InNUvation

InNUvation Roles and Responsibilities

Co-President:

The InNUvation Co-President (there are two) is responsible for driving the overall mission and vision of InNUvation. The Co-President sets the strategic direction of InNUvation, and builds dedicated teams throughout Northwestern's many schools to execute on this plan. The Co-President is ultimately responsible for all of InNUvation's events and programs as well as funding requirements and relationships. These activities are completed through the following:

• Reviewing and executing our vision, mission and strategy

• Acting as the club liaison to the Board of Advisors and stakeholders

• Managing and directing weekly executive committee meetings

• Recruiting new members and supporters to InNUvation

• Innovating on event and program offerings

• Managing InNUvation general business as well as chapter relationships

• Meeting and networking with potential donators like alumni, venture capitalists and university organizations

• Raising funds for InNUvation operations and the NU Venture Challenge

• Negotiating terms and agreements with our stakeholders

• Key Contacts

  • Board of Advisors

• Expected Time Commitment

  • Fifteen hours per week

 

Event Director:

The Event Director is responsible for managing the teams organizing all events sponsored/co-sponsored by InNUvation. The activities necessary for this role include:

• Identifying event needs for the InNUvation community

• Managing all events directors for speakers, socials and workshops

• Managing the NU Venture Challenge

• Recruiting people to help with executing events

• Leading development of curriculum/event materials as well as collateral for events

• Key Contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Marketing Director

  • Treasurer

• Expected Time Commitment

  • Ten hours per week

 

Technology Director:

The Technology Director is responsible for all existing and future technology related initiatives for InNUvation. This person needs to have a sense of creativity to keep the website user-friendly, graphically rich and ahead of the technology curve. The Technology Director should also have a technical background and be comfortable with Internet system concepts and basic Windows/Linux administration. Required activities include:

• Updating the InNUvation website with appropriate and timely information

• Promoting InNUvation through website

• Maintaining a good relationship with the web site hosting provider

• Managing the Innuvation listserv

• Managing event recording

• Recruiting appropriate people to help with technology tasks

• Keeping the club updated on potential and current improvements

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • InNUvation Executive Committee

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week.

 

Treasurer:

The InNUvation Treasurer has responsibility for tracking all in-flows and out-flows of funds for the organization. In addition to this activity, the Treasurer is also expected to:

• Monitor spending trends such as “burn rate”

• Forecasting future expenses for InNUvation.

• Creating annual and quarterly budgets

• Managing Funds

• Key contacts

• • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Event Director

  • Marketing Director

• Expected time commitment

• • Two hours per week

 

External Marketing Director:

InNUvation's External Marketing Director is responsible for being the "face" of InNUvation within the Northwestern and Greater Chicagoland communities through marketing and public relations. This involves promoting events that InNUvation plans as well as communicating InNUvation initiatives to the university and other public parties who will be interested in InNUvation activities. Key activities include:

• Communicating with Northwestern’s schools to ensure a consistent message

• Communicating with outside media

• Key contacts

• • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Technology Director

  • Event Director

  • Treasurer

  • Chapter Presidents

• Expected time commitment

• • Five hours per week

 

Internal Marketing Director:

InNUvation's Internal Marketing Director is responsible for creating student interest in all the offerings InNUvation has throughout the year. This means getting the word out to graduates and undergraduates alike about our speakers, socials, workshops and the NU Venture Challenge. Key activities include:

• Communicating with Northwestern’s schools to ensure a consistent message

• Event Marketing

• Recruiting people to our events as well as generating interest in the club

• Key contacts

• • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Technology Director

  • Event Director

  • Treasurer

  • Chapter Presidents

• Expected time commitment

• • Five hours per week

 

Chapter Presidents

InNUvation Chapter Presidents are evangelists and managers. They are responsible for promoting InNUvation within their school through events that are specific for their school’s student body as well as through marketing for InNUvation university-wide events. Chapter Presidents are encouraged to create their own teams at each school to help them effectively understand and reach their student body. The Chapter President’s role and responsibilities include:

• Brainstorming new events specific to their school

• Monitor the progress of current events and programs

• Acting as the liaison between the school and the InNUvation Executive Committee

• Attending the InNUvation executive meeting once a week to report on school progress

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Event Director

  • Internal & External Marketing Directors

  • Treasurer

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Mentorship Director:

The Mentorship Director coordinates InNUvation’s initiatives around mentorship including providing mentors for NU Venture Challenge teams, scheduling judges for the NUVC as well as organizing entrepreneurship mentoring initiatives. Responsibilities include:

• Recruiting new mentors for all initiatives

• Tracking mentors/judges and their status

• Survey teams and mentors about experience

• Matching mentors up with mentees

• Identifying and recruiting judging panels for each round of the NU Venture Challenge

• Organizing mentor office hours

• Working with administrators, professors, alumni and local entrepreneurs to establish mentoring relationships

• Key contacts

• • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Alumni Relations Director

  • Industry Relations Director

  • School Administration and Professors

  • Local VCs and Entrepreneurs

  • Chapter Presidents

• Expected time commitment

• • Five hours per week

 

NU Venture Challenge Operations Manager:

InNUvation’s NU Venture Challenge Operations Manager is responsible for all operations and logistics for the NU Venture Challenge. The Operations Manager will be expected to recruit a team of students from InNUvation to execute on the event planning. The event planning involves identifying and reserving facilities for each round of the competition, making arrangements for all details involving the contestants and judges, and ensuring that all details for the competition are attended to. Responsibilities include:

