.
Jeremy Thornton, Ph.D. serves as associate dean and the Dwight Moody Beeson chair of business, professor of economics and the coordinator of the social entrepreneurship program at Brock School of Business. He teaches micro-economic theory, development economics, social entrepreneurship and international economics. Prior to his academic career, Thornton was involved in international economic development. In that role, he facilitated the design micro-finance and anti-poverty programs for civil society organizations in developing countries, primarily Latin America. His projects ranged frommicro-lending programs for refugees to medium-sized agricultural and manufacturing operations. Dr.Thornton’s current research emphasizes the influence of market competition on nonprofit organizations and financing for social enterprises.
Merly Thomas enjoys working at the intersection of higher education leadership, public health and entrepreneurship. Prior to stepping into Higher Education, she served as the Director for the SBDC at an Economic Development organization in Chicago where she engaged with founders and the many challenges with scaling start-ups. She brings these insights into her role at Loyola Chicago, in conversations with faculty and students that engage with The Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She’s happy to offer them resources and connect them to programming that helps shape an entrepreneurial mindset.
Michael Lamb is the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, Senior Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University. He earned a B.A. in political science from Rhodes College, a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, and a second B.A. in philosophy and theology from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. A recipient of teaching awards from Princeton, Oxford, and Wake Forest, his teaching and research focus on leadership, character, and the role of virtues in public life. He is the author of A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought and co-editor of The Arts of Leading: Perspectives from the Humanities and the Liberal Arts, Cultivating Virtue in the University, and Everyday Ethics: Moral Theology and the Practices of Ordinary Life. Prior to Wake Forest, he helped to launch The Oxford Character Project, where he remains an Associate Fellow. He is currently leading major grants to educate leaders of character at Wake Forest and beyond, including through the Educating Character Initiative, which is catalyzing a broader community focused on character in higher education.
Michael Lindsay serves as President of Taylor University, a place he and his family have come to love deeply. Since arriving at Taylor, he has been grateful to help initiate a season of momentum across campus, from growing enrollment to athletic excellence and vibrant spiritual life. He is quick to credit the faithful work of faculty, staff, trustees, and student leaders who serve with humility and conviction each day.
Before coming to Taylor, Michael spent a decade as president of Gordon College in Massachusetts and previously taught sociology at Rice University, where he received awards for both teaching and research. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several books, including Faith in the Halls of Power, and Hinge Moments, which reflects on leadership and discernment in times of transition.
Michael earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University and also studied theology at Oxford University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for over 25 years and are the grateful parents of three daughters. Together, they view their work at Taylor as both a privilege and a calling.
Before coming to Taylor, Michael spent a decade as president of Gordon College in Massachusetts and previously taught sociology at Rice University, where he received awards for both teaching and research. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several books, including Faith in the Halls of Power, and Hinge Moments, which reflects on leadership and discernment in times of transition.
Michael earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University and also studied theology at Oxford University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for over 25 years and are the grateful parents of three daughters. Together, they view their work at Taylor as both a privilege and a calling.
Devin Singh is Associate Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, where he teaches courses on religious thought in the West, social ethics, and the philosophy of religion. He is also adjunct Associate Professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, where he teaches on ethics, capitalism, and moral leadership. Singh is the author of Divine Currency: The Theological Power of Money in the West (Stanford 2018), which reveals the ancient links between money and Christian doctrine. He is also author of Economy and Modern Christian Thought (Brill 2022), an introduction to the study of Christianity and economics. He also co-edited Reimagining Leadership on the Commons (Emerald 2021), which examines models of shared governance in organizations. Singh’s next book, Sacred Debt (Harvard, forthcoming), explores the power of debt in society and its longstanding uses in religion. His work has appeared in periodicals such as Time, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Journal of Religious Ethics, Harvard Theological Review, and Political Theology. Outside academia, Singh provides coaching and consulting to individuals and firms on values-based leadership and social impact.
