Since it was founded earlier this year, Innovators’ Club has grown in popularity, drawing crowds of students to high-profile guest speakers — from a former mayor to an NFL player — while fostering student interest in creativity and innovation.

Luca Caffarelli, Viren de Jeu and Joe Tamari, all juniors, cofounded the club at the beginning of the year. Approximately every other month, Innovators’ Club hosts a guest speaker, usually doing a Q&A with them to cultivate student engagement.

When the club was formed, Joe was unsure how many people were going to attend. But since then, events have attracted dozens of students. 

“At first, we didn’t know how big it was gonna be, so we started by just telling our friends to come,” Joe said, “and somehow we got Lori Lightfoot, which was a big turning point, and after that speaking event, everyone started coming and we gained recognition.”

At most of the club meetings, one of the cofounders gives a presentation, often hinting at who the next guest speaker will be. Recently, the club welcomed Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet. Joe feels that getting people to come and speak is the most difficult part of running the club.

“After I got in contact with Cole Kmet, he was pretty excited, and he really loved the idea of it, so it was really easy to manage the logistics of it,” Joe said. “After guest speakers get on stage, they kind of just talk, so usually getting them is the hardest part.”

Along with giving students the chance to learn and grow by hearing guest speakers’ experiences, Joe has also found personal satisfaction in the club’s growth.

“For me, with the Cole Kmet thing, there were obviously a lot of people,” Joe said, “and there was a lot of buildup, and we had to prepare a lot, but afterwards the fact that we had all these people come was such a good feeling.”