Iona University Students Shine with Top Placements and Cash Prizes at Annual CEO Conference
New Rochelle, N.Y. – Students from Iona University’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation recently excelled in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s (CEO) 41st annual Global Conference & Pitch Competition held in Florida.
Competing against students from across the world, Gaels demonstrated their drive, creativity and excellence on the global stage. Over the past three years, they have earned recognition in this prestigious conference.
Congratulations to the following participants:
- Jared Balcacer ’26, 3rd Place, Winning $4,000
- Eileen Cordero ’25, President, CEO Club, Outstanding Chapter Revenue Generating Initiative, $500 cash prize
- Jaiden Houston ’25, Top 20
“This accomplishment means the world to me,” said Balcacer, who previously also took home $6,000 as the winner of the Iona Innovation Challenge. “I’m making strides in the right direction. I always dreamed of having my own company.”
CEO is a nonprofit, founded in 1983, with a mission to support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation. The organization strives to provide student entrepreneurs with opportunities, events, chapter activities and conferences to help start businesses.
For more information about the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation visit here.
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 5 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2024.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with one of the nation’s top hospitals. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.