Title:Called to be…a common good entrepreneur

Peter Mellen (C’89, MBA’98)

Peter Mellen is Founder and CEO of Netcito, the network of CEO forums for entrepreneurs. As a startup investor and advisor, the president of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Alliance (GEA), and founding board member of the Georgetown Angel Investor Network (GAIN), Mellen has helped countless entrepreneurs navigate the world. Learn more about how Georgetown shaped Mellen’s calling.

What was your first impression of Georgetown?

When I came to Georgetown for a prospective student weekend, the first person I met gave me a firm handshake, introduced himself, and said, “Hey, my name is Joe Hoya, nice to meet you.” He was so polished, confident, kind, and wholehearted. I just knew from then on, this was the place that I not only wanted to go—an incredible university with an incredible location—but this was the kind of person that I wanted to be.

How did your time at Georgetown shape you?

Georgetown transformed me with the talent, diversity, and global scope of the student body. The university also blew open my sense of what was possible in the world.

My first year, I took the class called The Problem of God. Before, I was an agnostic bordering on an atheist. I’d really struggled with what the course was about. [My theology professor] Diane Yeager taught several books arguing for and against the existence of God. I remember I found the ones arguing for the existence of God impenetrable. I’d read two or three pages and fall asleep.

Then I was walking down 37th Street one beautiful morning and the leaves were falling from the trees. At that moment, I realized the course was trying to teach me not how to understand spirituality, but how to feel a sense of what God was about. Those experiences are part of what make Georgetown unique.

Can you talk about the community that you found at Georgetown?

About a few months after I graduated, a good friend of mine, Laura Ferris Anderson (SLL’89, MBA’97,G’97), invited me to serve on the board of the Georgetown University Alumni Club of DC. It marked the beginning of this thread of service that has carried me throughout my adult life.

Every time I’ve been involved with Georgetown, I’ve looked for opportunities where I can help to translate new ideas into reality and run with it. That’s where I thrive.

There was one transformative moment when we built the GEA and we were struggling to figure out our mission. We settled on this idea of giving an award to the entrepreneur of the year. I feel so lucky and so blessed to be part of this community that makes a global impact.

How do you feel about Georgetown today?

Georgetown has given me the opportunity to work as a volunteer leader. I took on a volunteer project to design the Alumni Association’s first-ever website when the web was just coming out, and the project was an incredible success. That’s been my experience at Georgetown. When I’ve come to them with ideas aligned with where the university needs to go, there’s this welcoming partnership.

I’m incredibly proud to be a Hoya and that sense of pride has actually deepened over the years. I’m proud of the quality of character that imbues Georgetown, its students, and its alumni. There’s something in the soul of Georgetown that shines through everyone involved. That makes me really proud.

In recognition of his achievements and service, Mellen received the John Carroll Award in Dublin, Ireland, on April 20, 2024. The John Carroll Award is named for Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in North America and founder of Georgetown University. Established in 1951, this award is conferred upon alumni whose achievements and record of service exemplify the ideals and traditions of Georgetown and its founder.

As a continuation of his service to Georgetown, Mellen rode in BellRinger 2024 with his son and, as president of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Alliance, he started a Georgetown Entrepreneurship Team in 2025, pledging a matching gift on social media based on his experience.