Center Leader Academy Conference 2027
A two-day, application-based working conference built around a small cohort of university entrepreneurship center leaders. Bring a real operating challenge, work through it with experienced peers and leave with a practical plan.
February 2027
University of North Florida
Small Cohort by Design · $250 Fee
Application required. Applications are used to build a balanced working cohort — not simply to fill seats.
CLA has trained more than 400 entrepreneurship center leaders worldwide.
Hosted on campus in Jacksonville, Florida.
Most conferences offer dozens of short sessions but no time to work through your actual center challenge. You take notes, meet a few people, then return to the same constraints and unanswered questions. The Center Leader Working Conference starts with the problem you actually need to solve.
No keynotes, awards ceremonies or passive breakout sessions. No recordings.
This is not a conference about collecting more ideas. It is a conference for deciding what to do next.
The conference is designed around participant outputs, not speaker inputs. Every attendee should leave with a clearer understanding of the problem, a set of tested decisions and a realistic path forward.
Identify the underlying problem and define what a successful outcome should look like.
Evaluate options with center leaders who understand university constraints, limited budgets and complex stakeholders.
Advance a real program, process, message, funding strategy or operating decision during the conference.
Leave with defined priorities, immediate next steps and a practical implementation plan.
The standard is not whether a session was interesting. The standard is whether the work changes what you do next.
We will not finalize the agenda around whichever proposals are submitted. The conference design will be shaped around the challenges brought by the accepted participants.
Step 1
Explain what is happening, why it matters, what has already been attempted and what is preventing progress.
Step 2
Accepted participants prepare a concise overview of their center, its strengths, the challenge they are bringing and the outcome they need.
Step 3
Spend two structured days framing problems, receiving candid feedback, evaluating solutions and building an implementation plan.
Confidentiality: The conference will not be recorded. Participants agree to candid, constructive and confidential discussion. What is learned can leave the room. Personal and institutional details do not.
The specific working problems will come from the accepted participants. That is the point.
This conference is for leaders with meaningful responsibility for center strategy, operations, programs, funding or performance.
Applications are evaluated for fit, not institutional prestige. A leader from a small or emerging center may be more appropriate than someone from a highly resourced center who does not have a specific problem to address.
Apply to AttendThe event is deliberately lean so leaders from smaller and resource-constrained centers can participate. There is no required conference hotel, awards banquet or premium conference add-on. Participants may select lodging and transportation based on their own budgets.
Your fee supports the facilitated two-day working experience and participant materials — not stages, ceremonies or conference production.
Jacksonville, Florida · February 2027. Exact venue details, hotel suggestions and transportation guidance will be provided to accepted participants.
Center Leader Academy has trained more than 400 entrepreneurship center leaders worldwide through practical professional development focused on strategy, programming, stakeholder management, funding and center performance.
The 2027 Working Conference is hosted in partnership with the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
The conference is intentionally designed around a small working cohort. The strongest applications identify a specific challenge, explain why it matters now and demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the work of other participants.
Applications are reviewed based on relevance of the challenge, ability to implement afterward, fit with the working format, willingness to contribute and overall cohort balance.
Apply to AttendApplying does not require payment. Accepted participants will receive registration and travel instructions separately.
Instead of choosing among dozens of short sessions, you bring one specific challenge and spend two structured days working through it with experienced peers. There are no keynotes, awards or passive breakout sessions.
A working conference depends on the composition of the room. A deliberately small cohort ensures every person contributes and receives meaningful attention on their challenge — the goal is substantive participation, not audience size.
Leaders with meaningful responsibility for center strategy, operations, programs, funding or performance. This includes directors, associate directors and faculty leaders who actively manage an entrepreneurship center or major initiative.
The fee supports the facilitated two-day working experience and participant materials. Lodging, transportation and meals outside the working sessions are not included.
No. Participants are free to choose lodging and transportation that fit their budget. We will provide nearby accommodation recommendations to accepted participants.
No. The conference will not be recorded. This allows candid discussion of budget limitations, internal politics, underperforming programs and difficult stakeholder situations.
Applications are evaluated for fit with the working format, not institutional prestige. We consider the relevance of the challenge, ability to implement afterward, willingness to contribute to peers and overall cohort balance.
In most cases we recommend sending one person with decision-making responsibility. If your center has multiple leaders with distinct operating challenges, each should apply separately.
Bring the challenge limiting your center. Spend two days working on it with people who understand the job. Leave prepared to do something different.
February 2027
University of North Florida
Small Cohort by Design · $250 Fee
Application required. Built for substantive participation, not audience size.