It Had To Be SCU

It Had To Be SCU

Jeff Miller ’73, MBA ’76, has a theory about why Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Global Impact has become such a distinctive force for good. And the secret, he believes, lies in the intersection of two factors. Jesuit values and Silicon Valley.

The former provides the purpose: improving the world for others.

The latter provides the practical: a community of entrepreneurs and business leaders who understand what it takes to turn a promising idea into something sustainable.

That’s why Miller Center had to happen at SCU. It wouldn’t have worked anywhere else.

A Second Education

Jeff’s Santa Clara story began in 1969, when he arrived on campus to study electrical engineering and computer science. He quickly returned to Santa Clara after graduating to pursue his MBA while working at Fairchild Semiconductor, setting the stage for a successful career in Silicon Valley.

But while his studies gave him a strong technical foundation, he soon discovered that his interests leaned less toward building “things” and more toward building companies. For the next several decades, he immersed himself in the technology industry, eventually becoming CEO of Documentum. And by the time he retired in 2001, at age 50, he had accumulated an abundance of business knowledge and leadership experience.

But what he hadn’t considered (yet) was how his career might serve a purpose beyond the corporate world.

As it turned out, Santa Clara had another lesson waiting for him.

Shortly after Jeff’s retirement, Professor James L. Koch spotted a newspaper article announcing his departure from Documentum. The professor recognized Jeff as a Bronco with valuable business experience, and immediately picked up the phone.

Professor Koch was developing the Center for Science, Technology, and Society (that would eventually become Miller Center) and wanted to recruit experienced executives to mentor social entrepreneurs.

In response, Jeff had one question: “What’s a social entrepreneur?”

As Koch explained it, social entrepreneurs build businesses with a clear social benefit. He intended to gather mentors who could help their enterprises grow and, in turn, reach more people. As Jeff listened, he felt something click.

Here was a way to combine his own experience as a business leader, the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley, and Santa Clara’s Jesuit commitment to serving others. He signed on as a mentor for the Center’s earliest cohort. Soon thereafter, he was teaching leadership, serving on the Center’s advisory board, and increasing his involvement.

The experience also reshaped Jeff’s understanding of the difference business could make in the world.

Seeing the Impact Firsthand

In 2011, Jeff and his wife Karen joined Center staff members Thane Kreiner and Cheryl Dale on an immersion trip to Kenya and Uganda. The four-person journey brought them into the communities where social entrepreneurs were putting their ideas into action.

For Jeff, it was a life-altering trip.

One memorable encounter took place in Uganda, where the group visited women involved with Solar Sister, a social enterprise that supports women entrepreneurs distributing solar-powered products.

One of the entrepreneurs invited the group to meet a customer and hear firsthand how those products had changed her family’s life.

The woman explained that solar lighting allowed her to work longer and her children to study longer. Because it cost less than kerosene, they had also saved enough money to expand their home and purchase schoolbooks.

“And it’s like, okay, this is why we do this,” Jeff recalls.

He and Karen began to envision how expanding the Center’s reach could help transform individual successes into lasting change for communities around the world.

Jeff spent years helping businesses scale their operations. He understood how mentorship could strengthen an enterprise. But standing in front of a family whose circumstances had meaningfully improved because of social entrepreneurship made the connection between business success and human impact unmistakable.

“You can hear the entrepreneur tell you about that,” Jeff reflects. “But you don’t get it like being there and listening.”

Talent Knows No Borders

Another immersion, this time in Nairobi, reinforced something Jeff believes deeply: Talent and determination are everywhere, even when access to opportunity isn’t.

While visiting a social enterprise selling cleaner-burning cookstoves, Jeff accompanied a 23-year-old saleswoman into the community to observe her work. He was immediately impressed. She was engaging, personable, and skilled at connecting with prospective customers.

Despite her obvious gifts, she ran into a recurring obstacle. When she asked whether someone had money to purchase a stove, the answer was usually no. And the conversation ended there. Drawing on his years of sales experience, Jeff suggested a small adjustment. Instead of ending the conversation, why not ask whether the customer might have the money the following Tuesday?

She tried it with the next person.

Suddenly, she had a chance to follow up, and her results turned around. Within an hour of hearing Jeff’s advice, she sold four stoves.

What stayed with Jeff wasn’t the success of his suggestion. It was how quickly she understood the idea, adapted her approach, and put it into practice. 

Her quick pivot reinforced something Jeff had come to recognize about the entrepreneurs and communities he’d met through the Center. Their circumstances might differ dramatically from his own, but their intelligence, resourcefulness, and resilience would be right at home in Silicon Valley.

The encounter also helped clarify the value of the Center’s approach. By sharing practical expertise with locally led enterprises, mentors could help capable entrepreneurs grow their businesses and extend their reach within their own communities.

“Once you do a couple of these,” Jeff reflects, “it’s hard not to get really excited about the program and about helping the entrepreneur reach more people who will benefit.”

The Next Generation of Changemakers

As Miller Center approaches its 30th anniversary in 2027, Jeff has witnessed considerable growth.

What began with small cohorts gathering on campus for intensive mentorship has evolved into longer programs that allow entrepreneurs and mentors to build relationships over time.

In 2015, a gift from Jeff and Karen led to the Center being renamed Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship.

In 2017, Jeff was honored by the SCU Alumni Association with the Ignatian Award, in part for his contributions to humanity through Miller Center.

Today, as Miller Center for Global Impact, the Center’s work continues to connect Santa Clara’s values and Silicon Valley expertise with entrepreneurs addressing pressing global challenges. Through the Miller Center Lewis Family Fellowship, SCU students study social entrepreneurship, work directly with global entrepreneurs on projects in their communities, and return to campus to reflect on their experiences.

Jeff has seen how profoundly those experiences can shape young people. They come back with new perspectives, practical skills, and a stronger sense of how they might contribute to the world, regardless of the careers they ultimately pursue.

Today’s Broncos are discovering at 20 what took Jeff until 50 to learn: Their education and professional abilities can be powerful tools for implementing meaningful change on a global scale.

And for Jeff, the learning continues.

He and Karen are preparing for another Miller Center immersion in August 2027, this time in Colombia, a country they previously visited while their younger son was working there for a nonprofit. This time, Jeff looks forward to reconnecting with Colombia's vibrant culture, exploring its dynamic social impact ecosystem, and discovering the solutions local entrepreneurs are developing for their communities.

After more than a decade, his connection to Miller Center remains rooted at the same intersection that first captured his attention: entrepreneurial ingenuity guided by a commitment to improving lives. And as he watches a new generation of Broncos learn the power of putting their talents to work for others, Jeff sees the same mission that brought him back to Santa Clara reaching further than ever. Perhaps that’s why, after all these years and all those miles, he’s so certain. 

Miller Center could only have happened here.

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Interested in experiencing Miller Center’s work firsthand? Learn more about the upcoming Colombia immersion, an intimate, small-group opportunity to connect with social entrepreneurs creating lasting change in their communities.

Headshot courtesy of Jeff Miller.
Other photos courtesy of Miller Center’s Senior Director of Business Development, Eli Latimerlo.