University of Richmond Receives Grant to Support Richmond Innovation Fellows Program

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — The University of Richmond’s Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship initiative has received a $50,000 grant from the Joan and Morgan Massey Foundation to support the Richmond Innovation Fellows program.

The Richmond Innovation Fellows, which launched in January 2024, is an interdisciplinary, experiential academic program designed to teach students how to take their creative ideas and realize them in both non-profit and for-profit spaces.

“RIF is for students seeking to flex their creative muscles and test innovative ideas in supportive, real-world settings,” said Somiah Lattimore, senior director of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.

This fellows program consists of three phases:

• First, students begin with a course in design thinking focusing on how to address complex challenges in new ways.
• Then, this summer, students will travel abroad to the European Innovation Academy in Porto, Portugal, where they will convert their ideas into startups under the mentorship of international business leaders.
• This fall, students will return to campus to continue development and engage in a demo day showcasing their concepts.

“RIF was the inception of UR students and was made possible by this generous grant,” said Lattimore. “The same principles of innovation that shaped RIF’s existence will be fostered by our first group of fellows during this yearlong program.” 

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