Category Archives: Mentors

A mentor is “a trusted guide or counselor” who uses a process of open dialogue and real-life experiences to help a mentee acquire and apply knowledge so they may achieve new levels of success in their personal and professional lives. Mentoring is a confidential and trusted relationship between people. The primary purpose of mentoring is to provide the mentee an environment where they can share and receive information, insight feedback that they might otherwise had received.

Join me as we explore the power of mentors in our lives.

Change Tomorrow Today – Maximize Human Potential Through Education

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Did you know that more than 100 million children under the age of six in developing countries currently fail to reach their potential in cognitive development? Can we be part of the solution and find innovative ways to deliver quality early education to millions of underprivileged children who desperately need to get education at the earliest ages in or near the world’s cities? This was the challenge put forth by President Clinton and Hult Prize to students from around the world.

Hult Prize and Clinton Global Initiative

President Bill Clinton – Hult Prize Finals NYC

The Hult Prize competition is a response to President Bill Clinton’s call to action for the world’s brightest minds to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. In the past, the Hult Prize Challenge tackled housing, energy, education, food security, and healthcare challenges on a global level, and the competition has yielded teams with powerful and transforming ideas. Winning teams managed to not only develop these ideas but also implement them in serving the greater good. In its 6th year, the Hult Prize challenge asks global university teams to find new sustainable social enterprise approaches to promote and increase early childhood development and help the not so privileged children access quality education. Student teams compete in five cities around the world for a chance to secure $1 million in start-up funding to launch a sustainable social venture. This year 20,000 applications were received from more than 500 colleges and universities in over 150 countries.

Hult Prize Judges

A key element of the story, and the power of Hult Prize, is answering the social enterprise challenge each year impacting the world. Another equally important part of the story is about the opportunity and gratification of being a judge. The judges are a diverse group of people from the ranks of corporate CXOs, non-profit leaders, and social entrepreneurs. When they participate as judges they join an extensive community established by Hult Prize and their partners: Hult International Business School, Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), and IXL Center. Many of us have never met before, yet we come together as a working team at the regional championships. Each of us is changed forever by being instrumental in helping to launch the next wave of social entrepreneurs.

Ahmad Ashkar CEO & Founder Hult Prize

This is my 3^rd year as a Hult Prize judge. I will be working with Ahmad Ashkar, Founder and CEO of Hult Prize, to create an alumni group of judges providing a unique opportunity to continue the experience and impact of being a judge, in addition to building a foundation upon which past and current judges can collaborate on providing a platform for extending the impact of social entrepreneurship. More to come in the next few months on this topic.

Hult Prize Regional Competition

Faces of Students

An international rolling judging process follows the sun starting at Hult campuses in Dubai, Shanghai, London, Boston, and finishes in San Francisco. At my location in San Francisco we had 4 groups, 4 judges for each group, and a morning and afternoon pitch contest, 7 in each session. One difference in the process this year was having peer group students listening to the pitch and providing feedback to the judges prior to the deliberation process. I facilitated the discussion between the students and my fellow judges and found that, while the day was longer than it had been in prior years, interacting with the students provided additional insight supporting the decision making process.

Selecting the San Francisco Regional Winner

Athollo San Francisco Winning Team

After hearing the presentations of the final 8 teams, the 16 judges convened in a tent at Levi Center to vote on the San Francisco regional winner. You would think that after a long day of judging (over 10 hours) that we would exhausted from the long day. Instead, each of us came to the room initially voting for the team we had brought to the final selection process. Via deep discussion about the winning criteria, which included innovative idea, clear business plan, partnerships, and a line of sight to execute against their vision, we concluded and selected Athollo, University of Tampa, to move to the New York finals. Their tag line – Maximizing Human Potential Through Education. Their vision, provide top quality early childhood education for children living in urban slums of developing nations through the utilization of mobile phones of female micro-entrepreneurs. In doing so, they endeavor to alleviate the inaccessibility of education around the world. It will be interesting to see how their idea matures through the summer Hult Prize accelerator program.

