April 03, 2020

Saluki Entrepreneur Corps is sponsoring Zoom webinars this month

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki Entrepreneur Corps, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale registered student organization, is continuing its mission of fostering entrepreneurship and innovation albeit in a different way with social distancing now in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization is ramping up its online presence by sponsoring a series of free Zoom webinars and the public is invited to participate.

Two April sessions planned

Jake Coddington, SEC president, said two webinars are scheduled this month, both offering valuable information from successful entrepreneurs. The sessions are:

  • Celina Maniece, a Du Quoin native and double alumna of SIU who is the CEO and owner of BizClips, will speak at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7. BizClips is an interactive video-based social media networking app and site that connects individuals, businesses, professionals and consumers via video-based imagery.

The Zoom link for Maniece’s event is at https://zoom.us/j/831928230.

  • Archa Jain, founder and CEO of Lumos, will speak at 5 p.m. on April 22. Lumos, a San Francisco-based company, offers an artificial intelligence-powered search tool that provides physicians with answers to clinical questions through trustworthy sources. Lumos was part of the Y Combinator’s Winter 19 company batch, one of the few founded by a female.

Register for Jain’s webinar at https://zoom.us/j/659273047.

The organization recently hosted a webinar featuring Franco Brockelman, founder of Releaf, an informational and tracking app for medical marijuana. Brockelman was named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s “50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs.”

International partners

The Saluki Entrepreneur Corps is also collaborating with Tilburg University’s Entrepreneurship Hub in the Netherlands for a webinar series coming during the 2020-2021 academic year, Coddington said.

“We have already begun working on the series,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for students interested in gaining international connections.”

Students can join free

Anyone is welcome to view the webinars but SIU students are encouraged to also join the Saluki Entrepreneur Corps. Membership is free this semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application form and additional information are available at incubator.siu.edu/saluki-entrepreneur-corps/.