“It is inspiring to be around all of these women who are taking ownership of their leadership, taking ownership of their ideas, and taking ownership of where they want to go in life.”
Jill Bornstein, PNT’22
Innovator Awards Judge and Advisor
Founder of UpNext Leadership and Executive Coaching
meet our judges and advisors
These alumni, parents, and partners applied their diverse experiences and expertise to evaluate applications
and final presentations to select our Women Who Empower Innovator Awards winners:
Jill Bornstein, PNT’22
Founding Judge and Advisor | 2021–2024
Founder and Executive Coach, Upnext Leadership Coaching
Cristina Csimma, MPH’91
Founding Judge and Advisor | 2021–2024
Board of Directors, Palisade Bio
Asha Chandra, PNT’21
Judge and Advisor | 2024
Founder of the Jazba Collective
Julietta Dexter, PNT’20
Founding Judge and Advisor | 2021–2024
Co-Founder and Chief Growth and Purpose Officer, ScienceMagic.Inc
Cheryl Kaplan
Founding Judge and Advisor | 2021–2024
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, M.Gemi
Leslie Kilgore, PNT’25
Judge | 2022
Board Member, Netflix
Jean Kovacs, CPS’83
Judge | 2022
Partner and Co-Founder, Hillsven
Ronaldo Mouchawar, E’88
Judge and Advisor | 2023-2024
Chief Executive Officer, souq.com; Vice President, Amazon Middle East and North Africa
Henry Nasella, UC’77, H’08
Founding Judge | 2021
Chair Emeritus, Northeastern Board of Trustees; Co-Founder, LNK Partners
Cathy Papoulias-Sakellaris
Founding Judge and Advisor | 2021–2022, 2024
Member of the Board of Trustees, Leadership 100
Sharon Phoong-Wong, PNT’25
Judge and Advisor | 2024
Chief Executive Officer and Founder of motherswork
Dr. Winslow Sargeant, E’86
Judge and Advisor | 2023
Chief Executive Officer, Purple Team Technologies; Immediate Past Chair, The International Council for Small Business; Senior Advisor, Genaesis, LLC; Trustee, Northeastern Board of Trustees
Reading committee
Ann Corcoran, BHS’86
Reading Committee | 2023
President, AMC Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
Lea Anne Dunton, PNT’15
Reading Committee | 2023
Mentor, Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship (WISE) and Mosaic
Paige Hendrix-Buckner
Reading Committee | 2023
Chief Executive Officer, All Raise
Jennifer Mugar
Reading Committee | 2023
Friend of the University