Twenty-five College of Business students comprising the third and largest cohort of Clifton Builders began their journey in the program this fall at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The unique program of the Clifton Strengths Institute provides the opportunity for students to study and network with other entrepreneurial-minded individuals focused on changing the world in careers.
Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton designed the Builders Program to identify and develop students with high leadership and entrepreneurial potential.
“The program was created to find and develop entrepreneurs, startup types, rainmakers and extraordinarily talented salespeople and leaders – people who have a natural gift to create economic energy where none existed before,” said Clifton. “The United States has an oversupply of innovators and an under supply of entrepreneurs.”
The selected students choose between three tracks: business builders, team builders and community builders and go through advanced, hands-on experiences in strengths-based leadership, employee engagement and well-being within specialized, cohort-based courses. The completion of these courses, in addition to an experiential component that aligns with their future aspirations, results in earning a Clifton Builders management major or minor. This program prepares them to be in a position to positively impact the engagement of the next generation of employees when they earn leadership positions in the future.
Students are invited to apply to the program based on their results of taking Gallup’s Builder Profile 10 (BP10) assessment. They are selected based on a combination of their results, their application and their interview performance.
Members of the Clifton Builders cohort are selected each spring semester of their first year and begin courses the fall of their sophomore year. The application deadline for the fall 2019 cohort is February 1. For more information, visit: https://business.unl.edu/builders.
2018-19 Cohort of Clifton Builders includes:
Nebraska
Bellevue: Justin Wieblhaus, finance
Elkhorn: Brittany Oligmueller, finance; Tyler Clark, finance
Grand Island: Carolyn Thayer, business administration; Coleman Cooper, marketing and management
Hastings: Mary O'Keeffe, finance
Lincoln: Bayley Brake, accounting; Keaton Fricker, business administration; Lauren Mosser, marketing; Sarah Bubak, business administration; Sydney Long, marketing; Sydney Patterson, international business
Omaha: Edgar Montoya, management; Lauren Kubat, accounting; Mike Schaffer, business administration; Shelbe Stroh, business administration
Papillion: Jacob Litel-Smith, actuarial science and finance
Seward: Tanner Stalsberg, accounting
Valley: Connor Castleman, finance
Wahoo: Madison Talbert, marketing
Elsewhere
Elmhurst, Illinois: Megan Boyle, finance
Glenview, Illinois: Olivia Rempe, business administration
Longmont, Colorado: Daniel Pearson, finance
Rhinelander, Wisconsin: Gunnar Millot, management and marketing
Woodbury, Minnesota: Alejandro Sanchez, finance
