Why Partner with C-E-O? 

Invest in the Students Building What's Next

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Sixteen thousand five hundred students on 250+ campuses, launching roughly 1,100 ventures a year.

Class teaches the theory. These students are already past it. The one taking real orders out of a dorm room. The one interning somewhere good and building her own thing on the side. The one who has not started yet and cannot stop thinking about it.

Three days beside people who have already built something changes what a student believes is possible. That is who you are investing in.

Ways to Take Part Collegiate Partners Advisory Board Give

What Your Investment Builds

Access

Students who otherwise would not have come

Some universities send delegations of eight or more. Others cannot send anyone at all. Scholarships close that distance, and the students who arrive on them tend to be the ones who need the room most.

Connection

Introductions nobody can schedule

Co-founders meet here. So do joint ventures, first hires and the colleague someone is still calling twenty years later. None of that goes on an agenda. It only becomes likely when you put the right people in one building for three days.

Momentum

A network still working in March

CEO founders go on to win other competitions, raise angel rounds and close venture rounds. The conversations that start here keep going long after everyone has flown home, and a partner in this room is often the first ear in the door.

A textbook can teach a student to form a company. It cannot teach them to read a customer, hold their nerve through a bad quarter, or ask for help before it is too late. That gets built beside people who have already done it. That is what this pays for.

The 43rd Annual CEO Global Conference

November 5–7, 2026 at the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach. Three days of workshops, breakout sessions, keynotes and two evening receptions. Everyone stays in the same hotel, so nobody leaves at five o'clock, which is why the evenings matter as much as the sessions.

At the centre of it is the CEO Global Pitch Competition, which has run for more than four decades. Students compete for $20,000 in non-dilutive funding. CEO has never taken a share of anyone's company and never will.

“It gave Interplay validation, feedback and momentum. Being surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs motivated me to keep pushing the limits and make a difference.”

Jonaie Johnson • University of Missouri-Kansas City • Founder, Interplay


Who Supports CEO
AACSB
University of Tampa
Singleton Foundation
Kazanjian Foundation
Deluxe
Verizon
Startup Wars
Chick-fil-A
HC
Coleman Foundation


Ways to Take Part

Come and share what you know. Every level below includes the same foundation of visibility and access. What changes is how deeply you get to be in the room with the students.

Included at Every Level

Logo on joinceo.org, the registration site, marketing emails and conference bags

One promotional item in every conference bag

Three complimentary conference registrations

All contributions are tax deductible (501(c)(3))

Invitation to the VIP Sponsor and Speaker Reception

Inclusion in conference press releases and media coverage

Exhibit table at the conference (most levels)

Bring Your Expertise
Bring what you know — Conference Exhibitor | $2,500

Three days on the exhibit floor with student founders, faculty advisors and entrepreneurship center directors walking past. The floor is built for companies who can tell a student what the industry actually rewards, accelerators and incubators here and abroad, and graduate programs recruiting their next M.S. and MBA class.

Designated exhibit space for the duration of the event

Logo and company name in the exhibitor directory and floor plan

Direct interaction and lead generation with students and faculty

Branding on booth signage and promotional materials

Featured in a post-event email with your customized message

Reserve an Exhibit Table

Teach something — Concurrent Session Host | $3,000

Deliver your own session, moderate a panel, or take the lighter role of introducing a speaker and running the Q and A. Sessions that teach a specific skill consistently outdraw sessions that tell a company story.

Present your own content, moderate a panel or introduce the session speaker

Video advertisement up to three minutes during your session

Opportunity to facilitate audience Q and A

Digital session branding on the conference schedule

Place setting postcard advertisement

Exhibit table not included with this level.

Host a Session

Judge the competition — Pitch Competition Funder | $5,000

A seat at the table where student ventures get evaluated. Judges see business models, traction and founders before anyone else is chasing them, and they do it as the person evaluating rather than the person selling.

One judging seat at the in-person semi-finals and the virtual evaluation rounds

Branding in the Pitch Competition Practice Lounge

Branding on the pitch competition site and application

Opportunity to host a round-table discussion with Top 100 founders

Take a Judging Seat

Own a Moment
Be the first thing they see — Registration Sponsor | $7,000

Your logo goes on the lanyards, name badges and welcome materials that every attendee carries from check-in through the final session.

Branding on lanyards and conference name badges

Branding on the welcome letter at hotel check-in

Branding on the “Things to Do” materials placed in guest rooms

Become Registration Sponsor

Open a door — Attendee Scholarships | $10,000

Some universities send delegations. Others cannot send anyone. A named scholarship covers the students whose campuses cannot fund the trip, and you meet every one of them at the conference.

