Tabitha Messmore (she/her)

As assistant director of LaunchNET Kent State, Tabitha combines her entrepreneurial experience with her skills and background in writing, marketing and teaching to help further the ideals of entrepreneurial thinking, creativity and innovation across the Kent State University landscape. By assisting clients in bringing their ideas to fruition and working with departments, student orgs and other groups across campuses, LaunchNET supports entrepreneurial endeavors and new approaches to problem solving.

An alumna of the 2018 class of the Institute for Excellence, Tabitha continues her leadership by serving as a Design Innovation team member and on committees such as University Diversity Action Council (UDAC), KSU Anti-Racism Task Force, The Women's Center Scholarship committee, Spectrum (ERG), the LGBTQ+ Center Quest mentorship program, Universities Libraries committees, and in the community as part of the Akron Symphony Orchestra's marketing committee.

Previously, Tabitha has assisted with legal writing at The University of Akron School of Law, taught English Composition at The University of Akron, consulted for a variety of local businesses, and written about writing theory, linguistics, and professional writing. During her time as a managing partner of the original (UA) chapter of the NEO Student Venture Fund, they invested $25,000 in a local education tech startup that went on to raise significant funding and recently got acquired. She also continues to edit for a variety of clients and journals, including the AERA Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research (Managing Editor). 

She has presented at numerous conferences, preparing and speaking on panels at the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Higher Ed (2018, 2020); the 2020 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) conference; and the Legal Storytelling Conference in London, UK (2013). She also co-authored an article on multicultural communication in education, published in May 2014.

Tabitha is also currently pursuing her Doctorate of Education in Interprofessional Leadership at Kent State.