51ÁÔÆæ

Diverse Ideas with Dr. Berdie Cowser

The Lubar Entrepreneurship Center’s next Diverse Ideas will feature Dr. Berdie Cowser, Vice President, Housing and Development for Center for Veterans Issues. This event is cosponsored with the Military and Veterans Resource Center (MAVRC). Join us for lunch and an intimate conversation with this impressive community leader.

 

Meet Dr. Cowser: Experienced Bureau Director with a demonstrated history of working in the executive office industry. Skilled in Negotiation, Nonprofit Organizations, Coaching, and navigating Government projects. She is a strong community and social services professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Leadership, Learning and Service from Cardinal Stritch University.

51ÁÔÆæRF Express License Launch

The 51ÁÔÆæ Research Foundation () is hosting an expressÌýlicenseÌýtalk for faculty and student entrepreneurs to help develop and commercialize their ideas on February 25, 2022 from 12:00-1:00pm in the 51ÁÔÆæ Lubar Entrepreneurship Center Manpower Room, room #211.

The session will launch the 51ÁÔÆæRF’s new Ìý(ELA), a fast-track process designed to streamline the contract negotiation, reduce legal costs, and provide a license that has a predefined set of terms and conditions. The ELA is a standard, non-negotiable, exclusive license agreement specifically designed for startups founded by 51ÁÔÆæ faculty, staff, and students, and it offers standard terms that are reasonable for both parties and eliminates the hassle to negotiate a license agreement.

If you have questions about the session or the new ELA or would like to RSVP, contact Smruti Patil, 51ÁÔÆæRF Licensing Associate, at smruti@uwmrf.org.

Director’s Cut with Teddy Werner

Logo of "Director's Cut"

Please join the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, , and Lubar School of Business for a moderated conversation with Senior Vice President of Brand Experience for the Milwaukee Brewers, Teddy Werner. Teddy Werner is in his 17th year with the Milwaukee Brewers and his 5th as a Senior VP. ÌýWerner, a graduate of Yale undergrad and Duke Law School, is responsible for several aspects of the Brewers brand, including in-game entertainment, retail, food & beverage and ballpark enhancements. This conversation will be moderated by professor emeritus and baseball historian, Dr. Neal Pease.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 | 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
11:30am – Light lunch provided
12:00pm – Chancellor’s Welcome & Program begins

This event will be offered in-person and streamed live. Please note, if you sign up for the virtual option, a link will be sent in the confirmation email.

 

Diverse Ideas: Tuk Tuk Box

The Lubar Entrepreneurship Center’s next Diverse Ideas will feature co-founders of , Christy Innouvong-Thornton and Beatriz Aurelio-Saguin. This event is cosponsored with the Southeast Asian American Student Center, 51ÁÔÆæ Institute of World Affairs. Join us for lunch and an intimate conversation with these founders.

Tuk Tuk Box is a mission-driven specialty food brand offering curated Southeast Asian boxes and products. They partner with vetted small business owners and local farmers to share carefully crafted ingredients and recipes from their own community.

“We’re two Southeast Asian American women, daughters of immigrants and refugees who recognized the need to create a cross-cultural bridge to foster social change. We understand that we cannot successfully combat systemic injustices without first looking inwardly at ourselves. We recognize that self-reflection involved community care and so we started Tuk Tuk Box after nearly a decade of working in the nonprofit industry with underserved communities. We realized through our individual and collaborative contributions to the nonprofit industry, as well as through our cultures, that food can be a bridge between opposing viewpoints: sharing a seat at the table ensures that every voice is heard. We believe when you share a meal, you become family. We hold on to the hope that food can bring a moment of peace.” -Christy and Bea

—â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”
Diverse Ideas is a talk series that partners with 51ÁÔÆæ offices to invite global and local entrepreneurs/community innovators for an intimate chat with 51ÁÔÆæ students, faculty, and staff. By offering these talks, LEC hopes to build a larger and more diverse network of students involved in entrepreneurship, including one that spans across disciplines and majors. Speakers share their stories and give advice in an open-forum conversation with attendees. Learn with us how to improve our community and work together to problem-solve.

