Event 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: Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship is a special edition event featuring four Michigan State University students, all of whom are deeply rooted in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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:
- Avery Tilley is a junior at Michigan State University pursuing dual degrees in Fisheries & Wildlife Management and Molecular Genetics & Genomics with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In 2020, he founded Branching Out, Inc., a passion project born from his love for agriculture education and sustainability. While still in its growth stage, Branching Out seeks to become a supplier of fully customizable, grafted fruit trees yielding organic peaches, plums, lemons, and more, all from the same tree growing comfortably in your living room. Avery hopes to continue to develop Branching Out into the next most-wanted houseplant and will pursue a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine after graduating from MSU next Spring.
- Charlotte Bachelor is a Junior studying Professional and Public Writing with a Minor in African and African American Studies. Charlotte’s passion for Disability Rights and Accessibility led her to create the Detroit Accessibility Project, which serves as an innovative solution to the lack of accessibility standards in Downtown Detroit venues.
- Christian Nderu is a sophomore at Michigan State University, majoring in Experience Architecture. Christian has three years of experience as a Graphic and UI/UX Designer and is incredibly passionate about working on startup projects, having helped provide many growing companies with their branding, marketing, and digital product design needs over the years. Being the Marketing and Communications Director of the MSU Entrepreneurship Association and working for the Burgess Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he is also heavily involved in the entrepreneurship community at MSU. He is currently working on his first startup in the Burgess Discovery program.
- Madison Marsh is a Junior Honors student studying Environmental Economics and Management with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She is a student founder and author who created The Cut MI, LLC, which encompasses The Cut Cookbook and multiple social media platforms. Madison is also the Vice President of Women in Entrepreneurship. She is interning for Pretzilla®, a national bread manufacturer, designing their new website and social media platform. Marsh also works closely with the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She has had the opportunity to learn from incredible MSU alumni.