• Recruit students to help in executing the operations plan

• Manage all operations for the competition

• Be willing to perform duties as well as delegate them

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Events Director

  • Internal Marketing Director

  • Mentorship Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Five hours per week

 

Alumni Relations Director:

The Alumni Relations Director is in charge of maintaining relations with all Northwestern University alumni interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. This involves designing programs to enhance the entrepreneurial image of Northwestern to its graduates, maintaining relationships with them and encouraging their involvement with InNUvation through mentoring, speaking, judging and other opportunities. Responsibilities include:

• Increasing InNUvation visibility with Northwestern alumni (all NU schools)

• Reaching out to targeted Northwestern alumni directly

• Producing targeted advertising in entrepreneurial-focused media

• Outlining ways in which alumni can get involved with InNUvation and understanding incentives to encourage that involvement

• Contacting entrepreneurial clubs at other leading graduate schools (Stanford GSB, Berkeley, etc.) to understand best practices

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • External Marketing Director

  • Mentorship Director

  • Industry Relations Director

  • Inter-University Relations Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Social Director:

The InNUvation Social Director is charged with providing opportunities for students, alumni, and professors from NU’s different departments and programs to network and share ideas with each other. The Social Director will choose two to three social events of various design per quarter to further promote cross-school networking and interaction. This is done with two purposes in-mind: to foster a more interdisciplinary approach to life at Northwestern and to enable team formation for the NU Venture Challenge. Responsibilities include:

• Create social opportunities that encourage sharing and discussion of ideas

• Coordinate all details around the event: reserving a location, arrangements of food, procurement of materials (if needed)

• Send out event surveys to participants after each event

• Coordinating social schedule with Speaker and Workshop Directors

• Plan event themes based around interests of club members

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Internal Marketing Director

  • Chapter Presidents

  • Treasurer

  • Speaker Director

  • Workshop Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Workshop Director:

The InNUvation Workshop Director is charged with providing opportunities for students, alumni, and professors from NU’s different departments and programs to learn about key aspects of entrepreneurship in a slightly formal setting. The Workshop Director should utilize the university’s and local area’s expertise to provide experts on the various workshop topics so the student learning experience will be the best we can provide. This is done with two purposes in-mind: to provide basic introductions to the skills that any entrepreneur needs to start a business and to encourage students to participate in the NU Venture Challenge. Responsibilities include:

• Keep the materials presented updated and current

• Coordinate all details around the event: arranging for the speaker/presenter, reserving a location, arrangements of food, procurement of materials (if needed)

• Send out event surveys to participants after each event

• Coordinating workshop schedule with Speaker and Social Directors

• Plan workshop themes based around interests of club members

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Internal Marketing Director

  • Chapter Presidents

  • Treasurer

  • Speaker Director

  • Social Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Speaker Director:

The InNUvation Speaker Director is charged with bringing the most interesting and relevant speakers on entrepreneurship and innovation to Northwestern. Speakers do not have to be famous or hugely successful as long as their experiences are relevant to the student body - they could be currently starting up a business or have been running a company for 40 years. This is done with two purposes in-mind: to provide unique perspectives to Northwestern students and to encourage people participate in the NU Venture Challenge. Responsibilities include:

• Establish and maintain relationships with potential speakers

• Coordinate all details around the event: arranging the arrival of the speaker, reserving a location, arrangements of food, procurement of materials (if needed)

• Send out event surveys to participants after each event

• Coordinating social schedule with Social and Workshop Directors

• Plan speaker themes based around interests of club members

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Internal Marketing Director

  • Chapter Presidents

  • Treasurer

  • Social Director

  • Workshop Director

  • Alumni Relations Director

  • Industry Relations Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Industry Relations Director:

The InNUvation Industry Relations Director is charged with establishing and maintaining relationships with innovative and entrepreneurial companies. The opportunities from these relationships can provide such things as internships or full-time jobs for students, speakers, mentors, judges and much more. Responsibilities include:

• Establish and maintain relationships with companies interested in working with InNUvation

• Understanding incentives for companies to be involved with InNUvation and communicating those incentives effectively

• Working with InNUvation key contacts to take advantage of relationships

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • External Marketing Director

  • Internal Marketing Director

  • Social Director

  • Speaker Director

  • Workshop Director

  • Alumni Relations Director

  • Mentorship Director

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per week

 

Inter-University Relations Director:

The Inter-University Relations Director is charged with establishing strong relationships with other university entrepreneurship organizations across the country and beyond. InNUvation wants to help other groups foster entrepreneurial cultures at their respective schools as well as understanding best practices that can be used at Northwestern. Responsibilities include:

• Contacting top schools and gathering information on their best practices

• Generating lists of key contacts at other schools and setting up a process to keep those contacts updated

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Chapter Presidents

• Expected time commitment

  • Three hours per week

 

InNUvation Board of Advisors:

InNUvation’s Board of Advisors serves to provide guidance and direction for the organization to help its members achieve the stated vision and mission. In addition to this members of the Board of Advisors need to act as advocates for the club. The InNUvation Executive Committee will plan to meet quarterly with the Board of Advisors to review progress and next steps for the club. InNUvation is looking for advisors to:

• Attend quarterly status meetings

• Provide advice and guidance on InNUvation’s direction

• Provide contacts/networking to help further the club’s progress

• Evaluate quarterly progress reports

• Keep “big wigs” in the loop

• Key contacts

  • InNUvation Co-Presidents

  • Northwestern and Chicagoland stakeholders

• Expected time commitment

  • Four hours per quarter