The Article below was published in Vol. 137, Issue 1 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on September 17, 2021.
By Adam Hartzer ’23
Editor-in-Chief and Layout Editor
Kate Jackson is the Interim Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program and the Venture Design Challenge Lead at Lake Forest College. Jackson received her BA and MA from The University of Chicago and received her MBA from UCLA. Her professional experience spans from Accenture, Deloitte, to JPMorgan Private Bank before coming to Lake Forest College. Stentor staff spoke with Jackson about her academic interests and what she’s most looking forward to this semester.
Stentor: Where did you study and what was your major? How did you decide on your major?
Professor Jackson: I studied at The University of Chicago where I majored in English and General Studies in the Humanities. I attended college way back in the dark ages of the 1990s, and I chose my major based on the faculty. I wanted to study with Professor David Bevington, who was a preeminent Shakespeare scholar at the time. My high school had a very strong Shakespeare program. The head of our high school English department created this amazing and vibrant annual Shakespeare festival where each and every student was required to perform in a Shakespearean play. Looking back, that seems like a wild requirement for high school. But I am so grateful we developed a love of and appreciation for Shakespeare, literature, and theater at such a young age.
Stentor: What was the journey like that led you to Lake Forest College?
Professor Jackson: My journey has been atypical and a bit circuitous. I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs, inventors, and changemakers in the San Francisco area. In fact, Google and I were born in the same place. And while I sometimes feel like entrepreneurship runs in my veins, I have not only been an entrepreneur. I have enjoyed many different careers, roles, and life experiences, including intrapreneur at Accenture and Deloitte, television showrunner and writer, assistant movie director, change management consultant, board member, fundraiser, career advisor, PR/marketing lead, and non-profit advisor. I have worked across multiple cultural contexts and industry verticals from the West Coast to the East Coast to the Midwest and to Asia and Europe. I feel like all of it has led me here and I can bring my myriad experiences to bear in ENTP.
Stentor: What motivates you in your job?
Professor Jackson: The students. Lake Forest College students are THE BEST. I have truly enjoyed my years working with students, helping them identify their strengths and interests, teaching them design thinking, offering them a safe, low-risk space to explore entrepreneurship and build a more resilient mindset.
Stentor: How do you handle stress and pressure?
Professor Jackson: I practice the coping and resilience skills I teach in my 110 class, like eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising, connecting with friends and family, practicing gratitude, and so forth. To build our reservoir of resilience, we need to actively practice these activities on the daily.
Stentor: What’s something you’re most looking forward to this semester?
Professor Jackson: Celebrating the official grand opening of the Oppenheimer Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Saturday, October 2nd!
Stentor: What is one piece of advice you have for students at Lake Forest College?
Professor Jackson: Show up and try. ENTP 110 students knew (or should have known!) I was going to say this.
I would encourage students to make the most of their time at college. They can start by getting curious. Get curious about majors/minors, internships, career paths, student organizations and opportunities. Then make a plan and make it happen.
Accept and expect that you won’t hit every goal 100 percent of the time. We talk about this in our ENTP mindset curriculum. Students learn that when they miss their intended goal, they need to take a beat and explore what went wrong. Lean into these experiences and learn from setbacks and mistakes rather than running from them and hoping no one noticed.
If we are making mistakes, it means we are trying things and stretching out of our comfort zone. And it is in our stretch zone that we can enjoy the greatest gains.
Stentor: What’s one course that you wish you could enroll in at Lake Forest College if you were a student?
Professor Jackson: That’s a tough one! I would like to enroll in all our ENTP classes. They are all excellent and taught by top-flight instructors.
Stentor: What did you do this past summer?
Professor Jackson: I spent the summer redesigning our ENTP 370 Venture and Customer Creation class; conducted a summer Richter research project with the amazing and talented Nikki Garcia; worked with a wonderful and creative team, which included Grace Drake, Juanjo Campos, Teniyah Hall, and Susan Morris, on events and activities surrounding the Oppenheimer Center grand opening. And onboarded new ENTP faculty—Kristin Globell, Karen Hatfield, and Dan Gandor—to teach this academic year. I also visited the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, where I gathered best practices, advice, and lessons learned. They have been a tremendous partner and resource for our center.
