Registration required: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/2053129984

Join us on Thursday, January 30 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a Women in Tech Luncheon with Cara Bognar, founder and CEO of Top Tier Lessons. Cara will share her unique journey as a bioengineering student-athlete turned startup founder, highlighting how her skills and mindset as an engineer influenced her approach to building Top Tier Lessons. She’ll discuss the path she took to transition from her degree into launching a tech-driven business that connects college athletes with families for youth sports coaching. Cara will also touch on her work with Women in Entrepreneurship, where she leads a diverse community of students across fields. This talk offers insights covering the impact of mentorship, innovation, and resilience in carving a new path. 

About the Speaker:
Cara Bognar is the founder and CEO of Top Tier Lessons, an online marketplace that connects college athletes with local families for personalized sports coaching. Inspired by her own experiences as a college athlete and understanding the unique challenges student-athletes face balancing sports and work, Cara launched Top Tier Lessons to give athletes a flexible way to earn income while sharing their expertise with young, aspiring athletes.

Cara also founded Women in Entrepreneurship, an organization that fosters support and empowerment for women pursuing entrepreneurial paths. The program hosts a diverse class of 50 students from more than 25 fields of study, creating a collaborative environment where students from varied disciplines bring unique perspectives and drive innovative ideas.

Under Cara's leadership, Top Tier Lessons has grown from a local startup into a multi-city operation, reaching families across the country with tailored sports programs led by skilled college athletes. Cara recently closed a successful pre-seed raise with venture fund M25 as the lead investor, underscoring her commitment to scaling a mission-driven business within the sports tech space.

If you have any questions, please contact Cathy McArthur at mcarthur@illinois.edu.

The university plans to capture photographs and video of this event. Be aware that if you attend, you are consenting to the possibility that your image and likeness may be shared or published by the university for marketing-communications purposes.