Call to Action

Pam McNamara IXL and Sheryl Chamberlain

So, how are you going to change the world? Is the time right for you to work with the students and help them on this amazing journey? I invite you to join our community committed to social innovation and entrepreneurship. This year Hult Prize brought back the online challenge round, which gives all of the entries a second chance to make it to NYC as our “sixth” regional winner. The online round runs from March 16 – May 8. Join us there http://www.hultprize.org/en/compete/online-challenge-2015/overview/

Together, I am confident we can make a difference.

Honorable Mention

Amanda Boyek, San Francisco Regional Director, Hult Prize

Amanda Boyek, San Fran Regional Director, Hult Prize

Kicking off the San Francisco regionals was Amanda Boyek, 2014 finalist and after graduating SF Regional Director, Hult Prize. She was on Team Monterey, the team my group of judges selected. We are now connected forever with our shared passion for social entrepreneurship and the Hult Prize. For me Amanda, young, bright and passionate is already showcasing the impact of her leader’s legacy.

Student Innovation: Changing the World

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Hult Prize Inspires Cross Cultural Leaders to Unite While Building Communities of Social Change

Students Kick Off The Day

Can we build a social healthcare enterprise that serves the needs of 25 million slum dwellers suffering from chronic diseases by 2019? This was the Challenge put forth by President Clinton and Hult Prize to students from around the world. The Hult Prize is a global competition and start-up accelerator for budding young social entrepreneurs emerging from the world’s universities. Named as one of the top five ideas changing the world by President Bill Clinton and TIME Magazine, the annual competition for the Hult Prize aims to identify and launch the most compelling social business ideas—start-up enterprises that tackle grave issues faced by billions of people.

President Bill Clinton at Hult Prize Finals 2013

More than 11,000 applications were received, but only 300 start-ups selected to present ideas to judges at the 6 regional competitions held this past weekend (March 7-8, 2014) in Boston, Dubai, London, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. Although inspired by the experience of responding to this challenge, students are also motivated by the award of $1,000,000 in seed capital to the winners, as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community in an intensive six-week Social Enterprise Accelerator held at IXL-Center in Boston.

Faces of Students at Final Judging in San Francisco

A key part of the story, and the power of Hult Prize is answering the social enterprise challenge each year impacting the world, this year seeking solutions to improve chronic disease healthcare in slums. Another part of the story is about the effect and gratification of being a judge.

The Judges Team 2, Andreas Raptopoulos, CEO Matternet; Chris Stacy, Director IDEO, Sheryl Chamberlain, EMC; Lacy Caruthers, Principal Google; Chris S. Thomas, Chief Strategist Intel

The judges are a diverse group of people from the ranks of corporate CXOs, non-profit leaders and social entrepreneurs. When they participate as judges they join an extensive community established by Hult Prize and their partners: Hult International Business School, Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and IXL Center. Many of us have never met before, yet we come together as a working team at the regional championships. In total approximately 1,200 entrepreneurs spend an estimated 1.4 Million Man Hours on Hult Prize. Each of us is changed forever by being instrumental in helping to launch the next wave of social entrepreneurs.

Aspire, Hult Prize 2013 winning team from Canada’s McGill University

Last year I participated in the Boston regionals where the Challenge was to end world hunger. At the time, the United Nations estimated over 870 Million people in the urban slums are uncertain of food sustainability. The 2013 Hult Prize winning team from McGill University, now a start-up posed to tackle this challenge head-on, was team Aspire. Their game changing idea? Insects (see my blog Cricket Flour Power Wins 2013 Hult Prize).

Judges Team 3, The Winning Team

This year I was local, participating in the San Francisco regionals, with a group of 25 judges separated into 4 groups. Each group spent the day listening to pitches and deliberating as a team to select a group winner. Then all of us together, competitive, rowdy, and filled with passion agreed on the regional champion, MIT’s Wi Care. Their start-up concept – the Wound Pump. When left untreated wounds can become infected lead to death. This is true everywhere in the world, but especially in the slums. It will be interesting to see how their winning idea matures and flourishes after they spend the summer at the Hult Prize Accelerator in Boston.

San Francisco Regionals Winning Team: MIT Wi Care

So you have a good sense of what it is like to be a judge I asked my fellow judges to share a quote about their personal experience. Team 3, MIT’s Wi Care was the winning idea.

