Mentors

In order to teach entrepreneurship and creativity to students, we need people who understand it first.


That's where mentors come in. Mentors will be available throughout the weekend to drive discussion, convey ideas, and provide personal stories and anecdotes. They will fill a variety of interdisciplinary fields to help students attack problem identification and solution creation through a variety of mindsets.

Office Hours

Students will schedule meetings with the mentors to discuss specific obstacles and challenges they face in building their vision

Panels

Groups of mentors will hold discussion and Q&A sessions with students to discuss their own experiences, challenges, and successes

Workshops

Mentors can hold sessions to teach students a specific skill, mindset, or process

Guides

Wandering mentors will approach the teams to actively engage students and guide them through the process

Speakers


Shark Tank Judges

Taher Savliwala is the head of IP at Quixey. In his role, he oversees concept development, licensing, and all areas of intellectual asset management. Acting as a business strategist and consultant, he has extensive experience and expertise advising early growth companies to fortune 10 companies on innovation and intellectual property. Taher also assists VC's and private equity companies to define patent strategies. In addition, Taher is a board member and volunteer for Fresh Lifelines for Youth, a program dedicated towards transforming at-risk youth kids into positive contributors in the community.

Taher
Savliwala

Lauren has served as the CEO of the Growth Capital Network (GCN) since 2010. GCN serves the innovation, community health and philanthropic communities with strategy, analytic, and evaluative services for measuring impact and ROI. Lauren and her team manage programs for the innovation and entrepreneurial community including the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the Midwest Green Technology Entrepreneur Academy, administration and training for the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization program and the Midmarket Capital Survey.

Lauren
Bigelow

Before joining the CFE, Mik was the Southwest regional director of development for the College of Engineering’s Office of Advancement and assisted with the gift from the Beyster Family to the CFE to teach and promote employee ownership. Prior to that, Mik spent 15 years in the tech industry, both as a director of operations and a project manager, and as a founder of three Michigan-based startups in the information technology industry. He also spent five years working in state and national politics as an operative and campaign manager. Mik is a University of Michigan alumnus, earning a B.S.E. in industrial engineering and a Master’s in public policy.

Mik
Zolikoff

Mentorship Team

Jason Okrasinski is the CEO and co-founder of Cribspot, an online marketplace for college housing. He founded the company while attending the University of Michigan as a BBA. The site has since expanded to over 150 campuses and received nearly $1.5MM in funding from the likes of Y-Combinator and Huron River Ventures. Jason has also worked at SeatGeek, Rosetta Consulting and Seelio where he focused on marketing, user design, and data analytics.

Jason
Oranski


Tim Jones graduated from U of M in 2013 after studying Computer Science Engineering. He started Cribspot while still in school and is still working on that with a team of 6 in downtown Ann Arbor. He is happy to help with your startup or even your housing search!

Tim
Jones



Paul Brown has a wide variety of experience as both an entrepreneur and as a venture capital investor. He is currently a managing director at eLab, a technology venture capital fund that has changed the game for many local entrepreneurs at Michigan.

Paul
Brown


Doug Neal has over 20 years of technology industry experience across many diverse roles and positions. He is currently a managing director at eLab, a technology venture capital fund that has changed the game for many local entrepreneurs at Michigan.

Doug
Neal



Liza Giambra is a Teach For America alum and state-certified teacher with a record of excellent student outcomes. In her current role at Teach For America, she helps undergraduate and graduate students extend their personal leadership and service experience opportunities.

Liza
Giambra


Nate is an Ann Arbor native who has been starting companies and building video games for 12 years. His most recent startup is GameStart School, where he has the privilege of teaching kids 1st - 12th grade to program computers using the video games they love.

Nate
Aschenbach



Joseph Holenberg is a first generation college student at UofM. He was an Americorps (VISTA) in Providence, RI upon graduation, then joined Teach For America in Chicago. After Teach For America,Joseph became a Google Fellow and worked to build CS First. Currently, he is starting his own financial education company for millennials in Chicago Holberg Financial.

