diff --git a/service-catalog/product-template.yaml b/service-catalog/product-template.yaml
index a61c311..1d74856 100644
--- a/service-catalog/product-template.yaml
+++ b/service-catalog/product-template.yaml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Metadata:
       - Label:
           default: "Optional Metadata"
         Parameters:
+          - CreatorUsername
           - AdditionalTags
 
     ParameterLabels:
@@ -67,6 +68,8 @@ Metadata:
         default: "FinOps Project Name"
       FinOpsProjectNumber:
         default: "FinOps Project Number"
+      CreatorUsername:
+        default: "Your GitHub Username (for admin access)"
       AdditionalTags:
         default: "Additional Tags (JSON)"
 
@@ -161,6 +164,13 @@ Parameters:
     Description: FinOps project number
     Default: ""
 
+  CreatorUsername:
+    Type: String
+    Description: >-
+      Your GitHub Enterprise username. If provided, you will be granted admin
+      access to the created repository in addition to the owning team.
+    Default: ""
+
   AdditionalTags:
     Type: String
     Description: 'Additional tags as JSON object (e.g., {"key1":"value1"})'
@@ -201,6 +211,7 @@ Resources:
       organization_path: !Ref OrganizationPath
       finops_project_name: !Ref FinOpsProjectName
       finops_project_number: !Ref FinOpsProjectNumber
+      creator_username: !Ref CreatorUsername
       tags: !Ref AdditionalTags
 
 Outputs:
diff --git a/template_automation/app.py b/template_automation/app.py
index 2df5d37..bbac382 100644
--- a/template_automation/app.py
+++ b/template_automation/app.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class CloudFormationResourceInput(BaseModel):
     """Input validation model for CloudFormation Custom Resource parameters."""
     project_name: str = Field(..., description="Name for the new repository")
     owning_team: Optional[str] = Field(default="tf-module-admins", description="Team that should own the repository")
+    creator_username: Optional[str] = Field(default=None, description="GitHub username of the person provisioning this repo; will be granted admin access")
 
     # EKS-specific fields (present when this is an EKS cluster deployment)
     cluster_name: Optional[str] = Field(default=None, description="EKS cluster name")
@@ -606,6 +607,20 @@ def lambda_handler(event: dict, context) -> dict:
                 logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Continuing despite team permission error")
         else:
             logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Skipping team assignment (no owning_team or not GitHub provider)")
+
+        # Add the individual creator as admin collaborator (GitHub only)
+        if cfn_input.creator_username and provider_type == "GitHubProvider":
+            logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Adding creator '{cfn_input.creator_username}' as admin collaborator")
+            try:
+                provider.add_collaborator(cfn_input.project_name, cfn_input.creator_username, permission="admin")
+                logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Creator '{cfn_input.creator_username}' added as admin collaborator")
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.error(f"[{request_id}] Failed to add creator as collaborator: {str(e)}")
+                logger.error(f"[{request_id}] Full traceback: {traceback.format_exc()}")
+                # Non-fatal: repo and team perms are already set
+                logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Continuing despite creator collaborator error")
+        else:
+            logger.info(f"[{request_id}] Skipping creator collaborator (no creator_username provided or not GitHub provider)")
         
         # Give newly created repositories a moment to initialize
         if project.get('created_at'):
diff --git a/template_automation/github_provider.py b/template_automation/github_provider.py
index dec544d..b32d22b 100644
--- a/template_automation/github_provider.py
+++ b/template_automation/github_provider.py
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@ def get_repository(
                     settings = RepositorySettings()
                 
                 # Set up repository creation data.
-                # NOTE: 'private' must be False for 'internal' visibility; GHE treats
+                # NOTE: 'private' must be False for 'internal'/'public' visibility; GHE treats
                 #       private=True as a private-repo request and will 403 if the enterprise
                 #       policy blocks private repo creation for org members.
-                effective_visibility = settings.visibility or 'internal'
+                effective_visibility = settings.visibility or 'public'
                 create_data = {
                     'name': name,
                     'private': effective_visibility == 'private',
@@ -678,6 +678,47 @@ def get_repository_url(self, repo_name: str) -> str:
             web_base = web_base[:-len('/api/v3')]
         return f"{web_base}/{self.organization}/{repo_name}"
     
+    def add_collaborator(
+        self,
+        repo_name: str,
+        username: str,
+        permission: str = "admin"
+    ) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        """Add an individual user as a collaborator on a repository.
+
+        Args:
+            repo_name: Repository name
+            username: GitHub username to add
+            permission: Permission level (pull, push, maintain, triage, admin)
+
+        Returns:
+            Response data (empty dict if invite was accepted immediately)
+        """
+        logger.info(f"Adding user '{username}' as {permission} collaborator on repository {repo_name}")
+        try:
+            result = self._request(
+                'PUT',
+                f'/repos/{self.organization}/{repo_name}/collaborators/{username}',
+                json={'permission': permission}
+            )
+            logger.info(f"User '{username}' added as {permission} collaborator on {repo_name}")
+            return result or {}
+        except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
+            logger.error(f"Failed to add collaborator '{username}': {str(e)}")
+            if hasattr(e, 'response') and e.response is not None:
+                status_code = e.response.status_code
+                if status_code == 404:
+                    logger.error(f"User '{username}' not found on GitHub Enterprise")
+                elif status_code == 403:
+                    logger.error("Insufficient permissions to add collaborator")
+                else:
+                    logger.error(f"Error adding collaborator: status code {status_code}")
+                try:
+                    logger.error(f"Error details: {json.dumps(e.response.json())}")
+                except Exception:
+                    logger.error(f"Error response: {e.response.text}")
+            return {}
+
     def set_team_permission(
         self,
         repo_name: str,
diff --git a/template_automation/repository_provider.py b/template_automation/repository_provider.py
index 1b827c2..4153f39 100644
--- a/template_automation/repository_provider.py
+++ b/template_automation/repository_provider.py
@@ -10,14 +10,15 @@
 
 
 def _default_visibility() -> str:
-    """Read REPO_VISIBILITY env var, defaulting to 'internal'.
+    """Read REPO_VISIBILITY env var, defaulting to 'public'.
 
-    GHE enterprise policy commonly blocks private repo creation for org members.
-    'internal' repos are visible to all org members but not to the public,
-    which is the recommended default for government/enterprise GHE instances.
+    Repos created by the EKS automation are public within the GitHub Enterprise
+    organization so all team members can clone and browse them without extra
+    permission grants.  Set REPO_VISIBILITY=internal or REPO_VISIBILITY=private
+    to override if needed.
     Accepted values: private | internal | public
     """
-    return os.environ.get("REPO_VISIBILITY", "internal")
+    return os.environ.get("REPO_VISIBILITY", "public")
 
 
 class RepositorySettings(BaseModel):