It’s about the innovator, not the innovation

Wenjun Zhang, PhD’16, MBA’21

UniWise

As an engineer and entrepreneur, Wenjun Zhang envisions a future where everyone has access to fast, accurate, and real-time healthcare diagnostic testing anywhere, anytime. With her expertise, Zhang’s venture, UniWise, will help her identify societal issues, analyze their root causes, and develop solutions to resolve unmet needs through effective and affordable access to saliva-based diabetes testing.

Jae’da Turner, DMSB’14, MBA’16

Black Owned Bos

A creative, a community builder, and an innovator, Jae’da Turner poured her time and energy into elevating her agency, Black Owned Bos, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The fast-growing agency highlights the people moving Black culture forward in the Boston area; advances Black-owned businesses, places, and spaces; and helps close existing gaps in Boston’s Black-owned community.

Samantha Johnson, E’21, MS’21

Tatum Robotics

Driven by a mentor and former coach, and her own experience on a unified track and field team, Samantha Johnson knew early on that she wanted to make a positive impact on others. Johnson is doing just that through Tatum Robotics, an organization that creates low-cost robotic solutions for the DeafBlind community.

Tahisha Charles, MA’20

Miixtapechiick

In an effort to bridge the gap between online platforms that only cater to mainstream talent and emerging local talent, Tahisha Charles created Miixtapechiick. This site is the only woman-owned journalism platform in Massachusetts, and it shines a light on local talent from the state and helps musical artists build their fanbases.

Amy Andes, PhD, S’17

Banzo Brands

With a goal of figuratively and literally making space for everyone eating at the table, food scientist Amy Andes founded Banzo Brands. The brand brings awareness to food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities by creating inclusive versions of classic staple spreads—like a no-nut butter made of garbanzo beans—which ensure people don’t feel left out, uncertain about what they’re eating, or forgotten by the food industry.

Eliana Berger, DMSB’21

Envision

Seeing firsthand the lack of opportunity for underrepresented business founders, Eliana Berger wanted to make big changes in the VC space, and that’s how her work with Envision began. Envision is a nonprofit virtual venture accelerator for young founders from underrepresented groups like BIPOC and women, which democratizes access to funding, networks, and opportunities by providing hands-on support, a welcoming community, and a broad network of mentors and investors.

Temidola Ikomi, DMSB’17

Irawo Studio

Propelled by her mother’s creativity and work ethic, and the way Northeastern values resilience and perseverance, Temidola Ikomi launched Irawo Studio. This female-owned and family-run business creates showstopping pieces specifically for women who are unapologetically blazing their own trails and claiming their own destinies.

Birta Ólafsdóttir, DMSB’14

LDV

Following her father’s’ advice that in order to reach your full potential, you must first pursue happiness by tapping into your curiosity, Birta Ólafsdóttir launched her dream venture, Salotto, meaning living room in Italian. Ólafsdóttir has since changed the name to LDV, but the sentiment remains the same: To bring the world a retail platform for luxury vintage furniture design, where art deco meets the seventies.

Kate Weiler, MS’13

Drink Simple

Kate Weiler has harnessed the natural power of trees to create a nutritious and delicious maple water made of more than 40 plant-powered nutrients. Although this sounds complex, Weiler’s beverage is called Drink Simple—and it’s good for the planet and for people, empowering healthy minds, bodies, and souls.

Wendy Farnen Price, BHS’94, MS’00, DPT’14

Healthcore

With years working in direct patient care and her experience in her current role at Healthcore, Wendy Farnen Price has learned that in order to make lasting healthy lifestyle or behavioral changes, women need to feel and be heard and supported. One of Healthcore’s pillars includes educational, lifestyle medicine and health coaching programs—and Price is hoping to create and lead a new one titled Together With Tea, a group women’s health coaching program to empower women to make healthy lifestyle changes.

Ashley Girard, S’07

Welly’s Wellness

Living by the belief that all individuals should have access to affordable, healthy, and delicious foods, Ashley Girard looks to revolutionize the convenience store industry with her business, Welly’s Wellness. Described as a “7-Eleven, but on wheels,” Welly’s Wellness is the first mobile, self-contained storefront that sells prepackaged snacks, functional beverages, and small household goods—with a bold plan to tackle food deserts across the U.S. by opening 1,000 storefront trailers in the next five years. 

