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Courtney Gras

Community Lead, AWS Startup BD | Former Director @ Techstars

Courtney Gras is a dynamic leader in the tech and startup ecosystem with a multifaceted professional background. She currently serves as the Startup Community Lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where she manages strategy and operations for a global community of over 6,000 startup CTOs.1

Professional Background

Key Roles and Experiences::

  • Startup Community Lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS)1
  • Former Director at Techstars, a global startup accelerator network13
  • Author of The Student Startup Guide, a book making entrepreneurship more approachable12
  • A former cleantech startup founder herself1

Mentorship and Entrepreneurship

Gras is deeply passionate about supporting entrepreneurs. Her mentoring journey began when she was a first-time founder at the University of Akron, where she was paired with an entrepreneur-in-residence.1 She has extensive experience in mentoring, having been involved with:

  • Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program in Northeast Ohio
  • Techstars startup accelerator programs
  • Providing guidance to tech startup founders

Personal Interests

Beyond her professional work, Gras is known as an ultra runner and maintains that her opinions are her own across her professional social media profiles.24

Her professional mission centers on helping entrepreneurs succeed, leveraging her experiences as a founder, director, and community leader in the startup ecosystem.35

Related Questions

What inspired Courtney Gras to transition from being a cleantech founder to a community lead at AWS?
How does Courtney Gras's experience at Techstars influence her role at AWS?
What are some key takeaways from "The Student Startup Guide" by Courtney Gras?
How does Courtney Gras balance her role at AWS with her mentoring activities?
What are some common challenges Courtney Gras encounters when mentoring startup founders?
Courtney Gras
Courtney Gras, photo 1
Courtney Gras, photo 2
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Location

Akron, Ohio, United States