Team 1 UPenn Nexus

Kate O'Keefe Cisco, Dorian Stone McKinsey, Terri Mandel BioMedLink

Kate O’Keefe Cisco, Dorian Stone McKinsey, Terry Mandel BioMedLink

The Nexus team’s plan is aimed at providing cheap but first-world quality drugs to slum dwellers by (1) remotely diagnosing underserved slum dwellers via SMS, and (2) redirecting currently wasted near-expiration drugs from the U.S. and selling it at low cost to local clinics. Terry Mandel, colleague, friend, healthcare leader, and CEO BioMedlink, “While their proposals covered a wide range of ideas, viability, and market readiness, the teams universally displayed a passion for, and commitment to, reducing human suffering through sustainable business innovation. I found out later that the UPenn team we advanced for their plan to stock Indian health clinics with first-world pharmaceutical drug “waste” comprised all undergraduates! Like the other teams, they were keen for feedback and mentoring to move their idea towards proof of concept.”

Team 2, My Team Monterey Institute of International Studies (one of many all women teams)

Monterey Institute of International Studies

This all women team impressed me through their focus on solving high blood pressure, by targeting remittances and creating a partnership with local community healthcare workers. A two fold idea creating jobs while solving the issues associated with high blood pressure. I asked Chris S. Thomas who was the judge quote king for the day, succinctly summarizing each pitch with a pithy quote, for his impressions. At the end of the experience: “Incredible rapid fire pipeline of quality ideas and innovative teams. It was like “Speed Dating 4 Innovation” with the judges arguing over who to take home.” Chris S. Thomas  Chief Strategist  Director of Architecture  World Ahead  Intel Corporation.

Team 3, the WinningTeam MIT Wi Care

Markus Fromherz, Xerox Chief Innovation Officer, Healthcare

Markus Fromherz, the Xerox Chief Innovation Officer, Healthcare said, “The MIT team demonstrated unusual insight and commitment to their chosen problem, open-wound care. The solution included not just a novel, safer, and easier-to-use device with proven business model based on their field work, but also addressed aspects like the local manufacturability and care-giver training to make this a successful social enterprise.”

Team 4 Hult International Business School

Hult International Business School

Introducing Hult at the regional finals was Kate O’Keefe, Chief Innovation Officer at Cisco. Talking about powerful women committed to changing the world, Kate a recent Sydney/Bay Area transplant received standing applause, during her deliberations.

Kate O'Keefe Cisco, Hitendra Patel Ph.D, Managing Director of the IXL Center

Kate O’Keefe Chief Innovation Officer, Cisco; Hitendra Patel Ph.D, Managing Director of the IXL Center

“It was a privilege to be a judge for the Hult Prize, to be involved for just a moment in the incredible journey these social entrepreneurs from schools all over the world have been on… What impressed me most was that none of these teams were there to build businesses to enrich themselves – they were all there to enrich the lives of the world’s poor through addressing chronic illness.” Kate O’Keefe, Cisco.

Mike Leisher, GM GE Healthcare; Liz Maw, CEO Netimpact; Hugh Molotsti,VP Intuit Labs

Recounting the entire day’s experience, Hugh Molotsi, Vice President, Intuit Labs Incubator at Intuit. “It was a long day rewarding day with lots of impressive teams. MIT’s Wi Care team came out on top but I hope many other teams keep going.” Fellow judge and blogger Shahid Kahn Innovation Evangelist & Coach at PayPal said, “One thing that lit my fire is that these young women and men could empathize with the poor living in slums, while they are from a completely different background. Check Shahid Khan’s blog on the Hult San Francisco Regionals. Lacy Caruthers, Principal at Google said: “The Hult Prize excels at finding and supporting the best and brightest entrepreneurs globally. I was blown away by the creativity and drive of the teams here, and look forward to seeing many of these ideas in action.”

Hitendra Patel, Ph.D. Managing Director of the IXL Center, Professor of Innovation & Growth, Hult IBS

After the program I had a chance to catch up with Hitendra Patel, Ph.D and Managing Director of the IXL Center. Hitendra and Ron Jonash Senior Partner at the IXL Center both Hult International Business School Faculty wrote the Challenge in partnership with CGI and Hult. Hitendra said, the students answer the challenge completely on their own, and offered us a Challenge to work with the students, so they too can incubate their idea.

