by Billie Jo Risheim

My time as a Provost’s Innovation Fellow has broadened my perspective about innovation immensely. As a law student interested in intellectual property law, I already had a strong foundational knowledge of the topic, but this fellowship has shown me how important individual entrepreneurs are to the grander innovative scheme. Individual entrepreneurs are everywhere, in fact, I’ve gotten to know a few through my fellowship cohort. These people are dire to startup communities because a startup needs a group of like-minded entrepreneurs all working together, sharing ideas, and acting with a #GiveFirst mindset. Experiencing the wonders of a tight-knit community of entrepreneurs through my fellowship has truly shown me novel views and enhanced my own knowledge.

One of the most important aspects of startup communities is building connections. For me personally, the fellowship has given me the ability to both reflect and act with this constructive network mindset.

First, on a cognitive level, within my gamut of law school extracurriculars, I have learned it is both advantageous and enlightening to create mental connections among the activities. For example, my fellowship has given me extensive knowledge of startups and technology transfer. From there, I have taken this knowledge and applied it while writing my publishable piece for Oregon Law Review. In the reverse, the tireless and substantial amounts of research I’ve completed for the publishable piece has aided in planning my fellowship project. Building on cognitive development, efficient and productive thought synergizing brings me much personal satisfaction.

Also, on a professional level, the simple benefit is more connections. A more complex benefit has undoubtedly been the #GiveFirst mindset. Learning how to contribute to a professional community through altruistic and constructive behavior has helped me develop my own unique outlook. Fortunately, this mindset is highly applicable to my student involvement, professional development, workplace culture, and life in general. Further, I can confidently say that I’ve experienced a heightened demeanor as a result.

Lastly, constructive connection building has strengthened my community. As an individual actor that is a part of the greater University of Oregon entrepreneurial ecosystem, working together with the group of fellows as our own community has without question nourished the greater entrepreneurial ecosystem. Bouncing ideas off each other adds to each of our individual understandings of topics surrounding our projects. It is both animating and emboldening to anticipate the twelve finished projects that will result from the fellowship cohort and how each will uniquely contribute to the greater community that is the University of Oregon.