MELISSA TALARICO

Venture Director
Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center

(312) 494-6728
melissa@chicagolandec.org

Melissa Talarico is the Venture Director and a business advisor for the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC).

In this role, she advises CEC clients who are raising both debt and equity financing, assists clients through the process of applying for a CEC matching grant and oversees the expansion of the organization's Venture Forum program.

Melissa has over six years of experience as an Electrical Engineer, in the functional areas of Test Engineering, Design Engineering, and Product Development for Delphi Automotive, Omron Electronics and locally-based product development firm, Herbst LaZar Bell.

Recently, Melissa was an Associate for Northwestern University’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs in Technology, where she assisted women-led businesses in finding and utilizing investment and other resources needed when launching start-up technology-based businesses. She assisted in planning and executing the Springboard: Midwest 2005 Venture Capital Forum, which is a national series of forums designed to assist high growth women-led businesses in obtaining Venture Capital and Angel financing. Melissa assists the Illinois Venture Capital Association in planning and executing the Angel / Seed Stage track at the annual Midwest Venture Summit, and prepares select CEC clients to present at the annual LARTA Venture Forum held in San Jose, CA.

Melissa received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with major concentrations in Marketing, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Finance.