{"id":110496,"date":"2024-06-20T09:39:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=110496"},"modified":"2024-06-21T16:19:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T20:19:13","slug":"mckenzi-baker","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2024\/mckenzi-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Ideas to Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-emphasis-on-text has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-tertiary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"McKenzi Baker (&#039;21)\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-992x662.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1984x1323.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-1499x1000.jpg 1499w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2024\/06\/24-1021-LAWBAKER-002-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Conor Doherty<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Equity<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBringing Ideas to Life\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">An entrepreneurial spirit and a helping heart lead McKenzi Baker\u2014and her clients\u2014to realize their dreams.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">June 20, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/rebecca-beyer\/\">Rebecca Beyer<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mckenzi-baker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">McKenzi Baker (\u201921)<\/a> came to BU Law with a specific career goal. \u201cI wanted to build businesses,\u201d she says, matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s exactly what she has done, basically ever since she arrived in Boston from her home state of Arkansas. Baker interned at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooley.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cooley<\/a> during her 1L summer and returned to the firm throughout her time at BU Law, working mostly on issues related to company formation. She also took a transactional simulation course called Follow-On Venture Capital Financing and participated in the Startup Law Clinic (now the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/bu-mit-student-innovations-law-clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BU\/MIT Student Innovations Law Clinic<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now an associate at Cooley\u2019s Boston office, Baker advises clients throughout their organizational life cycle, including on formation and corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financing, and initial public offerings. She also represents Black- and women-owned businesses whenever she has the opportunity. She was among the Cooley attorneys who represented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embraceboston.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Embrace Boston<\/a>\u2014the organization behind the new Boston Common sculpture that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS\u201955, Hon.\u201959) and Coretta Scott King (Hon.\u201969)\u2014when it formed as a nonprofit. She was part of a woman-led Cooley team that advised <a href=\"https:\/\/chief.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chief<\/a>, a private networking organization for women, on its $100 million Series B funding round, which resulted in a valuation of $1.1 billion. And she represented <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonwhileblack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Boston While Black<\/a>, a digital network focused on helping Black people thrive in the city, when it became a benefit corporation and in its first major external investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Baker traces her interest in entrepreneurship to the early years of her life, when she saw members of her community form their own businesses with varying degrees of success. Some of them were formerly incarcerated people who struck out on their own because they had a hard time finding traditional jobs. Inevitably, they ran into red tape, which they found hard to navigate without an attorney. Baker thought she could help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI feel like I can identify with the entrepreneurial spirit,\u201d she explains. \u201cI like seeing a company come to life. When you talk to a founder, they have an idea in their heads. I help translate that idea into reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Cooley, Baker enjoys her representation of all kinds of clients, but she says she gets a \u201cspecial joy\u201d working with a \u201csubset of underrepresented founders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cThey bring a different perspective,\u201d she says. \u201cI consider it a privilege to help them bring their ideas into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McKenzi Baker (\u201921) came to BU Law with a specific career goal. \u201cI wanted to build businesses,\u201d she says, matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19416,"featured_media":110497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":110341,\"hed\":\"Class Notes Spring 2024\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard is-style-full-photo has-light-overlay is-layout-align-left has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"110344\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/Christine-Bergstrom-2-970x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Equity","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[643,3900,4256,1282],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3744,3749,3771,4135,3786],"record-topic":[3935,4292],"bu_edition":[4317],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/110496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110496"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/110496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110812,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/110496\/revisions\/110812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110496"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=110496"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=110496"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=110496"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=110496"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=110496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}