- This event has passed.
Date
April 22 at 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM EDT
Location
Chesterton House presents:
Missional Entrepreneurship: Building Businesses with Purpose
A conversation with Jack Benjamin, Director of the Global Enterprise Network (for the Navigators)
April 22nd, 2026
7:30pm EST
Willard Straight Hall 414 or via Zoom
Dinner will be provided.
Since the 1970s, the global economy has been dominated by “shareholder primacy”—the theory that a corporation’s sole duty is to maximize profits. However, critics increasingly argue that this narrow focus often comes at the expense of employee well-being and community health. Many companies attempt to address these concerns through surface-level corporate social responsibility programs. However, when these initiatives are decoupled from a company’s profit goals, they often result in greenwashing: the practice of implementing impact programs purely for optics rather than genuine change.
In response, a new model has emerged: missional enterprise. By prioritizing a “Triple Bottom Line” of people, profit, and purpose, these organizations leverage market-driven growth to create sustainable social impact. Missional enterprises align their impact goals with profitability goals, binding together economic growth with community transformation. Unlike traditional nonprofits, these enterprises stimulate local economies and provide long-term solutions that don’t depend on donors. Beyond the balance sheet, they are committed to the holistic flourishing of their staff and integrating faith and work to find a higher calling in business.
Join us for a conversation with Jack Benjamin, Director of the Global Enterprise Network. A pioneer in the “business-as-mission” movement, Jack has spent decades building impact-driven enterprises worldwide. Since 2009, he has led a network of over 500 enterprises dedicated to social transformation, economic sustainability, and spiritual growth. The event will be moderated by Ezra Min, a sophomore in the ILR School at Cornell. If you’re looking to learn about using entrepreneurship to tackle society’s toughest challenges or redefining your career as a vehicle for global good, please join us for an evening of insight and inspiration.
Jack Benjamin; Director of the Global Enterprise Network (for the Navigators)
Jack graduated from Cornell University with a BA in 1979 and received an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird in 1991. Jack and his wife Karen have been on staff with the Navigators since 1984 and served in Latin America from 1991 to 2010: eight years in Bogota, Colombia, two years in Curitiba, Brazil and nine years in Santiago, Chile. Jack has ministered in the context of missional enterprises in each of these locations while also serving on the Latin American Leadership team for twenty-seven years. Since 2009 Jack has given leadership to the Navigators’ Global Enterprise Network. They serve to resource over 600 missional enterprises around the world while helping to launch new ones in some of the most challenging places. These enterprises are involved in multigenerational disciplemaking and having a transformational impact in the local communities where they are operating. Eighty percent of these enterprises are owned and operated by men and women from the regions where they are serving.
Jack and Karen currently live in Colorado Springs. They have three adult children, Leah (40) who lives and works in NYC, Michelle (39) and her husband Josh with three boys aged 10, 7 and 6; and Josh (34) who lives with his wife Margarita in southern Chile.
