Written by Former Michigan Venture Capital Association Program Director Brings Extensive Event Planning and Community Relations Experience to Create Strategic Events
Ann Arbor, MICH. – Jan. 13, 2020 – EntryPoint today announced that Molly Theis has joined its team as community engagement manager. In this role, Theis connects leaders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem by strategically hosting events around emerging trends, successes or gaps in the market related to findings from EntryPoint’s research. She brings nearly ten years of experience in event strategy and execution to lead partnership and business development initiatives at EntryPoint.
Prior to joining EntryPoint, Theis was the program director at Michigan Venture Capital Association (MVCA), where she worked closely with the board of directors and staff to plan events, execute programs and cultivate relationships among the organization’s 400 members. Throughout her career in business hospitality, Molly has planned and executed hundreds of corporate and social events for organizations such as Trinity Health, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and Autodesk.
“I’m thrilled to join EntryPoint to develop programs and initiatives that will support the growth of entrepreneurial ecosystems across the Midwest,” said EntryPoint Community Engagement Manager, Molly Theis. “I’ve collaborated with EntryPoint Founder and Managing Director, Emily Heintz, for several years and had the opportunity to assist EntryPoint with the MVCA Annual Awards Dinner and the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition last year. I look forward to building upon our pipeline of community engagement projects.”
“We are excited to expand EntryPoint’s community engagement initiatives to create strategic and meaningful events,” said EntryPoint Founder and Managing Director, Emily Heintz. “Molly is a well-respected and recognized leader in the Midwest entrepreneurial ecosystem for managing events and creating strong relationships to drive community engagement initiatives. Her flawless execution and ability to easily connect with others will play a key role in managing events and partnerships that we have planned for 2020 and beyond.”
2020 EntryPoint Research and Community Engagement Initiatives
EntryPoint partners with organizations to strategically host events around emerging trends, successes or gaps in the market related to findings from its research. These community engagement projects include smaller subject-focused lunches, meetings with the legislature, larger sector-focused business conferences, competitions and awards dinners. In 2019, EntryPoint partnered with ID Ventures to organize the 2019 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition and MVCA for the 2019 MVCA Annual Awards Dinner. Theis was a key collaborator in making the events a success through her event management, client relations and day-of coordination.
In 2020, EntryPoint will expand its research practice by announcing a new partnership with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Revalue to research and develop the 2020 Washtenaw County Capital Report. The report provides a comprehensive landscape analysis that will focus on Washtenaw County community-based businesses in the real estate, food systems, independently owned main street retail, caregiving and education sectors. The report will offer detailed insight into the capital environment in the County by providing highlights, trends while spotlighting local companies and opportunities to increase investment in undercapitalized areas in the county; this is the first-time data from all investor classes will be compiled in the county’s history. The findings will be used to inform future investment activities and strategic programming priorities. The 2020 Washtenaw County Capital Report will be available in the spring of 2020 and Theis will lead community engagement initiatives to educate stakeholders about community-based investing and strategies to grow local businesses.
Additionally, EntryPoint will continue its partnership with MVCA to research and develop the 2020 MVCA Research Report. The MVCA Annual Research Report provides a comprehensive overview of venture capital investment activity in Michigan. The report will be available in the spring of 2020.
To learn more about community engagement services and to partner with EntryPoint, please contact info@entrypointmi.com.
About EntryPoint
EntryPoint advances the entrepreneurial community by promoting inclusion, community engagement and education. The organization works with entrepreneurial support organizations and startups at all stages of growth foster an inclusive organizational culture, expand their networks, and conduct research for education, outreach and advocacy purposes. EntryPoint was founded in 2018 by Emily Heintz, a leader in Michigan’s entrepreneurial and investment community who was part of Crain’s 40 Under 40: Class of 2016 and recognized in Forbes, Axios, and VentureBeat. To learn more, visit https://entrypointmi.com/ or follow us on Twitter and Facebook (@EntryPointMI).
Media Contact
Press@EntryPointMI.com