Sheryl Chamberlain Hult Prize San Francisco Judge

So, how are you going to change the world? Is the time right for you to work with the students, and help them on this amazing journey? I invite you to join our community committed to social innovation and entrepreneurship. Together, I am confident we can make a difference. Learn more about this year’s regional winners at Hult Prize 2014 Six Finalists and look for my post on the Hult Prize finals coming this September.

Getting Back In The Game

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I believe that women represent a tremendous, untapped resource that has produced and will continue to yield huge returns for organizations and the communities they support. Through the power of women’s entrepreneurial activity, we create growth and prosperity while driving solutions for business and social problems. We, in partnership with men, are now a driving force of entrepreneurial growth and leading real, fundamental economic change that is reshaping the world. That’s why I said YES, when Johanna Wise invited me to be the morning keynote at the inaugural Connect•Work•Thrive Conference.

Sheryl Chamberlain and Johanna Wise Connect Work Thrive Conference Founder

Sheryl Chamberlain and Johanna Wise Founder of Refresh Your Career: Connect Work Thrive

“The goal of the conference is to provide job seekers, who are returning to work after a career break or looking to make a career change, with practical tools and advice to better market themselves in the fast-changing Bay Area marketplace,” said Refresh Your Career: Connect•Work•Thrive Founder Johanna Wise. The conference target audience is men, women and employers.

I was joined by fellow keynote speaker Vivian Steir Rabin CoFounder iLaunch who said “The longer you’re away from work, the more you need to determine whether your interests and skills have changed. For those who weren’t terribly happy in their jobs before they took a break, this is all the more important. For those people, the break is a gift.” Vivian is the co-author of the acclaimed career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work and the co-founder of career reentry programming company iRelaunch. iRelaunch’s signature product is the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference, which has attracted nearly 3,000 attendees across the US and in London. After attending Vivian’s workshop it was clear Vivian inspired Johanna, me and all the lives she touches.

Vivian Steir Rabin Co-Founder iRelaunch

Feedback from Brenda Bernstein, Founder and Senior Editor and event speaker, “My favorite moment of the day was in my Traversing the Resume Gap workshop. I put a section of one of the participant’s resumes up on the screen and asked for feedback from the group on how he could better leverage his experience as a “stay-at-home dad.” The feedback and suggestions from the group were amazing! Spot-on and exactly what was needed. This exchange was a testament to the quality of the attendees. I hope they are able to continue to support each other into the future!” Brenda Bernstein is the Author of the Best-Selling e-book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile… and 18 Mistakes to Avoid

Brenda Bernstein Author

Participant at Sara Ellis Conant session titled Having it All: Combining a Meaningful Career with the Relationships You Desire said, “I loved your workshop yesterday on “Having it All”. The presentation really resonated with me as a working mother with a beautiful six and two year old and constantly feeling torn between two worlds. I am not usually a tactile/visual type of person but I am planning on filling a jar with my priorities (rocks and pebbles) and putting it in my home as a reminder to listen to my heart and also to bring me back when things get out of balance.”

Sara Ellis Conant

Before speaking at the program Karen Burke, Director of Connect•Work•Thrive Public Relations interviewed me about my personal brand and qualities employers are looking for in their job candidates, why collaboration is key to a successful and fulfilling work, life, and the focus of my upcoming keynote entitled, “Burnish Your Brand – Using Your Best Talents More Often”.

Sheryl Chamberlain Interview with CWT (Connect Work Thrive)

CWT: What do you hope will be your presentation’s key takeaways for conference attendees?

A: There are many ways to be a successful leader in the world. By giving examples of leaders, some of whom are not well-known [have not had the spotlight focused on them] who achieved success by executing against their vision, I hope to inspire audience members that they too can make a career doing something they love. Essentially, burnishing, or polishing, your brand will provide the path for you to be more successful more often. I also want to encourage attendees to use their success to help the next generation of leaders and innovators.

