Shelisa Demuth is a public relations executive and media startup founder specializing in go-to-market strategy for emerging brands and leaders. With over 15 years of demonstrated leadership in strategic communications and entrepreneurial support, she is the founder of LAUREL, a public relations firm for innovation ecosystems and the people who lead them. Her track record of innovative entrepreneurial activity is extensive, founding three companies and contributing communications and sales and communications leadership to several others. She is the former executive director at The Beta Group, the nonprofit organization which operates BETA, Twin Cities Startup Week and tech.mn. During her tenure, the organization doubled its community size from 25,000 to over 50,000 and successfully expanded programs for access to capital for founders representing underrepresented communities, thus connecting founders to over $17M in venture capital funds in 2022. In 2023, Demuth launched a leadership profile series, RISING ICONS, which features innovators from startup, philanthropy, risk capital, research, government and corporations who are disrupting industries and shaping our world. The series received grant funding from Knight Foundation and is positioned to feature over 200 leaders in its first year, providing participating ICONS a platform and support developing key opinion leadership strategy. Demuth's work is fueled by a passion for innovation, connection and belonging, a nod to her formative experiences growing up in a rural town in the midwest. Considered by peers as a disruptor for social good, she stays engaged in work that advances innovation and accelerates economic empowerment in her home state of Minnesota.Her leadership extends to community organizations where she serves as a member of the board of directors for Junior Achievement North, on the advisory board at LaunchMN and the leadership council at Forge North.