Jeff Reid is the Founding Director of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where he leads a campus-wide effort inspiring and supporting students and alumni interested in entrepreneurship. As Georgetown’s entrepreneurship programs have grown under Reid’s leadership, the school has been ranked among the best in the world for entrepreneurship by the Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and others, including the 2024-25 Nasdaq Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. In recent years, Reid cofounded the Jesuit Entrepreneurship Center Alliance, connecting entrepreneurship center leaders in the global Jesuit education community. Reid is a catalyst for entrepreneurship, economic development, and a well known leader in entrepreneurship education. He testified in the US Congress in support of entrepreneurship policy, and he was chosen by his peers and Entrepreneur magazine as one of the top five entrepreneurship center directors in the United States. In 2021 the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship awarded him its highest honor, the Justin G. Longenecker Fellowship, for his lifelong contributions to entrepreneurship.
Quentin Dupont, S.J. is the Swan Family Ignatian Assistant Professor in the McDonough School of Business and a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Prior to joining Georgetown, Quentin completed a Ph.D. in Finance and Business Economics at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. As an undergraduate, Quentin studied economics and accounting at the Catholic University of Lille, in France. Quentin also holds master’s degrees in Finance and Banking (University of Paris), Business Administration (University of Washington), Philosophy (Fordham University), Divinity and Theology (both from Boston College). Quentin’s academic work is published in the Review of Accounting Studies and the Journal of Business Ethics. He has also written about Catholic Social Teaching and about spirituality (e.g., in The Jesuit Post Book, Orbis, 2014 and the preface to Francois Varillon: Traversate di un credente with Antonio Spadaro, Jaca Book, 2008).
Elisha Joyce is an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation, teaching Intro to Entrepreneurship and Starting and Managing a Small Business. A licensed attorney, she has spent three decades as a serial entrepreneur, founding ventures across real estate, food and media. As co-founder of Relish Division, LLC, she launched a boutique culinary production agency specializing in digital media campaigns for internationally recognized culinary brands. Prior to Relish, she founded Rebel Grain, LLC, launching SmartyBars, an organic snack line taken from her kitchen recipe to market. A cookbook author, culinary expert and media talent, she has appeared on live television, been featured in national campaigns and was cast as a contestant on NBC’s Food Fighters. Joyce currently serves as Executive Director of Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Texas, the largest front-line, pro-life nonprofit in Central Texas. She is committed to developing effectual entrepreneurs who lead with competence and character, integrating her experience across business, law and nonprofit leadership to prepare students for their personal calling. She received her JD from the University of Washington School of Law and a BA in both Sociology and Political Science from Gonzaga University.
Brett Smith is the L.I.F.E. University Distinguished Professor and the Founding Executive Director, Center for L.I.F.E. Previously, he founded the Center for Social Entrepreneurship and led the Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. His research focuses on the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship and has been published in leading academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Venturing, among others.
Conference Agenda
10:00 – 10:10 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks
Jen Bennett, Ed.D, Miami University
10:10 – 10:30 AM: Keynote – Entrepreneurship for Higher Education Leaders
Michael Lindsay, Ph.D., Taylor University
How can higher education leaders empower students to recognize “hinge moments” and build transformative ventures? It starts with a simple, resourceful question: “What are the resources I have within my reach, and how can I make things happen?” In this keynote dialogue, Taylor University President Dr. Michael Lindsay will share how embedding an entrepreneurial DNA into campus culture can revitalize both the university and its surrounding region. Learn how taking faith-rooted risks, like Taylor’s $100M Main Street Mile initiative, can unlock unexpected resources and advance the integration of faith and entrepreneurship.
10:30 – 10:42 AM: Entrepreneurship for the Common Good
Jeff Reid, M.B.A., Georgetown University
Entrepreneurs for Others: An Ignatian Framework for Purposeful Venture Creation and the Common Good introduces a bold reframing of what entrepreneurship education is for — not just building successful businesses, but cultivating founders who understand their ventures as a calling to promote human flourishing. Drawing on Ignatian spirituality and a rich philosophical tradition stretching from Aristotle to contemporary economics, Georgetown University’s Common Good Entrepreneurship framework gives students and founders a structured practice for examining the purpose, impact, and integrity of their ventures across all stakeholders.
