Cameron Law, center, executive director of the Carlsen Center, will have an important leadership role in Sacramento's Global Entrepreneurship Week this year. (Sacramento State/Andrea Price)
By Dixie Reid
Cameron Law’s first major task after becoming executive director of Sacramento State's Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in October 2019 was to oversee the University's Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) activities a few weeks later.
Now, after working to expand the center's reach and raise its profile, Law has been chosen by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) to serve as the community organizer for Sacramento’s GEW this fall.
"Global Entrepreneurship Week is thrilled to have Cameron on board," said Ellen Bateman, GEN's director for U.S. Ecosystems. "His ability to bring together the community, coupled with his creative ideas and energy make the GEW Sacramento campaign one to watch."
The worldwide campaign, Nov. 16-22, will have 9 million people across 170 countries participating in more than 35,000 events.
As Sacramento’s community organizer, or “ecosystem builder,” Law will create and lead a committee of “key ecosystem actors” to plan and host regional GEW activities, including those organized by the Carlsen Center.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, activities will take place virtually, which will allow Sacramento’s GEW to expand deeper into the region and build a catalog of video presentations for future use.
“Global Entrepreneurship Week is a celebration of innovators who dream big and launch startups that bring ideas to life,” Law said. “It directly aligns with our mission at the Carlsen Center: to make innovation and entrepreneurship pervasive through the greater Sacramento region.
“We believe that GEW can be the catalyst that students and community members need to take the next step in building their entrepreneurial dream,” he said. “The week also is an opportunity for ecosystem builders to come together and elevate the work in our entrepreneurial community.”
GEW will be particularly relevant in 2020 because of ongoing conversations about racial equality and inclusion, and the devastating effect of COVID-19 on the economy, Law said.
“Entrepreneurship and the wealth creation that comes from building new businesses will attack the racial wealth gap and create a more just and equal country,” he said. “It’s also a vehicle to support our region as it recovers from the economic downturn.
“Therefore, elevating entrepreneurship and the role it plays in our economy is important and timely.”
The role of community organizer for Sacramento’s Global Entrepreneurship Week is a natural for Law, who came to Sac State at age 27 with a portfolio of experience and strong connections in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
After graduating from Australia’s University of Queensland in 2017 with a degree in Business, he returned home to Sacramento to work with Impact Venture Capital as an organizer for the community-based program 1 Million Cups.
And just before taking the helm of the Carlsen Center, he served as executive director of Social Venture Partners, where his responsibilities included strategic planning, fundraising, and building community partnerships.
Law is a 2011 graduate of Jesuit High School in Carmichael, where he played baseball all four years, and a 2015 graduate of UC Davis, where he majored in Managerial Economics with a minor in American History.
The Carlsen Center was created in November 2017 when Dale Carlsen, ’84 (Business Administration), founder of Sleep Train Mattress Centers, and his wife, Katy, gave Sacramento State $6 million for the interdisciplinary center that bears their name.
The center got another boost on opening day of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2019, when Western Health Advantage president and CEO Garry Maisel, ’80 (Business Administration-Finance) presented a $1 million check to ensure the future of Sac State’s annual GEW.
"The generous $1 million gift dedicated to GEW at Sacramento State's shows the University's commitment to providing activities that expose students and members of the community to connections and resources that can further their entrepreneurial journey," GEN's Bateman said.