Innovate State: Taking a Seat at the Table

651 N. Shaw Ln,East Lansing MI 48824

22 February, 2023

Description

The Innovate State Speaker Series brings both emerging and accomplished Spartans back to campus for a fireside chat-style interview. These 60-minute sessions offer the chance for guests to share their perspectives on a wide array of topics like innovation, startup life, investments, and career paths. Students get the opportunity to hear firsthand about the hard knocks of the entrepreneurship & innovation hustle to maintaining work/life balance. These are stories of success, stories of failures, and stories of uncommon will—and you do not want to miss them. Innovate State kicks-off at 6 p.m. ET in the Larry & Teresa Gaynor Entrepreneurship Lab (651 N. Shaw Ln., M025 Business Pavilion, East Lansing, MI 48824) and are free to the community. Events will be offered in-person only but are available virtually on the Friday following the event at eship.msu.edu/innovate-state/. Early registration is highly encouraged.  About our Speaker Dr. Marlo Rencher, Director, Technology-Based Programs, TechTown Detroit Marlo Rencher for the majority of her career has been a jack of all trades. She has more than 25 years of professional experience in coaching, researching and running startup companies. Rencher spent four years as the vice president of innovation, entrepreneurship and diversity for Cleary University. Rencher has founded or co-founded three tech startups and spoken at TedXDetroit, Princeton University and SXSW. She has authored and co-authored several research studies, including "Radical Inclusion in Tech," a study published by TechTown in 2019, and the book "Hard Reset: Framing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as the New Normal," with Marlin Williams, published earlier this year. Rencher has supported 50 Black women tech founders through the National Science Foundation-funded STEEP program. Rencher currently serves as director of technology-based programs for TechTown Detroit. It's her second stint with TechTown following a nearly five-year run as the company's managing director from November 2004 to May 2009. Rencher, who has a bachelor's in marketing from Michigan State University, an MBA from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in business anthropology from Wayne State University, has also developed entrepreneurial programs focused on inclusion, innovation and tech-based entrepreneurship. Location Larry & Teresa Gaynor Entrepreneurship Lab (651 N. Shaw Ln., M025 Business Pavilion, East Lansing, MI 48824) To access more information about Innovate State or the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, please visit eship.msu.edu. For any further questions, please email Aubrey Haase, [email protected].