CWT: What is a “personal brand?” Are there any specific “brand” qualities employers are looking for when hiring candidates in today’s job market?

A: My brand is being an agent of change. In every situation, I think creatively to develop new solutions to problems and, at the same time, engage leaders from every level in the organization as partners in the plan. To do this, I combine business acumen and process to execute on strategic initiatives while fostering trust and building partnerships. I routinely involve myself in multiple work streams while staying focused on my individual objectives and delivering results. A big part of my brand is providing support and development opportunities for members of my team and my partners, and recognizing them for their contributions.

Today organizations are looking for individuals who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, but understand they must be part of the solution. While it is important to have a social media footprint, it must be one that adds value to you and your organization. I would add, learning on the job is acceptable as long as you have positive energy and fresh ideas.

CWT: In the past, you have talked about the importance of collaboration and developing a community to achieve success in both work and personal life. Why is this important?

A: My good friend Kare Anderson, Emmy Award Winning Journalist and Forbes columnist is committed to building a world that is better together, one of our shared passions. When we live a life where we work together with and for each other in our work, personal interests, and social life, we will live better, more impactful lives. Results can be achieved in three ways:

Sheryl Chamberlain and Kare Anderson

1) Use our best talents more often

2) Grow your circle of friendships

3) Be part of something larger than ourselves while recognizing the possibility and power of unintentional allies.

CWT: As a successful corporate executive at EMC Corporation, what gets you most excited about coming to work every day?

A: I get up every day, knowing I have two jobs: 1. Identify new opportunities for creating local and global communities of leadership and innovation and 2. Lead Industry Standards and Open Source Strategy in my role within the Office of the CTO. Together these two passions give me the energy and drive to come to work for EMC every day.

CWT: Can you name some men and women who have inspired you throughout your career?

A: I am surrounded by amazing executives at EMC, VMware and VCE many of whom have held out their hand of support freely. They include Pat Gelsinger, VMware CEO; Frank Hauck, VCE President; Joel Schwartz, EMC SVP; Dan Campbell, EMC SVP; Helene Barnekow, EMC SVP. But when I consider the work I have done in the community, there are two people that stand out: Rayona Sharpnack, Founder & President Institute for Women’s Leadership and Linda Alepin Founder and CEO Global Women’s Leadership Network and 2013 Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award Winner Both of these women have committed their lives to changing the world and have created leadership programs to train and support women to achieve ground breaking results.

Linda Alepin, Eleanor Roosevelt Award Winner

Linda Alepin, Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award Winner

This past week I had an opportunity to reflect on the power of this conference, and impact on the employers and attendees. Employers which included EMC Corporation, Stanford Graduate School, Bain & Company, Yale Silicon Valley Club, and Gleam had an opportunity to share successful back-to-work approaches in today’s job market while networking with on-site with local firms. Additionally, Pam Fox Rollin delivered a session called “Onboarding Executives: Grasping The Opportunity to More Senior Teams Forward”. Pam an Executive Coach, IdeaShape regularly facilitates senior leadership team workshops shared tips from her book 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role.

Johanna met her goal to provide job seekers, who are returning to work after a career break with practical tools to better market themselves in the fast-changing Bay Area marketplace. But most important attendees had an opportunity to:

Assess personal skills and determine applicable careers
Address the gap years on a resume and during job interviews
Determine necessary job search resources and how to leverage them to get a job
Maintain confidence during job search and dress for success
Identify and reach powerful job networks

Employers attending Pam Fox Rollin’s session

I look forward to staying connected to this community led by Johanna Wise, while helping men and women get back into the game, finding employment, and refreshing their career.

You can learn more about this Johanna Wise and Connect Work Thrive by going to these links: In The News, About Connect Work Thrive, Sponsors, CWT on Facebook .

Women Leaders of Impact

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I believe that women represent a tremendous, untapped resource that has produced and will continue to yield huge returns for organizations and the communities they support. Through the power of women’s entrepreneurial activity, we create growth and prosperity while driving solutions for business and social problems. I am empowered and excited that now, today, the power of women’s entrepreneurship has hit a media tipping point – we, in partnership with men, are now a driving force of entrepreneurial growth and leading real, fundamental economic change that is reshaping the world.

