As I step into 2025, I find myself skipping the usual resolutions and instead focusing on a single, powerful word: value. This year, I’m reflecting on how we define it, how we create it, and how we share it with others – both personally and professionally.

Why ‘value’ matters in 2025

We’re living in changing and challenging times. Across many sectors, shifting consumer habits and behaviours are fundamentally shaping some industries, including higher education. Climate change and the rapid advancement of new technologies have us questioning what jobs will look like in 5-10 years’ time (thanks ChatGPT for the title inspiration!) When time and money is tight, we often make decisions based on perceived value, so why should it be any different for our communities?

Reviewing and reflecting on our value is key. So, what impact can enterprise education have in 2025?

Lessons from GCEC

In November I had the pleasure of attending GCEC – The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centres conference in Boston, for the first time. There were lots of familiar conversations around budget cuts, the changing political landscape and the unknowns of artificial intelligence, yet I left feeling emboldened as an enterprise educator, knowing there’s potential to provide more value now, than ever before.

Why? By supporting our communities to become more entrepreneurial, we are giving them the tools to:

• Develop courage: To engage
• Challenge assumptions: To critically question the status quo
• Ask questions: To develop alternative perspectives
• Build connections: To shape knowledge and understanding
• Solve problems: To innovate
• Feel belonging: To have a safe place to fail
• Inspire communities: To empower others
• Embrace uncertainty: To spot opportunities
• Believe in themselves: To take that first step
• Be creative: To imagine what could be
• Become leaders of tomorrow: To show what can be done

I could go on.

Entrepreneurship is changing. We’re told uncertainty is the new normal. Yet these skills are just as important now– for leadership, for workforces and innovation – as they ever have been. And I take comfort and pride in knowing that for us as a sector, none of this is new. We’ve been instilling this mindset from the start. As one GCEC speaker put it – equipped with entrepreneurial skills, creativity, critical thinking and leadership, entrepreneurs will be free to focus on solving the most pressing problems that AI can’t yet.

Owning the ‘value’ narrative

In 2025, my focus is on truly owning the value narrative. As a new EEUK Director and in my day job, I’m reminding our communities – and those who need to hear it – of what we’ve already achieved and our ambitions for the future. I’m gathering reflections and stories from members of our community, to capture impact in words, not just numbers. I’m forming new connections and bringing people together to collectively promote enterprise education, whilst contributing to wider university drivers to get out of the echo chamber.

As we move into 2025, I invite you to think about how you can contribute to our entrepreneurial community. What value can you create through your unique talents and perspectives? Together, we’re empowering the problem solvers and changemakers of tomorrow. I can’t wait to see what we achieve – individually and as a community.

Nina Lanzon
EEUK Director
Head of Communications & Engagement, Entrepreneurship Institute, King’s College London