10:42 – 10:54 AM: Practicing Entrepreneurship for the Common Good – The Entrepreneur's Examen
Quentin Dupont, S.J., Ph.D., Georgetown University
This session builds on Jeff Reid’s Entrepreneurship for the Common Good by presenting the Entrepreneur’s Examen, a method to reflect on one’s practice of Common Good entrepreneurship. Based on St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen from his Spiritual Exercises, the Entrepreneur’s Examen offers a means to contemplate one’s vocation as an entrepreneur as a means of promoting human flourishing.
10:54 – 11:06 AM: The Effectual Entrepreneur – Lot Mapping
Elisha Joyce, J.D., Baylor University
An individual’s unique ‘lot’ in life holds Divine cues to their entrepreneurial perspective and calling. In this session, Elisha Joyce, J.D. will share the Lot Mapping exercise she designed to help students deep-dive into the biblical foundation for Saravathy’s Effectuation theory. Lot Mapping is introduced in the ideation/discovery section of her curriculum.
11:06 – 11:18 AM: Fireside Chat — Teaching Spirituality and Leadership in a Secular Business School
Devin Singh, Ph.D., Dartmouth College
In this session, Dr. Devin Singh will explore his experience developing and teaching a class on spirituality, values, and leadership to MBA students in a secular business school setting. Course components and some outcomes will be shared. The broader aim is to think about how to teach and discuss faith and entrepreneurship in diverse and pluralistic contexts
11:18 – 11:30 AM: Entrepreneurship and the Virtue of Hope
Michael Lamb, Ph.D., Wake Forest University
Successful entrepreneurs are often fueled by hope, but hope can sometimes be false and futile. How can entrepreneurs lead with the right kind of hope, the kind that avoids both presumption and despair? In this talk, Dr. Michael Lamb, a scholar of hope and senior executive director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, will share how hope – understood as a virtue rather than a simple mood or attitude – has informed and inspired his own entrepreneurial leadership and character.
11:30 – 11:40 AM: Mid-Conference Special Announcements
Jen Bennett, Ed.D, Miami University
12:00 – 12:12 PM: Silence & Solitude
Brett Smith, Ph.D., Miami University
In this session, Dr. Brett Smith, Founder and Executive Director of L.I.F.E. will explain how and why a silence and solitude exercise is used in a faith and entrepreneurship course. It will include an overview of the exercise and the student takeaways.
12:12 – 12:24 PM: Where Faith Fuels Innovation — Lessons from Belmont's Social Innovation Fellowship
Hilary Taft, M.A., Belmont University
(2025 L.I.F.E. Faith + Entrepreneurship Innovation Award Winner)
Hear about lessons learned from Belmont’s Social Innovation Fellowship and how we bring faith and entrepreneurship together to develop the next generation of leaders.
12:24 – 12:36 PM: Teaching Entrepreneurship Through Wicked Problems — A Health Equity Model
Merly Thomas, Ed.D, M.B.A., M.P.H., Loyola University-Chicago
Seeking God in all things and practicing a faith that does justice are core to the Jesuit educational experience at Loyola University Chicago. As such, the Loyola Chicago Health Equity Quest programming embodies elements of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), which is central to Ignatian Education.
12:36 – 12:48 PM: Capital as a Classroom — Designing an Undergraduate Impact Investing Fund
Jeremy Thornton, Ph.D., Samford University
The Brock Impact Investment Fund (BIIF), an undergraduate-advised, faith-based impact investing fund for private equity. The model uses a donor-advised charitable account administered by a 501(c)(3) foundation to make charitable capital pedagogically active. Students source opportunities, conduct diligence, evaluate financial, social impact to recommend whether real capital should be invested in private enterprises.
12:48 – 12:52 PM: LIFE Center Award Presentation
Jen Bennett, Ed.D, Miami University
12:52 – 1:00 PM: Closing Remarks
Jen Bennett, Ed.D, Miami University
A Global Gathering of Leaders in Faith & Entrepreneurship
This year’s presenters are featured thought leaders from prestigious universities such as:
