Nora Betyousef Lacy, founder of the biotech company Cell Marque and the nonprofit Assyrian Arts Institute, will be giving a free talk at Sierra Nevada College on Feb. 22 at 11:45am.

Lacy became an entrepreneur in 1994. After 25 years working in biotechnology, she founded Cell Marque Corp., which specializes in cancer-detection products for pathology laboratories. She grew the company from an initial $5,000 investment to a 100-employee company manufacturing immunohistochemistry diagnostic products for pathology labs worldwide, then sold it in 2014 to the multinational conglomerate Merck.

After the sale Nora focused on philanthropy. She established the nonprofit Nora Betyousef Foundation, leveraging her management expertise to encourage and mentor Assyrian entrepreneurs in starting their own businesses, and established the Assyrian Arts Institute.