University of Iowa alum Patti Fields has returned to her Hawkeye roots as the new event coordinator for the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.

Fields said her experience with nonprofits and work on the Iowa City Community School District board will fit in nicely with her new position and bring new opportunities to the university and the entrepreneurial center.

“I think that it’s great how volunteers can also help push this work forward,” Fields said. “There’s so many events that happen here, and I think that it’ll be a great way to provide more opportunities for the university community and for students to contribute in different ways.”

The entrepreneurial center holds all kinds of events from “Startup” to “The Innovation Challenge.” These events provide opportunities for students to organize business projects and pitch them to judges for feedback and prizes.

Many business experts work in the entrepreneurial center who work with these students, and Fields’ job is to make sure the competitions run as smoothly as possible and to support all the students and faculty.

“Each semester will launch off events, and I will be that person that helps make all those pieces fit together so that it’s the best experience possible for those who are participating,” Fields said. “There’s also certainly a lot of work around ways we can keep moving and keep fresh ideas moving forward.”

Fields said she has many goals going forward in her new position, but her biggest goal is bringing more students into the entrepreneurial center. The center isn’t only for business students, and Fields wants to make that connection for students in other areas of study so they can utilize the events Pappajohn offers.

The rest of the faculty at Pappajohn is excited for Fields to begin work and start bringing in volunteers and organizing events.

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“We are thrilled to have her on our team and look forward to her efforts to plan and coordinate great events for our students and university and community entrepreneurs,” John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center Executive Director David Hensley said.

Above all, Fields says she is most excited to just sit back and enjoy everything the students will be working on in the center.

“I’m most excited to hear all of the incredible ideas that people have for new businesses and projects that they will pitch,” Fields said. “Feeling that creativity from our students, faculty, staff and our grad students is really exciting.”