AIS Welcomes 2025 AIS Entrepreneurial Innovation Fellowship Cohort

The AIS Entrepreneurial Innovation Fellowship (EIF) program, presented by the Association for Information Systems (AIS) and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is excited to announce its newest cohort of selected students. This fellowship aims to elevate entrepreneurship-focused research by providing funding, covering travel to AIS and AIS-affiliated conferences, and fostering collaborative connections with distinguished faculty mentors worldwide.

The program emphasizes entrepreneurial perspectives across various phases and domains of information systems research, playing a pivotal role in propelling the field forward. Cohort members, selected for their research's practical implications for management, institutional change, societal insights, and scholarly impact, will participate in workshops on entrepreneurship and information systems research throughout the program.

As the initiative progresses, a collection of working papers generated by the program is accessible for open access in the AIS eLibrary, contributing valuable knowledge at the intersection of entrepreneurship and information systems research.

2025 Entrepreneurial Innovation Fellowship Students

DeJuan Erica Price, MBA, PMP, APR, is a doctoral candidate at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business in the United States, specializing in innovation, entrepreneurship, and information systems. Her research focuses on how business networks, including digital platforms like LinkedIn, influence the entrepreneurial success of Black women. Her mixed-method study examines how these networks, entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), and social support interact to identify strategies that drive business success, sustainability, and economic equity.

Kashinath Murmu is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Information Systems at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. Kashinath is currently working on a thesis titled "Essays on New Venture Novelty," which theorizes and operationalizes innovation novelty in new ventures utilizing developments in large language modeling and explores the emergence and implications of novelty for new ventures leveraging open-source collaboration.

Shariga Sivanathan is a Ph.D. student and Research Assistant at the University of Münster in Germany, focusing on digital platform ecosystems and entrepreneurship. Shariga’s dissertation investigates how entrepreneurial ventures build and evolve digital platforms, particularly in the healthcare sector, offering critical insights for both researchers and policymakers.

Yichen Sun is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in Information Systems and Analytics at the National University of Singapore, with a research focus on digital entrepreneurship, strategy, and information systems. Yichen’s dissertation examines how digital start-ups leverage emerging technologies, particularly Low-code/No-code tools, to enhance product-market fit and legitimacy, with implications for both academia and industry.

Fabian Tingelhoff is a PhD candidate in Information Systems at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, with a focus on entrepreneurial behaviors, processes, and outcomes within emerging immersive platforms like the metaverse. Fabian’s research examines how startups and established organizations use VR, AR, and blockchain technologies to innovate business models and create value within decentralized ecosystems.

Ziyi (Iggy) Zhao is a 4th-year PhD candidate in Management Information Systems at Temple University’s Fox School of Business in the United States. Iggy’s research focuses on how digital technologies empower entrepreneurship and innovation, particularly through the role of software developers in digital ecosystems.

Faculty Lead, Deborah Soule, Northeastern University
Dr. Deborah L Soule is a Teaching Professor in the Supply Chain and Information Management group at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, where she teaches Management Information Systems and Business Statistics in the core undergraduate business program. Deborah also works on graduate and professional courses on digital transformation and business analytics.