Amongst the hiss of The Hub’s espresso machine, Palmer Seeley, Entrepreneurship Director in the Center for Community Engagement, is inspiring the next generation of innovators and business leaders. His secret? An entrepreneurial approach rooted in creativity, empathy, and community.
For Seeley, it’s the latest chapter in a dynamic career spanning two decades, during which he has helped transform CA from a fledgling institution into a leader in experiential education.
“I joined CA in 2004 when it was still a young institution,” Seeley recalls. “There was a vision of what the school could be, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing that vision—and our mission—come to life in so many ways.”
Over the years, Seeley has worn many hats: English teacher, founding faculty member of the Outdoors Club, Discovery Term coordinator, swim and track coach, and grade-level leader, to name a few.
Today, he channels his passion for building, adapting, and reimagining into The Hub—CA’s student-run café and school store, which doubles as a real-world entrepreneurial learning lab. Under his guidance, students sharpen their business skills while embracing a community-minded entrepreneurial ethos of curiosity, resilience, and purpose-driven problem-solving.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t solely about commerce,” Seeley explains. “It’s about seeing opportunities and creating meaningful value.”
The Heart of Entrepreneurship
At CA, entrepreneurship is not just about business—it's a reflection of our core values: deeply aligned with our school values of respect, integrity, and compassion—with empathy and purpose at its core.
“Many people hear ‘entrepreneurship’ and automatically think profit,” shares Seeley. “At CA, we approach it through the lens of social entrepreneurship.” Successful ventures, he explains, begin with identifying and addressing authentic community needs.
“True success comes from partnering with your customers or users and helping them solve a problem,” he explains. Starting a business simply because it seems trendy, he cautions, is “a gamble, not a strategy.”
Central to this philosophy is design thinking, a methodology that prioritizes empathy, collaborative ideation, and iterative prototyping, and problem-solving.
“Whether solving organizational challenges, designing a service, or launching a business, starting with empathy lays the foundation for meaningful, responsible success,” explains Seeley.
By combining empathy with business expertise honed in his classroom, Seeley ensures CA’s young entrepreneurs are prepared to navigate complex business landscapes responsibly.
“Our students learn to consider their impact on the environment, their communities, and their workers,” Seeley says. “Those lessons stay with them, no matter what paths they choose.”
As Seeley puts it, “Approaching entrepreneurship this way doesn’t just make logical sense; it’s a fundamental responsibility to the world around us.”
Rooted in Responsibility
Seeley’s commitment to community responsibility is deeply rooted in his upbringing amidst the political hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C.
“Surrounded by leaders and activists, civic engagement and meaningful community contribution was a given, an undeniable responsibility,” he reflects.
His entrepreneurial mindset took shape at a young age. “In elementary school, I was in the first class of an independent school startup—though I didn’t fully grasp its significance at the time,” he recalls. “Experimenting, thinking outside the box, and doing a lot with a little was the norm.”
Those formative years cultivated adaptability and a knack for innovation, qualities he further refined at St. Albans, a century-old prep school. There, he balanced rigorous academics with a demanding role as a choirboy in the National Cathedral Choir. Singing 18 hours weekly for luminaries like the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Aretha Franklin, he learned the art of discipline and teamwork.
In high school, Seeley thrived in outdoor sports, leading and teaching peers—often his senior—the ins and outs of rock climbing and whitewater kayaking, experiences that cemented his passion for teaching.
Foundations of Leadership
At Davidson College, where he majored in English and minored in Spanish, Seeley seized opportunities to lead and innovate.
As a freshman, he founded a co-ed eating club, which gave him an early introduction to organizational leadership. His entrepreneurial spirit carried through college as he co-founded “Profs on God,” a student-led series of conversations with professors about religion and philosophy, and revived the long-defunct Eumenean Society, a 19th-century intellectual discussion club.
After graduating, Seeley carried forward his dedication to transformative learning during a teaching fellowship at Phillips Andover before joining Cary Academy as an English teacher and, while teaching full-time, earned his master’s degree in English through Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English over consecutive summers.
Learning through Discovery
For Seeley, learning is about cultivating curiosity, fostering connection, and developing a deep understanding of how to be in community with others.
“You can’t truly learn in isolation. Collaborative and reflective work—for both students and teachers—is essential,” he explains.
Experiential learning is central to Seeley’s approach, offering opportunities for students to take risks, step into responsibility, and rise to the moment.
“In experiential learning, there’s no faking it,” offers Seeley. “Students learn to think critically, adapt quickly on their feet, and make decisions that are truly their own.”
That ethos infuses every moment in his entrepreneurship program, where students integrate skills from across disciplines to manage The Hub, craft and refine their own business plans, pitch ideas, and propose business solutions to partner organizations.
"Honestly, I’m in awe of what they accomplish. When I was in high school, I didn’t have the opportunity to integrate learning in such a dynamic way," Seeley admits. "It’s not just about pulling knowledge together; it’s about making it personal, meaningful, and relevant to their lives."
A Start-up Spirit
Seeley’s passion for the startup spirit runs deep and perfectly complements Cary Academy’s culture of innovation.
"Even though CA has evolved past its startup days, the entrepreneurial energy remains, a spirit of bold experimentation and iterative growth, and a touch of that ‘building the plane while flying it’ mindset that keeps things exciting. It’s part of who we are and how we live our mission."
That energy has fueled the rapid growth of CA’s entrepreneurial offering, which, in a matter of a few short years, has grown to a structured program with multi-level offerings.
Above all, Seeley hopes his students leave his classroom with one enduring lesson: "Believe in yourself. Be curious. Think independently and with empathy for others."
If students have taught him anything in return, it’s that young people are immensely capable and powerful—especially when they collaborate.
“Seeing our students' genuine care for one another and the broader community gives me hope. Empowering them to design better futures—for themselves and their communities—is a privilege I don’t take lightly.”