Lisa Baragar Katz is a staunch and proven advocate for Michigan’s innovation ecosystem. Katz is currently focused on advancing policy, education and storytelling to attract and retain strategic startups, advance emerging technology clusters, and grow investment in Michigan from around the world, as well as to cultivate transformative global partnerships. Throughout her career, Katz has developed regional innovation strategies grounded in talent, entrepreneurship, and cluster-based economic development. She has extensive nonprofit leadership and philanthropic experience, serves on numerous nonprofit boards, and has helped secure and administer hundreds of millions of dollars in public investment for regional transformation efforts.

In her previous role, she oversaw strategy and investments related to economic vitality and entrepreneurship in the Detroit region for the William Davidson Foundation. This included managing an annual grants portfolio to create a strong support ecosystem for diverse growth-, tech-, and community-based entrepreneurs. As part of her changemaking work, Katz provided strategic leadership in Southeast Michigan’s successful bid for a $52.2 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant. She also spearheaded key research initiatives and policy discussions around modernizing the state’s economic development strategies to include startups and innovation cluster strategies.

Earlier in her career, Katz was the first executive director of a multi-stakeholder nonprofit partnership, Workforce Intelligence Network, to align economic and workforce development in Southeast Michigan. The nonprofit grew from a staff of one to 20+ and from one funding stream to twenty. A demonstration of her results-driven leadership, thousands of workers have participated in worker training, reskilling, upskilling, and apprenticeship efforts. Further, Katz has helped numerous communities around the country better navigate significant technology and economic change, whether establishing a flexible hybrid electronics applied research center in California or absorbing a new U.S. Marine base in Guam. Both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development and the U.S. General Accounting Office have recognized her nonprofit work fostering industry and public-sector partnerships. As a policy advocate, Katz participated in a local advisory council that determined the need and location for a new U.S./Canada border crossing, formed a bi-national coalition to support the free and secure movement of people and goods across the northern U.S. border (a key outcome was the REAL-ID), and shaped a policy agenda for the Midwestern Governors Association focused on growing venture investment in clean tech developed in the region.

Katz has a Master of Public Administration (University of Michigan) and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a Certificate in Latin American & Caribbean Studies (Michigan State University). As a Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellow, she undertook additional graduate studies at the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She speaks conversational Spanish.