By Naidelly Coelho
Asst. News Editor
What is your educational and professional background?
My education is in law - something not expected for somebody that's in the innovation field - but I have been in the innovation field for the last 15 years. I'm originally from Brazil, and I have been in the U.S since 2018. I attended a fellowship at the Christensen Clayton Institute that is connected to Harvard Business School in 2020. I'm passionate about how innovation can be used to transform, not just people, but society and to bring in social and economic development for many regions. I have been working in the innovation industry, as a consultant, and I'm also an intrapreneur. I have been launching some initiatives in the last few days.
How did you get involved in this line of work?
I think my first start in the innovation field was through my husband, who is an entrepreneur. So after a few years in the automotive industry, I was really tired of that environment. And I wanted to try something new and my husband asked, "Why don't you start your own business?” So I promised him that I would try for just one year and if it didn’t work, I would go back to the automotive industry, but after 15 years, here I am. So I think something interesting is that in the last five years, I have been dedicating more to how innovation can promote social and economic development because this is a missing piece that I was seeing. … So promoting innovation and entrepreneurship - how you can solve problems and not just create technology or apps. It's something that I'm passionate about.
What do you want the FSU community to know about your role here?
I want them to know that I'm here to reactivate the center because since the pandemic hit, the center has been almost closed. And I feel that we can have a vibrant innovation environment that welcomes all the students and all the MetroWest community to come to the center. And I imagine that my vision for the center in the next few years is to have an innovation ecosystem in the MetroWest area. So that's like a kind of innovation hub when we can connect all the stakeholders in this innovation environment.
Do you have any hobbies outside of your work?
I used to be a professional dancer. And I danced classic ballet and also I danced for flamengo for many, many years now. I'm retired as a professional, of course, but I think this impacted my business mindset in a different way. Because I used to say that I see a business strategy and business models as a choreography that you've put a lot of elements together and you need to balance all them together according to the music that's played, so I see business strategy and business planning in this way. I think it's because it's my hobby and I still like challenging myself to attend senior ballet classes. So this is my hobby.
Why did you choose Framingham State?
I think the connection that the University has with some diverse communities … is huge here in Framingham. So I'm really connected to that and also, I would love to promote the intrapreneurship for minorities in their area, too. So this is also one of my dreams for the center.
What do you want the students to know about this opportunity?
So, when they reach out, they can just say, “Christy, can I visit you and talk about my dreams and what I would like to pursue in the next year?” So those are things that I'm here to listen to and to support them as much as I can. And I love to talk. I love to talk about my experience and I could help them in terms of how to pursue more knowledge about innovation and about entrepreneurship.