Yewande Masi, SSH’09

Ornami

Yewande Masi believes that with the daily stress, dehydration, and toxic ingredients women face day to day, basic body care just won’t cut it—innovative healing and restorative action is crucial. That’s why she founded Ornami Skincare, a brand that helps make women feel confident, built on the tenets of empowerment, sustainability, and toxin-free living.

Natasha Shazana, DMSB’13

Soko

Growing up in Malaysia, Natasha Shazana remembers walking through countless malls and wondering why nobody in bra ads looked like her. To change that paradigm, she quit her private equity job at Morgan Stanley in New York City, moved back to Malaysia, and launched her own bra company, Soko, with its name deriving from the Malay word sokong, meaning support. With comfort and empowerment top of mind, Soko brings Malaysian women utter satisfaction during what is typically an overall frustrating experience.

Tabitha Boyton, NCH’22

Res Publica

To Tabitha Boyton, a leader is someone who amplifies all voices, especially the ones that aren’t always heard—voices of the underrepresented, underserved, and marginalized. Through her media platform, Res Publica, she’s shaking up the status quo and lifting up women of color by ensuring that they have a place and a voice in academic and political discussions, debates, and publications.

Valerie Robert, Khoury’23

The Circuit

Valerie Robert believes in the power of ventures “by Gen Z for Gen Z.” Cognizant of the increasingly digital age and its intersection with our daily lives, she created The Circuit, a tech-loving student-run editorial and media platform that highlights today’s technology-related trends, developments, effects, and more, helping others stay up to date on the everchanging tech world.

Michelle Beaudette, DMSB’23

Kaolin Beauty

Michelle Beaudette is a farmer, environmental activist, and passionate self-care and sustainability advocate. Her beauty brand, Kaolin Beauty, is an embodiment of her unique identity. Created to serve both people and the planet, Kaolin Beauty is poised to be one of the first-ever brands to use regenerative organic certified herbs in all its products, which means the beauty brand’s production processes meet the highest standards in the world for soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness.

Cynthia Orofo, BHS’19, PhD’24

Culture Care Collective

Determined to address the countless health disparities that came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cynthia Orofo founded the Culture Care Collective. This hybrid health support program integrates community health workers into clinical care teams to properly coordinate care for marginalized groups and increase access to healthcare at low costs.

Priscilla Marie Colon, MBA’22

After witnessing a near-fatal birthing experience in Bihar, India, Priscilla Marie Colon dedicated herself to ensuring more women receive quality care during childbirth. She received funding to start an initiative focused on educating nearly 200 birth attendants in Nigeria on how to respond to obstetric emergencies during childbirth. Now, Colon seeks to make a larger impact by creating a nonprofit aimed at reducing preventable maternal deaths and improving overall maternal health using her Northeastern business education.

Madhuri Iyer, CPS’22

EzReg

Madhuri Iyer and Amanda Céspedes have spent the past five years gaining an understanding of regulatory challenges and exploring solutions. With skills and knowledge related to complicated regulatory pathways, the duo launched EzReg to help startups in the healthcare and medical device spaces understand regulations—saving their clients money and helping them comply with FDA and other requirements along the way.

Amanda Céspedes, MS’22

EzReg

Madhuri Iyer and Amanda Céspedes have spent the past five years gaining an understanding of regulatory challenges and exploring solutions. With skills and knowledge related to complicated regulatory pathways, the duo launched EzReg to help startups in the healthcare and medical device spaces understand regulations—saving their clients money and helping them comply with FDA and other requirements along the way.

Melissa Mullen, Khoury’22

Melissa Mullen created her venture, Smile, to harness the power of artificial intelligence and humor compatibility to create meaningful connections. After moving on from Smile, Mullen has learned a lot from the entrepreneurial process and is now looking for her next project. 

Cynthia Orofo, BHS’19, PhD’24

Culture Care Collective

Determined to address the countless health disparities that came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cynthia Orofo founded the Culture Care Collective. This hybrid health support program integrates community health workers into clinical care teams to properly coordinate care for marginalized groups and increase access to healthcare at low costs.last.

Hannah Ung, DMSB’23

Boxy

A true embodiment of resilience, Hannah Ung took what she learned from growing up with her family of four tucked into a small room and turned it into an opportunity that allows people to make better use of their space. Called Boxy, her venture seeks to provide a platform for people to earn a profit from their unoccupied spaces by allowing others to use these spaces for storage purposes.