Simmrin Law Group started the Entrepreneurial Scholarship because we recognize the importance of innovative solutions to new challenges arising in our world. CG Gupta, this year’s winner, is the perfect example of the intersection between entrepreneurship and the legal sphere.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Gupta now attends UC Berkeley School of Law in pursuit of a legal degree. Her passion for law and social justice stems largely from her experience interning at the Life After Innocence clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
“I was able to work closely with the Director of LAI, Laura Caldwell,” Gupta told our representatives. “A successful attorney, author, and activist, Laura showed me how versatile a law degree can be.”
The Entrepreneurship of CG Gupta
During her time at UW, Gupta became the only Law, Societies, and Justice (LSJ) major in the esteemed Foster School of Business Lavin Entrepreneurship Program. Along with an all-women group of colleagues, she started Boss Boocha, a kombucha energy drink company.
She also won second place in the annual Lavin Business Pitch Competition, with her group proposing an app that would use crowd-sourced data to navigate accessible routes for people with disabilities.
The entrepreneurship spirit of CG Gupta is not confined to those experiences, though. As she writes in her winning scholarship essay, “I believe that, if you want to change the world, you should consider yourself an entrepreneur. The field is all about imagining how society can change and creating new solutions to the problems in our world.”
Gupta is interested in seeking out the ways that laws, social justice, and entrepreneurship all intersect, due in part to her experience with Life After Innocence. “LAI filled a gap in the legal system,” she wrote. “The clinic identified a need and created an innovative solution, which is incredibly entrepreneurial,”
At UC Berkeley, Gupta plans to engage in the Bay Area startup scene, especially through the StartUp@BerkeleyLaw initiative.