Sisters Conquer Like Me

In celebration of Women’s History Month, join us for this intimate conversation with inspiring 51ÁÔÆæ alumni women leaders.

Join three 51ÁÔÆæ women alumni that were recognized in Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, Obiageli Nwabuzor, Ariam Kesete, and Marquayla Ellison, for an intimate event.

This facilitated discussions will focus on professional development, how to stand out in an innovative workforce, how to be creative when it seems impossible, and learn how to grow along your women identified peers.

This event is proudly co-hosted with Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, Black Student Cultural Center, and Women’s Resource Center.
Dinner will be provided.

Reserve your spot today, please RSVP below.

Meet Obigagel: Oby Nwabuzor, MBA is the Founder of Envision Growth, a Milwaukee-based real estate development group to build healthy people and regenerate communities. She has mastered the art of being a community connector and has held roles within the nonprofit and public sectors, currently including the American Heart Association.

She has developed health strategies to improve social influencers of health in communities and has led community collaborations through programs, partnerships, and policies. Her involvement with governmental agencies and strategic alliances has resulted in a Complete Streets Policy and, to date, a $600k Fresh Food Access Fund.ÌýShe serves on boards for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, City of Milwaukee-NIDC, Malaika Early Learning Center, the Friendship House of Milwaukee, and the Progress Center for Black Women.

Meet Ariam Kesete: Ariam Kesete was born and raised in Eritrea, East Africa. She came to the United States in 1997 with her mother, who instilled in her the family’s entrepreneurial spirit. Ariam tapped into that spirit at a young age becoming the fourth generation dedicated to furthering the improvement of her community and, to people as a whole, through real estate development.

She is an established real estate developer who founded her own company, AK Development, LLC in 2016. As the President, she established a vision for the company focused on the development of real estate, communities, and people.

Meet Marquayla Ellison: Marquayla Ellison is the owner and creative force behind Ellastic Designs, LLC. Her innate creative skills were enhanced at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (51ÁÔÆæ) where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Design & Visual Communication from the Peck School of the Arts (PSOA) in 2013.

After finding herself unsuccessful in securing internships to supplement her education during her freshman year, and with the amazing support of family and friends, Marquayla started Ellastic Designs, LLC a small design firm set on creating customs digital and print designs for small businesses, local philanthropic professionals, non-profits, and organizations.

Since May 17, 2011, Ellastic Designs has illustrated a creative vision for many clients including: Traci Braxton, The Milwaukee Health Department, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, and ACLU-WI, Medical College of WI, Near West Side Partners, Running Rebels, Milwaukee Film – just to name a few.

In addition to building her full time business, she regularly gives back to the community and entertains her social side as co-owner and president of Social X MKE, a young professional diversity and inclusion consulting group. Social X MKE creates and provides a connective platform for black & brown young professionals, businesses and corporations, so they can thrive in Greater Milwaukee and surrounding areas. She was recently announced as a 2022 Milwaukee Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree.

 

2022 Innovators Expo Participant Signup Deadline

The deadline to sign up for the 2022 Innovators Expo is closing in! Make sure to sign up by May 1st to confirm your participation in 51ÁÔÆæ’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation.

For more information on the Expo, click here. To register as a participant, click here. To sign up as an attendee, click here.

You Matter! Nourish Yourself at Diverse Ideas with Nourish Natural Products

You Matter! Nourish Yourself.

Celebrate Valentines day early by practicing self kindness and attending this event with us. We will make Valentines, learn about Nourish’s business journey and how wellness matters to this small startup. Lunch will be provided from a local restaurant.

The Lubar Entrepreneurship Center and Women’s Resource invites you to Diverse Ideas featuring Jamie Andrzejewski. is a mind, body and health wellness product company that handcrafts all products with organic ingredients. Nourish products are available in 65 retailers across the U.S. and can be locally found at: Sparrow Collective, Outpost Natural Foods, Sendik’s Food Market, and more.

