Angela Jackson got a taste for entrepreneurship at age 3 when her parents paid her a penny a piece to wrap circuit boards for their home-grown company. When she saw the rewards that came from their hard work and sacrifice, she knew the power that entrepreneurship had to change lives. So it was a natural fit when Jackson became the director of the PSU Business Accelerator, and later the PSU Center for Entrepreneurship. Through her guidance and connections, the Accelerator has grown into a business powerhouse.

In the last decade, it has helped launch 140 science and technology startups, including 10 companies started by PSU faculty. Companies in the Accelerator have hired more than 1,200 students for capstone projects and internships. Those companies and the ones that have graduated and moved on from the Accelerator have generated more than 2,000 highwage jobs.

“Portland has an uncommonly rich economic ecosystem,” she says. “Startups, mentors, advisors, industry experts, people moving here every day who have been at the top of their game in other big markets – they’re all coming here with a desire to contribute.”

She likes to impart the idea that a healthy, well-managed appetite for risk is a key to creating nearly limitless rewards – not just for the people doing the risk-taking, but for the people they bring into their orbit.

Jackson sees entrepreneurship as a way to live a self-actualized life, where instead of waiting for the next job, you create your own – or form a company that creates a lot of jobs. She loves her mission of helping students and others see those same possibilities. And she sees the community at PSU—innovative leaders who are research- and community-focused—as paving the way for an exciting future.

Portland is a city buzzing with the energy of changemakers who seek a brighter future for their communities and their city. This philosophy of civic engagement is deeply rooted at Portland State. One of the University’s newest programs, a bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies, offers Portland State undergraduates the opportunity to engage in the urgent human questions about justice and knowledge, tradition and change, and crisis and resilience.

The Judaic Studies program was founded by Harold Schnitzer and his family, whose name is widely recognized around town. The son of Russian immigrants, Harold, along with his wife Arlene, placed an enormous importance on supporting the arts, as well as the social well-being of their Portland communities. Thanks to their philanthropy, Portland has become a more culturally diverse city. The Schnitzer family’s strong ethic of community support aligns closely with PSU’s motto “let knowledge serve the city,” which makes the University’s Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies and the Harold Schnitzer Family scholarships a fitting contribution to the Portland State community.

Through these scholarships, students majoring in Judaic Studies may receive up to $7,000 per year to fund their tuition at PSU. Students majoring in Judaic Studies also have the opportunity to gain real-world experience with community partners through the Sara Glasgow Cogan Memorial Internship. The Lorry I. Lokey Endowed Fund for Israel Scholarship provides up to $5,000 annually for a Judaic Studies major to travel to and study abroad in Israel.

With a bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies, graduates go on to fulfilling jobs in education, community and social services, the rabbinate and the ministry, research, the arts, law, and more.