PEORIA MAGAZINE April 2023

governments. He was the first nonprofit to graduate from the gBETA program for local entrepreneurs and startups seeking attention and backing for their ideas. Each of his board’s eight members “has a different expertise,” said Braun, who’s looking at working with a Washington D.C.-based group for innovators. He’s been urged to connect with the nationwide Rock the Vote campaign. “Know Your Vote” is Perikles’ tagline, and the national organization doesn’t provide a resource like Perikles, said Braun. While voter registration efforts are valuable, “you have to tell them (voters) what they’re voting on,” he said. Becky Mills was one of Braun’s pro fessors at Bradley. She supported the idea from the start and introduced him to mentors such as Brad McMillan of the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service. “As a young entrepreneur, I wanted him to succeed,” said Mills, a member

of Perikles’ board and now senior vice president/director of marketing and customer experience at Heartland Bank & Trust Company. The app provides the “information needed to make solid decisions.” Perikles has attracted attention in other states. Braun said a California based judge at Bradley’s annual Big Idea Competition remembered his presentation and tracked him down for a podcast. Braun said colleges and universities are still his best resource, as admin istrators look to serve students who may be registered to vote locally. “If (students) have the ability to vote here, they want them to vote here,” he said. This is especially valid for student athletes. Braun, whose mother is a longtime administrative assistant in Bradley’s athletics department, said he received encouragement from men’s head basketball coach Brian Wardle, among others. While in beta testing,

Braun met with Bradley’s players. “I’d just talked to the (men’s) basketball team and then volleyball players heard about it, talked to their coach, and then I’m talking to the entire volleyball team. This thing spreads so easily when people talk about it.” With a full-time job at a local mar keting company and a part-time one at Jimmy’s Bar on Farmington Road, Braun wants Perikles to eventually become his occupation. “I’ve always had a vision in my head. I want the average person, no matter where you are, to feel comfortable voting. Democracy needs a shot in the arm. This is my solution to that.”

Bob Grimson is a longtime journalist. He also is active in Peoria area community theater

APRIL 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 87