Joseph
Holenberg


Natalia Petraszczuk is the Founder & CEO of VizBe, a SaaS (software as a service) which offers online motivational goal-setting and visualization programs. Natalia was the winner of Start Up Weekend Detroit and the Up Global International Start Up Battle (2013). She is a certified life-coach, published journalist and on-air talent. Natalia holds a BA in International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University.

Natalia
Petraszczuk



Ryan Davis is the Business Development Director at FOUNDER.org, a non-profit organization that partners with student entrepreneurs. He has over a decade of marketing and digital experience, working with brands, startups, and non-profit organizations.

Ryan
Davis


Will is the Chief Technology Officer of OPS Solutions, a Michigan-based company that makes Light Guide Systems, an augmented reality manufacturing error proofing solution that is used by automotive, aerospace, agriculture, and many other industries around the world. Will has prior experience in renewable energy, automotive, and government research. Will holds a BSEE from Kettering University, an MSECE from Oakland University, and is partially complete in a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.

Will
Sommerville



Steven Fisher co-founded State and Liberty Clothing Company in 2014 with fellow Michigan Alumnus Lee Moffie. State and Liberty was founded with the goal to provide athletes the fit and feel they deserve in a dress shirt. A graduate from the University of Michigan in 2013, Steven studied complex systems while acting as president of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. Following graduation Steven led a business data analytics initiative for the Detroit Tigers.

Steven
Fisher


John Bonhard is currently an associate at Beringea and a Venture Fellow with the Michigan Venture Capital Association. At Beringea he supports the investment team in identifying and analyzing potential investments, financial modeling, industry research, working with and monitoring portfolio companies, and deal execution. Prior to joining Beringea, John served as an investment banking analyst at P&M Corporate Finance in Southfield, Michigan, serving the firm’s private, corporate, and private equity clients. John received a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, where he was a Financial Markets Institute scholar.

John
Bonhard



A University of Michigan 2013 graduate, Ben Seidman has worked for 5 startups in the past 2.5 years. He is currently the Director of Business Development at SPLT and Venture for America Fellow class of 2015. Ben was also an entrepreneur at the University of Michigan having launched two ventures as a student: airport rideshare shuttle and an instagram agency.

Ben
Seidman


Muhammad is a University of Michigan student currently double majoring in Economics and Computer Science with a minor in Math. He is an avid learner and creator and is self taught in UI/UX design. He is also a director of our MPowered’s very own Startup High School as well as the founder of Ballot.

Muhammad
Mazhari



Sean Ma is the founder of UM UROP's entrepreneurial pathway which pairs up freshman with researchers to translate research IP into the business world. He also teaches for Innovate Blue to help students be better active listeners during customer discovery.

Sean
Ma


Sean Seabright Jackson is the CEO and Co-founder of Sift. Prior to Sift, Sean Lead the Motor City Mapping team: using data and technology to understand the massive challenges of blight and vacancy and using that information to inform policy. He also bought an abandoned mansion and turned it into a co-working space in a project he co-founded called Rebirth Realty.

Sean
Jackson



Eric joined the Center for Entrepreneurship in August 2015 to help cultivate partnerships between the university, companies, alumni, and students. Over the past ten years, he has held positions with the state of Michigan Attorney General’s office, International Joint Commission, and several others focusing on project management and relationship development. Immediately prior to coming to the Center for Entrepreneurship he served as the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s inaugural Relationship Manager implementing a campus-wide software system and stewarding the university’s corporate partnerships.

Eric
Bacyinski


Gabe is co-founder and CEO of Incipia, a mobile app development and marketing firm in Detroit. Gabe's prior experience counts 6 years of digital marketing at companies like Groupon, Starz Media and most recently Microsoft Bing Ads, where Gabe won VP and CVP-level awards as a paid search account manager in charge of optimizing $22 million in total annual ad spend for clients like Airbnb, the NHL and Spotify. Gabe's article contributions on digital marketing have been published in top industry blogs like Search Engine Land, and Gabe also enjoys teaching at digital learning communities like Grand Circus Detroit, TechTown Detroit and General Assembly. Gabe holds a BA in marketing from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University

Gabe
Kwakyi