Authors: Cristina Gimenez and Joseph Phillips, Co-Chairs of IAJU Task Force An Inspirational Paradigm for Jesuit Business Education

“Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world.”

— Pope Francis, Laudato Si’

In a world still marked by inequality, environmental degradation, and social fragmentation, the Inspirational Paradigm (IP) for Jesuit Business Education stands as a bold and hopeful response. Rooted in Jesuit values and attuned to the deep aspirations of our students, the IP offers a transformative vision of business leadership. The IP is not just an educational framework; it is a commitment to forming reflective, compassionate leaders who serve the common good.

Since its launch in 2020, the IP has grown through a truly collaborative journey. Jesuit business schools, faculty, and networks such as the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS), Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education (CJBE), and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) have come together to co-create this vision.

📚 Curriculum Innovation in Action: Funded Projects & Open Resources

One of the paradigm’s cornerstones is curriculum innovation—developing classroom materials that embody its vision and values. Through multiple rounds of challenge grants, the network has supported 61 curriculum development projects, involving over 140 faculty members across 42 Jesuit institutions worldwide. These projects span diverse disciplines—from finance and marketing to sustainability and leadership—and bring the IP to life in varied educational contexts.

To foster access and global collaboration, all materials are shared freely via the Ignited platform (https://www.ignited.global/).This open-access model reflects the paradigm’s ethos of shared mission, academic excellence, and a deep commitment to preparing leaders who can meet today’s complex challenges with courage, conscience, and creativity.

🎓New Faculty Training Program: BIPP

The next exciting step is the launch of the Being an Inspirational Paradigm Professor (BIPP) training program. This initiative is designed to help faculty embody the IP in their teaching and leadership. The first cohort of 14 professors from across the global Jesuit network will begin their journey this June in Bogotá, during the IAJBS Global Forum.

BIPP directly responds to the limitations of traditional business education—often focused narrowly on material success—by embracing the spiritual and emotional dimensions of teaching. It aims to cultivate ethical, compassionate, and purpose-driven educators, whose influence extends to the students they guide. BIPP combines a blended learning experience—a one-day in-person workshop at the IAJBS Global Forums in 2025 and 2026 and eight online sessions in between.

The 2025 Bogotá workshop will center on two foundational modules designed to deepen faculty engagement with the IP. The first, Awakening the Call to Inspire, invites participants to reflect on their vocation as educators through storytelling, personal insight, and spiritual reflection. The second, Understanding the Inspirational Paradigm, explores the intellectual and spiritual foundations of Jesuit business education, emphasizing human dignity, ethical formation, and discerning leadership. Together, these modules highlight the emotional and spiritual dimensions of teaching, offering practical tools that faculty can integrate into their own classrooms.

🌍Looking Ahead

With expanded taskforce membership and growing regional collaboration, the IP continues to evolve as a transformative force in Jesuit business education. It invites us all—educators, students, and institutions—to reimagine leadership as service, and business as a path to justice, dignity, and hope.