Saying Yes To The Challenge | Issue 2025

HANNAH KIM HELPED SHAPE VCS’ BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, & INNOVATION PROGRAM

When Hannah Kim, vice president and director of K-12 BEI, first walked through the doors of Valley Christian in 2012, she had no idea she would one day help shape one of the most sought-after programs at the school.
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At the time, she was a new parent, recently relocated from Seattle, with a background in education and a master’s degree in Administration and Social Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. After several years at home with her two young boys, she was ready to step back into the workplace. What she found was more than a role. It was a calling.

“I started as a room parent,” Hannah recalls with a smile. “Then my husband attended Valley Christian’s prayer intercessors meeting, where they mentioned they were looking for someone to start something in business. Without me knowing, he volunteered me. That’s how it all started.”

2016 | SECOND ANNUAL PBC AWARD CEREMONY
Three finalist teams celebrate with Mrs. Kim, Mr. Steve Nelson, Dean of the Gordon School of Business, and VCS President Dr. Daughtery.

A SMALL SPARK WITH BIG POTENTIAL

What began as a casual suggestion took shape as the President’s Business Challenge, a transformative program that launched what is now VCS’ thriving K-12 Business, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation (BEI) program.

Hannah recalls, “Cliff shared a story about a former executive director of the Harvard MBA program, someone we actually knew through family friends. Then my husband remembered his own experience winning a startup competition at Cornell, where his team launched a company that still runs today. We thought, why not do something like that here?”

Inspired by collegiate-level business competitions at Harvard’s i-lab and Cornell University, Hannah proposed hosting a business challenge. One of the school’s alumni parents, a leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist, suggested hosting the pitch event in his firm’s conference room at Radar Partners—just as he would for entrepreneurs seeking investment.

“The first year, I was just a parent volunteer running around saying, ‘Hey, we’re starting a business competition. If you want to create a startup to pitch to venture capitalists, come join,’” she laughed. “To my surprise, about 75 students showed up.”

These students will be the movers and shakers of the world. If we instill the right values and biblical grounding, they can go out and lead companies that care not only for those who have, but also for those in need. — Hannah Kim, VP/Director of K-12 Business, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation (BEI)

MORE THAN JUST A COMPETITION

Hannah knew that preparation would be critical. She guided students through the entrepreneurial process, bringing in entrepreneurs and industry experts from various fields, including business, marketing, finance, intellectual property, technology, sales, and product management, to help them prepare their startup pitches for venture capitalists. The results were extraordinary.

“The students who won were freshmen. The judges couldn’t believe it,” Hannah said. “These judges were people who had been at the original Google and Facebook pitches, and they were floored by the quality. The transformation in the students was incredible.”

That transformation lit a fire. “We realized that if they can do this, then we need to offer this opportunity to more students and give them a stronger foundation,” Hannah explained. “That’s when we started offering Business Fundamentals, then Entrepreneurship and Technology classes, which led to students launching business-related clubs. The whole program grew organically from the students’ hunger to learn and our commitment to stay ahead in supporting that growth.”

2024 | 10TH ANNIVERSARY FINALIST PITCH
Entrepreneurship Honors Teacher Mark Weiner with team “Revive” who pitched an energy drink with natural ingredients targeted at athletes.

A FRAMEWORK GROUNDED IN FAITH

For Hannah, the BEI program was never about entrepreneurship for its own sake, nor was it about money and prestige. “We want students to learn how to integrate their faith into their work and their marketplace calling,” she said. “One of our alumni parents, Henry Kaestner, runs Faith Driven Entrepreneur, and his content helped shape our program. We want our students to leave with a biblical framework for their lives and careers.”

She has already seen the difference in her students. “I had one who came in saying he wanted to be a CEO, make money, and run a big company. By the time he graduated, he said, ‘It’s about serving your employees and being a servant leader.’ That’s the kind of change we hope for.”

EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION

Hannah describes her driving motivation with a clarity that reflects her heart for education. “Everyone has 100 percent potential, but not everyone has access. How do we give them access? That’s my personal driver,” she said. “God shifted my perspective. These students will be the movers and shakers of the world. If we instill the right values and biblical grounding, they can go out and lead companies that care not only for those who have, but also for those in need.”

What began as a single competition has evolved into a thriving K–12 ecosystem, engaging approximately 1,500 students, more than half of the school, each year through classes, programs, clubs, and startup projects. Imagine the creativity and problem-solving that emerge when a critical mass of students on one campus, where innovation becomes contagious, think like entrepreneurs, and tackle real-world challenges with purpose.

Her dream for the future reflects that same vision. “One of our hopes is to build a VCS Center for Creativity and Innovation that brings together Business and Technology, like BEI and AMSE, into one collaborative hub for K–12 students,” she said. “It would be a place that integrates technology, creativity, and innovation, not just for VCS, but for other schools as well. Maybe one day it will look like a sportsplex, but designed for innovation and open to the entire community.”

2025 | PRESIDENT’S BUSINESS CHALLENGE (PBC) Semifinalist Pitch Event
The Neuropulse team impressed technology executives, VCS staff, and faculty with their proposed medtech solution.

LEGACY OF A “YES”

What started with a simple “yes” to volunteering has grown into a program that equips students to lead with integrity, humility, resilience, and grit.

“Our mission is to prepare the next generation of principled, entrepreneurial leaders to serve and impact their communities and the world,” Hannah said. “If students can carry a biblical worldview and an entrepreneurial mindset into whatever they do, whether in sports, healthcare, technology, science, arts, or education, they will thrive. That’s the legacy we want them to take with them, an understanding that they are ‘called to create,’ made in the image of a Creator who equips them to serve and lead with purpose.”

And it’s a legacy that began when one parent raised her hand, stepped forward, and said “yes” to the challenge.

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