Global Women Leadership Network Sisters

Nowhere was this more visible than at EMC last week. In partnership with EMC’s West Coast Women’s Leadership Forum we hosted The Leader of Impact Award 2013, which honors a Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) graduate for her outstanding contributions. This, the second annual award program also recognizes their entire graduate community, a group of women who have committed their lives to changing the world while creating new opportunities for women and girls around the world. The contest celebrates the dedicated work of all GWLN graduates who are making a difference in over 40 countries. The judges including Linda Alepin, Jeff Chow, Keren Pavese, Sandya Puchalapalli and Michelle Swensen who are leaders in their own right and are to be thanked for their demanding, yet fulfilling job of selecting the five finalists with the support of GWLN graduates, friends, family and colleagues.

EMC Diversity Leaders and LOL Award Recipient Smarita Sengupta

This year’s LOL award recipient is Smarita Sengupta, (GWLN 2010) founded the Destiny Foundation in India. Her vision is Liberation of the Sold Soul. Her mission is to end sex trafficking and slavery through the economic empowerment of women. The foundation employs women who are at high risk of being trafficked while living in brothels, red light areas and shelter homes. They provide them with vocational training in sewing and textiles. When girls master the skills of sewing and textiles, they are offered a position at Destiny Reflection. Through this employment, women are able to become economically self-sufficient under dignified working conditions.

Smarita Sengupta, LOI 2013 Award Recipient

Equally empowered visionaries included the four other finalists. 1) Diti Mookherjee (GWLN 2011) – her vision is Youth Nuture Nature. While in the U.S. as a Fulbright-Nehru Environmental Leadership Fellow, Diti attended the GWLN leadership program and conceived of the Green Rhinos Program, a global transformational youth nature leadership program. One year later, there are more than 600 youth nature leaders known as “Green Rhinos”, including 300 girls. 2) Isha Darmy (GWLN 2011) – her vision is reducing Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates in Sierra Leone. Supporting the community of Magbil and surrounding villages, she helped build a Health Centre and trained 42 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) to care for women during their ante-natal, labor and post-natal periods.

Ishma Darmey LOI Finalist

3) Mariana Faerron-Gutierrez (GWLN 2011) – her vision is Making Social Impact One Cup At A Time and is accomplished by helping the coffee bean farmer buying beans at double the Fair Trade price and thereby improving the lives of their families and communities.

Mariana Faerron-Gutierrez LOI Finalist

4) Martine Bolsens-Peeterman (GWLN 2012 ) is living her dream through her vision, Scaling Impact through Connectivity. Today she is GWLN Global Ambassador. She is the bridge-builder connecting the passion of her peers with resources to accomplish their dreams. I have become an advocate for all of their projects by raising awareness for the work to which they have committed their time, talents, and resources.

Martine Bolsens-Peeterman GWLN Global Ambassador & LOI Finalist

Whether GWLN alumni are building schools, improving healthcare, eliminating poverty or creating new jobs, each leader is committed to improving the lives of individuals and communities. It is the dedicated work of all GWLN graduates who are making a difference in over 40 countries. You can learn more about these visionary leaders and about my vision (GWLN 2006), Using Influence and Vision to Inspire the Next Generation of Leaders and Innovators, by going to this link. Profiles of Leaders of Impact

The Power of the GWLN Community

Celebrating

We are not alone in our quest, joining these great women who are committed to making the world a better place are civic, community, and businesses leaders. Please join us as we find new opportunities to reshape the world for all mankind, one day at a time, one person at a time. We are better together as a community of leaders committed to an enriched, united world for generations to come.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

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Global Entrepreneurship: The Israeli Phenomenon

Imagine the possibilities when you immerse students in a global entrepreneurship graduate program that takes students outside the classroom to solve problems, work collaboratively and get closer to industry while driving new levels of innovation. “At Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, a university with a heavy bent toward engineering entrepreneurship plays a part in nearly every course that students encounter,” said Bloomberg Businessweek. Not a surprise, considering it’s the main focus of the university’s mission statement: “Developing innovative and entrepreneurial leaders for a global technological world.“ “Our goal is to introduce as many students as possible—particularly non-business students—to innovation and entrepreneurship,” says Mark Rice, dean of the business school. As a result, WPI inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs working hand in hand with industry taking leadership and innovation to the next level for generations to come.

