Monica Wheat is a Strategist, Educator, and Venture Developer. She is the Founder and Partner at Venture Catalysts, a venture and ecosystem development group and Parallel Ventures, a consultancy focused on corporate innovation partnerships. Ms. Wheat proudly serves as the Entrepreneur In Residence at Grand Circus Detroit where she leads projects focused on techEd, corporate partnerships and diversity & inclusion. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Digerati Girls, Inc. / Digerati Kids, a non-profit that has helped over 5,500+ Detroit-area students gain skills and an introduction to careers in digital technology and entrepreneurship.

Ms. Wheat is extremely invested in the Detroit startup community, including her role leading Techstars Startup Programs in Detroit as Lead of the 6,500+ person Detroit Startup Week, Curator for Startup Digest Detroit / Ann Arbor and Director of Startup Boost Detroit, a global Pre-Accelerator.

Past clients and collaborators have included Fortune 10 corporations, regional vertical leaders, non-profits, school districts, tech accelerators, venture capital groups and start-ups. She regularly speaks at corporations & conferences on topics of emerging ecosystems, digital innovation, and women in technology. You will often find her in a city near you telling the story of #Detroit.