Join Courtney Gras, engineer, entrepreneur, author, and Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, for our next “Tea Talk” on April 29

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Courtney Gras — Zoom link here

Courtney Gras, an engineer by training and entrepreneur by nature, published author, and Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, joins the LaunchPad for our next “Tea Talk” on Wednesday, April 29 at 3 p.m. via Zoom at this link.  Courtney is Community Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad® powered by Techstars® network, helping student entrepreneurs succeed.  In 2014, she left her “real” job as a power systems engineer at NASA to work with the cleantech startup company she founded as a sophomore in college. Shortly after this decision, she discovered opportunities to build a startup community in Ohio and help other founders succeed. After spending eight years with her own company, she followed her passion and decided to work on startup community growth full time, leading program development, operations, advocacy, and bridge building for innovation hubs and other startup initiatives. Today, Courtney has the incredible honor of going back to her roots as a student founder to help student entrepreneurs succeed through the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars entrepreneurship program, which connects students across the globe to the Techstars network.  She has been a key partner in growing the LaunchPad at Syracuse University.

Courtney loves sharing stories of founding a company as a student, discovering the entrepreneur mindset, and finding her “dream” job. She published the book “Entrepreneur is a Verb” in 2018 for young professionals who are interested in a career in entrepreneurship. She has also presented a TED talk in Budapest, Hungary on the topic, and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work.

Courtney is at work on the V2.0 to her first book, “Entrepreneur is a Verb,” which is about applying the entrepreneur mindset to launch your dream career.  She will share insights from the book — from a startup-founder’s perspective, on what schools and movies don’t teach about careers. Whether starting a company or creatively search for a fulfilling 9-5 job, Courtney will touch on applying concepts from the entrepreneurial-mindset to your career in a practical way.

Tea Talks are virtual fireside chats, structured like good conversations over a cup of tea with thought leaders on topics related to innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.  The LaunchPad at Syracuse University is pleased to present these conversations in partnership with The Republic of Tea.

Learn more about Courtney here www.courtneygras.com and follow her at @courtneyagras

Join the Zoom chat here.  If a password is required for admission, use LaunchPad.

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