Innovator, entrepreneur to give free lecture Sept. 11

Northwest Missouri State University will host a lecture this month featuring a recognized creative thinker and entrepreneur who has inspired success in the fields of education, workforce development, entrepreneurship and economic development.

The lecture featuring Dr. Sean Siebert is sponsored by Northwest’s Office of Student Involvement and Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business and begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. It is free and open to the public.

Siebert’s book, “Fighting the Good Fight: Finding Hope Where Hope Has Been Lost,” will be available for purchase, and he will sign books after the lecture.

“Entrepreneurship and innovation are vital aspects of both our local economy and the profession-based learning opportunities we strive to provide to students,” Dr. Ben Blackford, director of the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business, said. “Dr. Siebert’s presentation is a great opportunity for the local business and campus community to engage with a creative approach to innovation and creative thinking that has been widely recognized.”

As the founder of the strategic management firm Invent Yourself LLC, Siebert’s cross-collaborative work has been funded by numerous organizations, including the Delta Regional Authority, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Kauffman Foundation and Georgia-Pacific, among other agencies. Additionally, Siebert serves as a contracted subject matter expert for the Institute for Intergovernmental Research.

In 2018, he was honored by the Missouri Association of School Administrators with the prestigious Friend of Education Award for his work with school districts in the state. He also has been honored as the Entrepreneur of the Year and Citizen of the Year by the Cuba (Missouri) Area Chamber of Commerce. His work to create entrepreneurship summits and competitions for youth has been recognized by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Prior to founding Invent Yourself, Siebert worked in higher education, serving as an assistant professor at Columbia College and at William Woods University, where he was dean of graduate programs and MBA program director. At the University of Missouri—Columbia, he was human resource manager for the Department of Internal Medicine and manager of business and financial operations for the Department of Pediatrics.

Siebert holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Missouri—Columbia, a Master of Business Administration from William Woods University, and a doctorate degree in management from Webster University.

In addition to his lectures and presentations related to management theory, his work has been featured in The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal.