The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) has been involved with GEW/USA since GEW’s inaugural year in 2008. As an organization focused on helping student entrepreneurs gain the opportunities and resources to inform, support and inspire entrepreneurial endeavors, CEO has benefited greatly from their participation in GEW. Read about their experience.

Why is Global Entrepreneurship Week important?
Entrepreneurship is playing more of a predominant role in society and in our global economy. Entrepreneurs are change agents for the future. Global Entrepreneurship Week acts as a catalyst to showcase the importance of entrepreneurial thinking and focus attention on how the future will be impacted by entrepreneurship.

Specifically, what has your organization done during GEW?
For the 2011 GEW, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ OrganizationSM (CEO) encouraged members at CEO Chapters on college campuses across the nation to “Spread Entrepreneurship.” Schools hosted panels to expose new students to what entrepreneurship is, sharing insight from successful entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship faculty, entrepreneurial-minded students and more, cross-campus.

How does GEW support the work that you do throughout the year?
Throughout the year, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ OrganizationSM (CEO) supports entrepreneurship and new venture creation on college campuses across the United State and North America. GEW reinforces the mindset that we encourage in our student members. It also connects entrepreneurship on a global level, illustrating the interconnectivity of entrepreneurs around the world.

How has GEW grown? What are you doing to build on its momentum?
To build on GEW’s growth, we see greater connectivity between like-minded entrepreneurship support organizations. With more organizations joining together to work towards a common purpose, CEO is building on this momentum by collaborating with other organizations throughout the year to support entrepreneurship.

Are there challenges or barriers that you would like to overcome to increase participation within your network(s)?
The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ OrganizationSM (CEO) realizes that entrepreneurs come from all backgrounds, cultures, and industries. However, there is still a “business” mentality that pervades being an entrepreneur, and we are working to overcome this perception. Being an entrepreneur is more of a mindset – a way of thinking that you can change and impact the world for the better. No matter what your passions or background is, whether you are an artist, engineer, doctor, designer, accountant or businessperson, you can be an entrepreneur and make a difference.

tags: CEO, collegiate entrepreneurs organization, gew