Joel Schwartz and WPI Students at EMC Israel Center of Excellence (COE)

Understanding the impact of entrepreneurship programs, Joel Schwartz, EMC SVP and General Manager, Global New Business Development, collaborated with WPI professors, Arthur Gerstenfeld and Susan Vernon-Gerstenfeld, to develop a graduate-level course in WPI’s MBA program called “Global Entrepreneurship: The Israeli Phenomenon.” The course immersed students in the entrepreneurial Israeli-Massachusetts high-tech world through a series of lectures and on-site visits delivered by successful entrepreneurs and business leaders from Israel and the United States. Critical to understanding their field trip experience in Israel and Israel’s entrepreneurial success, was an in-depth study of the unique historical, social, cultural, and political factors that created the State of Israel and that allow innovation to flourish. The academic side of the course addressed those topics through a variety of readings and papers that the students wrote, which set the context for the field trip. These visits were quite literally on-site as Joel accompanied the WPI class on a weeklong trip to Israel for a series of face-to-face meetings with Israeli CEO’s, venture capitalists, and senior government officials of the international Israeli academic community. During the field trip, EMC’s Israel COE hosted several panel discussions with entrepreneurs, military personnel, and venture capitalists.

On-site in Israel

As a guest instructor I had the opportunity to kick off the program sharing key insights into “Israel The Start-up Nation” thus establishing the framework for a discussion between Joel Schwartz and the students. Other guest lecturers included David Goodtree (TEDxBoston) who led 2012 Massachusetts’ water mission to Israel, Akhil Nigam (Co-developer of MassChallange) lead a class with on start-ups while Susan Hunt Stevens from Pratically Green collaborated with Kathrin Winkler EMC’s Chief Sustainability Officer to deliver another powerful lecture on sustainability. Check out Kathrin’s blog: Interconnected World. When the students returned from Israel Kevin Perkins, EMC’s IP Attorney presented the value of IP for entrepreneurs along with Paolo Gaudiano, Founder and President of Infomous, President and CTO of Icosystem, a serial entrepreneur who discussed how he uses IP as a competitive advantage. A timely discussion in this day and age considering the nature and frequency of IP law suits as detailed on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and other financial and legal publications.

Kevin Perkins and Paolo Gaudiano

The students, mostly graduate students had diverse backgrounds, with many from China, some from Latin America and about half from New England. Here is a video that I took after they returned from Israel. From left to right the students are Jiaqi (Nick) Lu, Joaquin Serrano, Kathryn Remillard, and Weihan Gao.

During the last seven weeks of the program the students were assigned a group project to develop an innovative startup idea including market research, technical feasibility study, financial analysis, and, most importantly, a brief investors’ pitch. The students presented their startup ideas at the end of the course to “compete” for the investment to a panel of judges including me, Mark Rice (Dean of WPI Business School), and Steve Rubin (then Chairman and now Emeritus of the WPI Board of Trustees). Four ideas were presented to us but only one could win and that was CrowdSpot. Their idea was based on an existing offering in Amsterdam, where a mobile application helps you find crowds. Their version of CrowdSpot offered new capabilities which included where the crowd was and wasn’t helping you to find parking, tickets to concerts, sports games etc. But the other ideas were equaling inspiring and included: Azimo social entrepreneurship (People2People (P2P) mobile microloans), Precision Threads (custom suits using Israeli 3D camera technology) and True Candidate (enhancing the admissions process using web based social media tools).