Nourish’s mission is best summed up by their opening line on the About Us page: “Even though we haven’t met yet, I already know that you’re wonderful. And, if you haven’t heard it lately, you matter. We need your big heart, strong voice, and incredible gifting in this world. That’s why Nourish exists- to help you live well and spread kindness by taking the very best care of yourself. Yes, I said it. Permission to take care of YOU! Because when we are kind to ourselves and fill our own “love tanks,” we can’t help but spill our abundance out onto others. When we tend to our own needs, we can do more. Not more in a “do-more-and-prove-you-are-worthy” way. But more in a “be-my-best-self-so-I-can-do-the-most-good” way.”

 

Social Good Morning – Serpentijn Art and Athletics

caffeination :☕: innovation :: inspiration:✨:

Social Good Morning is a talk series hosted by our very own Entrepreneur-in-Residence of Social Innovation, Mark Fairbanks. LEC invites one local social innovator per month to have a short interview with Mark and then an open-format discussion, fielding questions from the audience about their strategies and passions. Topics of conversation range from poverty to sustainability to inclusivity and beyond.

Join us for a discussion with co-founders of , Jason and Kathryn Reimer. Serpentijn was founded to make a positive impact through art and athletics, based on the belief that both play a vital role in learning and living life to its fullest. This idea grew into collaborating with artists to create beautiful, functional products in order to support our non-profits of choice. 10% of each purchase you make goes to a worthy non-profit organization, selected by you during checkout.

 

Social Good Morning – Compost Crusader

caffeination :☕: innovation :: inspiration:✨:

Social Good Morning is a talk series hosted by our very own Entrepreneur-in-Residence of Social Innovation, Mark Fairbanks. LEC invites one local social innovator per month to have a short interview with Mark and then an open-format discussion, fielding questions from the audience about their strategies and passions. Topics of conversation range from poverty to sustainability to inclusivity and beyond.

Join us for a discussion with Founder of Melissa Tashjian. Their mission is to create a culture around sustainability that empower individuals and organizations to divert organic material from the landfill, in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Since 2014, Compost Crusaders has grown a Milwaukee network of business and resident composters to support their mission of a greener Milwaukee.

Social Good Morning and Well Entrepreneur Exploring Equity in Wellbeing

This month, Social Good Morning and Well Entrepreneur partner up to bring you a conversation about diversity, equity, and accessibility with Alesia Miller, CEO and Founder of . She strives to promote wellness, provide access, and create culture in underserved communities plagued with high risk behaviors. She plans to give the world that good gut feeling, creating a community of wellness and offering holistic support to fight against the causes of diabetes, cancer, heart disease and mental illness.

51ÁÔÆæ Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament Submission Deadline

DEADLINE EXTENDED: MARCH 4, 2022

51ÁÔÆæ is honored to host the sixth 51ÁÔÆæ qualifying competition in 2022. This competition focuses on the entrepreneurs’ journey and experience with Lean Launch methodology.

This statewide competition hosted by WiSys is open to all UW system students except for UW- Madison students. The 51ÁÔÆæ LEC and (CEO) is honored to host the sixth 51ÁÔÆæ, local qualifying competition in 2022.

In 2021, Ross Younger placed first in the 51ÁÔÆæ qualifying competition and advanced to the at-large state competition. You can view his pitch submission here.

Previous year’s winners include Loren Nelson, 2020 (51ÁÔÆæ) who placed second at the state competition and in 2019, Amy Narr (51ÁÔÆæ) won the state competition and advanced to Nationals.

51ÁÔÆæ is excited to offer prizes for first, second, and third place. *Please note awards are subject to University award system, prize could be in the form of PAWS payment.

More Info

Hosted LEC Brown Bag Lunch with Kyle Jansson: Advancing Prototyping

If you are in the LEC at the noon hour on Wednesdays, we welcome you to join our LEC Brown Bag Hour. Bring your lunch, bring your smile, bring you! Flexible, casual, drop in when you can.

Feel free to extend this invitation to other colleagues and students.

This Brown Bag is hosted by Kyle Jansson discussing: prototyping and what to do next. Kyle is the Director of the 51ÁÔÆæ Prototyping Center located at the Innovation Campus Accelerator Building.

**Note: We support a healthy campus and abide by campus guidelines for COVID19 precautions. We ask for your flexibility as we may ask individuals to be masked or socially distance.