From Problems to Possibilities: Entrepreneurial Leadership in Action Presented by Babson College

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Four women health entrepreneurs in the Babson community talk about how women are creating, leading, studying, and funding companies that are tackling issues in the women’s health space.

Elissa Kalver, Founder and CEO, Wegotthis.org

Dr. Wiljeana Glover, Associate Professor in Operations and Information Management, Founding Faculty Director of the Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Babson College (pictured)

Elizabeth Bailey, Co-Founder and Managing director of Foreground Capital

Mary Tinebra, Business Partner and Chief Commercialization Officer at Inflection

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Sources:

Intro Segment:

(2024, November 19). 2023/24 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report Reshaping Economies and Communities. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. https://gemconsortium.org/report/202324-womens-entrepreneurship-report-reshaping-economies-and-communities-2

Dr. Wiljeana Glover Segment:

1.     https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/aug/health-care-women-how-us-compares-internationally

2.     https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2866602/#:~:text=Results.,of%2043.7%25%20of%20the%20NMEs.

Keyhani S, Wang S, Hebert P, Carpenter D, Anderson G. US pharmaceutical innovation in an international context. Am J Public Health. 2010 Jun;100(6):1075-80. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.178491. Epub 2010 Apr 19. PMID: 20403883; PMCID: PMC2866602.

3.     https://hologic.womenshealthindex.com/sites/default/files/2024-01/MISC09031_HGWHI_Y3GlobalReport_Final_Digital.pdf

4.     Glover, W., Pachamanova, D., and Li, Z. (2024) Framing Inclusive Practice Options for Financial, Operational, and Community Outcomes. Production and Operations Management Journal. Impact Factor: 4.6. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10591478241276927

5.     Glover, W., Crocker, A., and Brush, C., (2024) Healthcare Entrepreneurship: An Integrative Framework for Future Research. Journal of Business Venturing Insights. Impact Factor: 6.6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673424000283

6.     https://submissions.mirasmart.com/InformsAnnual2024/Itinerary/PresentationDetail.aspx?evdid=69

This particular study actually focused on breast cancer survival, not maternal morbidity, but similar findings have been found in maternal morbidity see: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-021-09691-2

7.     Gai, Y., Crocker, A., Brush, C., & Glover, W. J. (2024). How healthcare entrepreneurship enhances ecosystem outcomes: the relationship between venture capital-funded start-ups and county-level health. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ijebr-02-2023-0204/full/html#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20our%20results%20show%20that,binge%20drinking%20rates%20at%20

Elizabeth Bailey Segment:

Medicaid Stat: https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/quality-of-care/quality-improvement-initiatives/maternal-infant-health-care-quality/index.html#:~:text=Nearly%20two%20out%20of%20every,births%20in%20the%20United%20States. 

Mary Tinebra Segment:

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We discuss how entrepreneurs can use systems thinking and biomimicry to solve problems and maximize impact. This episode features a Babson Ecology professor, an alumna who is a blue economy specialist, and a current board member and former sustainable business leader.

Ela Gokcigdem ‘24, Blue Economy Specialist

Vikki L. Rodgers, PhD. Professor of Ecology and the Science Director and Integrated Sustainability Director at Babson (pictured)

Ramón Mendiola, Sustainable Business Leader, Former CEO of Florida Ice and Farm Company (FIFCO) Current Babson Board Member

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Sources: 
 
Intro Segment: 
 
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2021/01/what-systems-thinking-actually-means-and-why-it-matters-today/ 

https://www.weforum.org/publications/innovative-learning-solutions-to-navigate-complexity-adapting-systems-thinking-to-future-classrooms/ 

Ela’s Segment: 
Stanichny, Sergey. (2022). Outbreak of marine mucilage in the Sea of Marmara in 2021. Marine Biological Journal. 7. 107-109. 10.21072/mbj.2022.07.1.09. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359401873_Outbreak_of_marine_mucilage_in_the_Sea_of_Marmara_in_2021

https://www.avsaproject.org/

 
Professor Rodgers’ Segment: 
 
Books on Biomimicry: 
  
Benyus, J. 2002. Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature. Harper Perennial 
  
Collins, K. 2014. Nature of investing: Resilient investment strategies through biomimicry. Routledge 
  
