The Center for L.I.F.E. and Faith Driven Entrepreneur Announce Strategic Partnership to Bridge the Gap Between Academic Research and Global Entrepreneurial Practice

OXFORD, OH — The Center for L.I.F.E. (Leading the Integration of Faith and Entrepreneurship) at Miami University and Faith Driven Entrepreneur (FDE) are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership aimed at translating high-level academic research into actionable insights for the global entrepreneurial community.

This collaboration addresses a long-standing challenge in higher education: the “ivory tower” gap, where rigorous, peer-reviewed research often fails to reach the practitioners who need it most. By combining the Center for L.I.F.E.’s deep academic rigor with FDE’s expansive global platform, the partnership will transform complex data into “Research Insights” designed to empower faith-driven founders to flourish in the marketplace.

Translating Rigor into Practice

The core of the partnership focuses on the translation of the extensive and growing library of research on faith and entrepreneurship—including work published in top-tier journals like the Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice—into accessible articles, videos, and digital resources. This “knowledge transfer” initiative ensures that the latest findings on redemptive entrepreneurship, vocational stewardship, and social impact move from the seminar room to the boardroom.

Justin Forman, Executive Director of Faith Driven Entrepreneur, commented: “As a movement, we want to be faith-centric and data-informed. The combination of those two voices is exactly what this growing movement needs.”

“We’re grateful to partner with organizations like Barna, helping us with market research to understand what God is doing across the broader landscape. And now we’re excited to now lock arms with the Center for L.I.F.E. at Miami University (Ohio) and other outstanding schools to bring the insights of academia into the real-world arena of entrepreneurship—turning research into action on the front lines.”

Dr. Brett Smith, Founding Director of the Center for L.I.F.E., added: “The partnership with FDE allows for the broad distribution of scientifically rigorous and practically relevant academic research to the entrepreneurs who integrate faith every day. This combines the best academic research on the topic with the best reach on faith-driven entrepreneurs and investors.”

Global Influence

This partnership leverages the unique and massive reach of both organizations:

• The Center for L.I.F.E. (Miami OH) serves as a primary hub for university faculty and students. With a global network of hundreds of scholars, faculty, and researchers, L.I.F.E. leads the academic conversation through its annual Research Conference, Teaching Conference, and specialized seminars for PhD students. It contributes to a growing intellectual foundation for faith-integrated business education across dozens of colleges and universities, including partner institutions like Princeton University, University of Notre Dame, Belmont University, Baylor University, and the University of Oklahoma. 
• Faith Driven Entrepreneur commands a vast network of entrepreneurs. As a global media and community movement, FDE reaches over 100,000 founders annually across 100+ countries through its podcasts, videos, and local “Foundation Groups.” FDE provides the practical, relational infrastructure for founders to live out their faith in their ventures.

For the higher education community, this partnership serves as a model for how university-based centers can scale their impact beyond traditional metrics. By demonstrating that faith-and-entrepreneurship research can provide busy entrepreneurs with empirically-researched, actional insights for entrepreneurs, the Center for L.I.F.E. is paving the way for a more robust integration of purpose and practice in business schools and universities worldwide.

“Research to Practice” Insights

Working in partnership, the Center for L.I.F.E. and FDE teams have created research insights aimed at providing busy entrepreneurs with easy access to leading ideas in the academy on faith and entrepreneurship. Hosted on the FDE website, the first three of these monthly updates include topics such as:

• “Success Was Just as Destabilizing as Failure, Until This Changed: How a Relationship with God Stabilizes Entrepreneurs During the Highs and Lows,”
• “Your Faith Could Cost You the Deal—Or Close It: What New Research Tells Us About Faith in the Pitch Room,”
• “‘When I Realized It Was Zero Percent Mine and 100% God’s, Everything Changed.’: What Christian Impact Investors Teach Us About Identity, Calling and Surrender.”