Jackson Riegler (he/him)

Oshki

Jackson was a freshman at U-M Ann Arbor when he participated in the Social Innovation Challenge and received a project grant and fellowship to work on his project Oshki. Oshki is an apparel brand that makes clothing out of recycled plastic waste from the Great Lakes and other US waterways. Learn more about Oshki here. 

From the Social Innovation Challenge, I gained personal skills of increasing self-confidence and improvement in public speaking and storytelling. The Challenge also increased my optimism in our generation’s ability to change the world for the better. Being surrounded with dozens of like-minded individuals helped change my outlook on our future. 

The Fellowship and project grant gave me the capital work with US manufacturers in developing custom sustainable fabrics make of plastic waste from the Great Lakes and other US waterways for my clothing company, Oshki. The mentorship side of the Fellowship helped me cultivate the impact I could make without feeling forced to act in ways I did not feel comfortable. Being a team of one, bouncing ideas/thoughts off of the wide mentor network at optiMize helped alleviate the impact I was able to make.

I am passionate about the power of business in scaling a passion for social change. It is more of a double-benefit situation for my customers that help scale the impact towards preserving the Great Lake I am passionate about. With each purchase of an Oshki shirt, my customers are helping preserve the Great Lakes through plastic extraction and donations to nonprofits as well as receive a durable, sustainable shirt that reduces the impact of Fast Fashion. Growing up on the shores of Lake Michigan, I became aware of many threats to the Great Lakes watershed. With limited government assistance to the issues, it is the common individual in these communities who has to stand up for what is right and protect these vital sources of freshwater. 

I encourage you to participate in optiMize because you are able to scale the impact you want to make on the Earth in a way previously unimaginable. You have one time to live here, one college experience, we are lucky enough to live in a generation where you don’t have to wait until your professional career to make a sizable impact on the world - join and help make the world a better place.