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 and are free to the community. Events will be offered in a hybrid-format, offering attendance options in-person & virtually. Early registration is highly encouraged.
About our Speakers
Pam Lewis, Executive Director, New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan
Pam Lewis is the executive director of the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan, a leader in inclusive entrepreneurship for foundations supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Lewis holds an engineering degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Spring Arbor University. Named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan by Crain’s Detroit Business, she is a board member of Philanthropy for Civic Engagement and advisor to the George Mason University Innovation Team. Lewis is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.
Amy Smith, SVP Global PMO, Techstars
Amy Smith is an experienced product leader and operator who has spent most of her career building product-market fit and operational efficiencies in scaling late-stage startups. Her product background is rooted in B2B enterprise and SaaS software development and service implementation optimization. In addition, she has led organization-wide change management programs to align resources and processes for long-term growth.
In her work, Amy has been responsible for strategy development, portfolio management, building and implementing operating models, managing positive P&L performance and top-line growth across product portfolios. She holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology from the College of Education at Michigan State University.