Naming rights to a scholarship category of your choice

Application data for your sponsored recipients

One-on-one interaction with recipients at the conference

Option to host a breakfast or lunch seminar with your awardees

Speaking opportunity at the opening session

Fund a Scholarship

Thank the ones who help — Speaker and Judges Gifts | $15,000

Every speaker and judge at CEO Global gives their time. This is how they get thanked, and your name is on it.

Custom branded gifts for all conference speakers and judges

Custom branded appreciation note mailed after the event

Direct email to speakers and judges post-event

Option to provide a welcome gift at hotel check-in

Sponsor Speaker Gifts

Open the weekend — Welcome Reception | $25,000

Set the tone. You brand opening night, deliver the Welcome address and design the first room every attendee walks into.

Exclusive branding as Welcome Reception host

Opportunity to deliver the Welcome address

Theming rights for the reception, coordinated with the CEO events team

Branded welcome bags, cocktail napkins and takeaways

Materials included in registration packets

One direct email to attendees plus two to the full CEO mailing list

Host the Welcome Reception

Stand Behind All of It
Own the moment it all builds toward — Pitch Competition Underwriter | $35,000

The pitch competition is the centre of the conference, and this puts your organization inside it at every stage, with access to the founders before anyone else has them.

Naming rights to the Pitch Competition Practice Lounge

Video advertisement plus five minutes of main stage air-time

Access to Top 100 founder applicant data

Co-branded award checks presented on the main stage

Two judging appointments at every stage of the competition

One direct email to competition applicants and Top 100 founders

Permission to offer a platform or service exclusively to Top 100 founders

Underwrite the Competition

Stand behind all of it — Title Sponsor | $50,000

The highest-visibility position at CEO Global. You name the conference, you open it, and your organization is on everything from the registration page to the closing awards.

Conference theme and event naming rights across a three-year commitment

Keynote address or Welcome address from the main stage

Video advertisement plus ten minutes of main stage air-time

Host of the VIP Sponsor and Speaker Reception

Exclusive branding on the professionally produced conference sizzle video

Priority booth placement in the exhibit area

Employee volunteer roles including judges, student mentors and on-site support

Become Title Sponsor


CEO Advisory Board

Year-Round

Together, let's build what makes it possible.

The Advisory Board is for organizations that want to advise CEO the way they would advise a founder. The students get your expertise for three days. We would like it all year.

Members get first look at every opportunity on this page, but that is not the reason to join. The reason is that CEO is a small organization doing something difficult, and it runs better when experienced people are willing to tell us what we are getting wrong.

$5,000 per year

Contact CEO HQ to Discuss Joining


Collegiate Partners Program

Colleges and universities that join the Collegiate Partners Program are telling their students, their peers and their prospective faculty that entrepreneurship education matters on their campus. The practical effect is that your students get to the Global Conference, into the pitch competition and in front of peers from 250+ campuses.

Annual Benefits
C-Suite
$7,500
Innovator
$5,000
Supporter
$2,500

Logo on the CEO website

Spotlight feature in the CEO Connect newsletter

 

Promotional emails to the full CEO mailing list

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Complimentary CEO chapter membership

 

Conference Benefits
C-Suite
Innovator
Supporter

Logo on pre-conference marketing materials

Logo on the main stage projection screen

Complimentary conference registrations

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Name badge recognition for affiliated attendees

Special recognition during CEO remarks

Invitation to the VIP Sponsor and Speaker Reception

 

University collateral in attendee packets

 

Complimentary exhibit space (6′ tabletop display)

 

Hotel and meal packages are not included with complimentary registrations.

C-Suite — $7,500 Innovator — $5,000 Supporter — $2,500

Reach the Network

More than 19,000 subscribers across student founders, faculty advisors, entrepreneurship center directors and alumni, with open and click rates well above the association average. The website draws more than 250,000 pageviews a year.

Newsletter features and dedicated email sends are available outside the conference calendar. Contact CEO Headquarters and we will tell you honestly whether this audience is the right one for what you are trying to do.

Ask About Reaching the Network


Give

Every dollar goes to programming, scholarships and events that help student entrepreneurs launch real businesses. CEO is a 501(c)(3) and all contributions are tax deductible.

Make a Donation Our Supporters

GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency 2023

Questions? Contact globalhq@joinceo.org