With WPI’s business school offering a minor in entrepreneurship, as well as activities like the Entrepreneurship Club on campus, and a business course catalog that includes classes like “Engineering Entrepreneurship,” “Entrepreneurial Selling,” and “Growing and Managing New Ventures” it is no wonder Business Week rated WPI School No. 1 in the Nation for Entrepreneurship. I look forward to working with WPI and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Sheryl Chamberlain

Connective Behaviors That Spur Innovation

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Women Leaders at Simmons Conference 2013
Edwina Mays, Jackie Glenn, Gail Degan, Sheryl Chamberlain and Stacy Schaeffer

Leaders aspire to build ever more nimble and responsive businesses while seeking a competitive advantage in a global economy. Today’s successful leaders must not only be strategic thinkers, but innovators as well. And the successful leaders of tomorrow must be able to drive organizational innovation by tapping into the knowledge and creativity of their teams. Innovation is often the key driver of an organization’s growth and performance. It can be the single best way for a company to differentiate itself from competitors. How can we help foster a culture of collaboration and creativity to help drive growth and success? Fostering connectivity, first and foremost amongst other things, promotes creativity and spurs innovation.

More than ever before, we have the ability to share our ideas and encourage a discussion around them, unconstrained by time, physical borders or distance. We live in a connected world. Connectivity is about having the practical means to connect with others; but it is also about having the connections we need to enable and encourage innovation. Connectivity increases exposure to new opportunities, new ideas, and to feedback. Communities of corporate innovation are connected to every facet of business from product development, customer engagement, marketing programs, to employee development. Empowered workers care more about developing high-performing cultures that drive customer value over time.

As the founder of EMC’s West Coast Women’s Leadership Forum (WCWLF), my vision was to make EMC the center of Leadership and Innovation through the eyes of women. Our programs follow this theme and are delivered to internal and external audiences of men and women often in partnership with nonprofits, universities and other corporations. In 2012, we delivered more than 50 programs, making EMC’s WCWLF one of the most diverse and interesting venues with a rich community of attendees. Looking to further our influence and reach, we developed a new Leadership and Innovation in the Executive Suite speaker series. The program brings leaders and innovators with different points of view to EMC and creates a community to inspire leadership through the voice of innovators, showcase thought leadership, and establish new partnerships while building connective behaviors that spur innovation. To increase our impact, we partnered with digital book publisher Vook to create an eBook commemorating the program while expanding our reach. “Connective Behaviors That Spur Innovation” was released in March and has since inspired a global community of thought leaders to share their perspectives. Jeremy Burton, Executive Vice President, Product Operations and Marketing was the program’s host and keynote speaker.

At EMC World I will once again be working with Vook to commemorate EMC Women in Technology through the Women of the World program called “Boost Your Credibility – Hidden Behavioral Cues,” scheduled for May 8th, 2013. More than 50 largely hidden behavioral and contextual cues have been discovered that deeply affect how others respond to you. Cues cover situations as diverse as setting, female/male differences, sounds, and the sequence of “scenes” we experience. Keynote speaker Kare Anderson, a Forbes Columnist and expert on quoteability and connective behaviors will be joined by Helene Barnekow, EMC Senior Vice President, World Wide Field & Channel and Bill Teuber, EMC Vice Chairman. The eBook planned release date is scheduled for July 2013.

Mentors in Your Life

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As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stand. We should carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us.

On October 24^th I was in Tel Aviv at the David Intercontinental attending an EMC conference when Efrat Segal Mesika came up to me with a big smile on her face. Remembering our last meeting was at EMC’s Women In Technology leadership breakfast at EMC World over 3 years ago I was excited about the opportunity to catch up and find out about her life.

Calvin Smith and Sheryl Chamberlain

I often take moments out of life to connect with people and don’t always realize the impact of those chance meetings. This one, totally unexpected brought to mind the impact we have on each other’s lives and the opportunity we have to guide others.

When I met Efrat she felt trapped by her engineering role and wanted to find a way to grow into a new career using existing skills. Understanding the power of her vision I could see opportunities outside of her comfort zone but easily in her reach. What is now amazing to me is Efrat’s fearless commitment to her future and the value of hearing from a mentor that she could grow and achieve her vision.

Join me as we catch up to Efrat and learn about mentors in her life and her new role as Director Business Development at CliniWorks.

Efrat Segal Mesika – Mentors In Your Life

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Category Archives: Mentors

Change Tomorrow Today – Maximize Human Potential Through Education

Getting Back In The Game

Women Leaders of Impact

Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

Connective Behaviors That Spur Innovation

Mentors in Your Life