Articles (mentioned or used for research): 
  
Brier, E. Sept 19, 2024 “Forbes Sustainability Leaders” Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/elisabethbrier/article/forbes-sustainability-leaders/

  
Russo, A. 2020. “Half of world’s GDP moderately or highly dependent on nature, says new report” World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/01/half-of-world-s-gdp-moderately-or-highly-dependent-on-nature-says-new-report/

Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. Global warming of 1.5 C https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ 
 
Colombo, L. A., Moser, C., Muehlfeld, K., & Joy, S. (2024). Sowing the seeds of change: Calling for a social–ecological approach to management learning and education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 23(2), 207-213. https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/amle.2024.0086

Article Professor Rodgers co-authored that references Babson’s interdisciplinary SES work to focus on inclusive and interdisciplinary teaching: 
  
Byrne, L. B., Rauschert, E. S., Rodgers, V. L., Bowser, G., Casper, A., Dewsbury, B., ... & Weber, L. (2025). Diversifying Ecology Education for Everyone Through More Inclusive, Interdisciplinary, and Accessible Teaching. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, e2233. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bes2.2233

  
Babson publications on SES courses: 
  
Babson College. “Socio-Ecological Systems Core Courses” https://www.babson.edu/undergraduate/academics/curriculum/socio-ecological-systems/

Savignano, M. 2022. “Exploring an integrated mindset” Babson Thought & Action https://entrepreneurship.babson.edu/socio-ecological-deer-island/

Crawford, J. 2023. “What the future demands of today’s classrooms”. Babson Magazine. https://entrepreneurship.babson.edu/faculty-future-classroom/

Ramón’s Segment: 
 
https://thecostaricanews.com/fifco-aspires-to-be-the-first-positive-water-company-in-costa-rica/

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f3c5ddbe65946007f0290f/t/663a6a0a2ab5953f275ef5e3/1715104284095/FIFCO-Integrated-Report-2024-ENVIRONMENTAL.pdf 

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Three entrepreneurial leaders talk about how authentic storytelling and representation in media an make an impact not only on a company's bottom line, but on the customers they serve.

We speak with a Babson alum who's an advertising Hall of Fame inductee and visionary creative agency leader, Babson's own resident marketing expert, who will help us break down the connections between representation brands and consumers, and an entrepreneur who's bringing inclusive casting practices for photo and video to a whole new level.

Aaron Walton ’83, CEO and Founder Walton / Isaacson, Advertisers Hall of Fame Inductee

Anjali S. Bal, PhD., Associate Professor of Marketing and Presidential Scholar at Babson College

Kristie Raymond, Founder & Chief Casting Strategist, HumanKind Casting

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Sources:

Intro Segment

1. (2024, September 1). See Jane 2024. The Geena Davis Institute. Retrieved

February 21, 2025, from (Geena Davis Institute (2024, September 1). See Jane

2024: How Has On-Screen Representation in Children’s Television Changed

from 2018 to 2023? Https://Geenadavisinstitute.org/. Retrieved February 24,

12025, from

https://geenadavisinstitute.org/research/see-jane-2024-how-has-on-screen-repre

sentation-in-childrens-television-changed-from-2018-to-2023/).

Aaron’s Segment

1. Mckinsey & Company (2020, May 19). Diversity wins: How inclusion matters.

Mckinsey.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins

-how-inclusion-matters

2. Gartner (2019, September 20). Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance

Teams. Gartner.com. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/diversity-and-inclusion-build-high-per

formance-teams

3. World Economic Forum (2019, April 29). The Business Case for Diversity is now

Overwhelming. Weforum.org. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-work

place/

Professor Bal’s Segment

1. 2. NeuroLaunch Editorial Team. (2024, September 15). The psychological power of

using someone's name. NeuroLaunch. Retrieved from

https://neurolaunch.com/psychology-of-calling-someone-by-their-name/

Bond, J. (2021, August 30). The impact of respecting another person's gender.

Psychology Today. Retrieved from

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/more-diagnosis/202108/the-impact-res

pecting-another-persons-gender

Credits:

Paul DeWolf, Executive Producer

Madeline Poirier, Writer, Producer, and Host

Billy Wirasnik, Audio Recording, Design, and Mix

Epidemic Sound, Music and SFX