Loyola Marymount University, California, hosted the 31st Annual IAJBS World Forum and CJBE Annual Meeting from July 12 to July 15, 2026. With the conference theme "Disruption as a Catalyst for the Common Good", these meetings served as an opportunity for Jesuit business education leaders. globally to come together and discuss the evolving challenges and opportunities they face.

Opening Address from Cardinal Turkson

The event was opened with a keynote address by Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, and a globally respected church leader and biblical scholar, widely recognized for his work on justice, peace, integral human development, and care for our common home. His speech revolved around the themes of business as a vocation and the formation of leaders for the common good.

During his address, Cardinal Turkson emphasized the importance for business educators to know and cite documents from the magisterium, so students can see how their business education directly relates to the mission of the Church. Some of the documents he included are the Vocation of the Business Leader, Magnifica Humanitas, Caritas in Veritateand Mensuram Bonam. Cardinal Turkson stayed in Los Angeles for the entire duration of the conference, which made him available for smaller-group discussions on the topic of the formation of future leaders.

 A New Inspirational Paradigm

During the second day of the conference, Dr Joseph Phillips and Dr Cristina Gimenez Thomsen introduced the second edition of the Inspirational Paradigm for Business Education “IP 2.0”.

The original IP was published in 2020. Since then, the world has gone through a global pandemic, major shifts in economies globally, and changes in social perceptions of business education.

This new tool is structured around three interconnected elements. First, it offers a renewed reading of the current global context and its implications for Jesuit business education. Second, it articulates a set of fundamental human “hungers” that Jesuit business education seeks to awaken and cultivate, shaping the inner dispositions from which responsible leadership can emerge. Third, it presents the creation of communities of encounter—rooted in dialogue, social friendship, and discernment—as the institutional and cultural response to these hungers and as a path toward the common good.

It also discusses the role of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the business world today, a topic that is on the top of mind for many educators and students alike.

Opportunities for Collaboration

With numerous papers submitted in advance by business scholars and leaders, participants spent the remainder of the conference in smaller group discussions and workshops, where they covered topics related to the future of Jesuit business education in the light of AI, increasing economic inequality and a higher stress on environmental sustainability.

You can stay up to date on future events by visiting https://www.ignited.global/