Watson Institute Team

Recognized as an Ashoka fellow, Echoing Green fellow, and one of Forbes 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs, Eric’s work is driven by a simple belief: to solve the toughest challenges facing humanity, the place to start is within the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Andrew serves as the internal lead of the organization and manages four crucial organization-wide functions: Program Implementation, HR/Operations, Enrollment Engine and Development. He builds and instills culture in our top-notch teams and supports each team in achieving their goals. He is known as a GyShiDo Master and aims to set the foundation for Watson Institute to become a hundred year old institution.

Isabel leads our global admissions team with the goal to strengthen our search strategy and impact worldwide. She also oversees our admissions processes for Watson Institute including managing scholarships, fellowships, tuition, and visas. In addition, Isabel spends significant time working to diversify Watson Institute’s nominator network and key partnerships.

Tyler leads our global program implementation teams with a goal to strengthen our program design and makes the quality of our programs her number one focus. In addition, Tyler is closely involved in our strategy in order to experiment with ways to adapt our programs to reach a large market and therefore effectively grow our impact.

Eboni leads the program implementation and Preceptor Team for Watson’s Accelerator and Fellowship programs in Boulder, CO. She is a senior creative technologist with previous experience as a Seed Startup CEO and a Google Solutions Consultant.

Miranda manages the global search team that recruits for our Accelerator and Fellowship programs in Boulder, CO. She is an expert at finding and selecting the most promising young innovators and entrepreneurs who attend these programs.

Audrey supports all of the programming elements for Watson’s Accelerator and Fellowship programs in Boulder, CO, including program implementation, the Watson Mentor Program, facilitating workshops and events, supporting Master Course Teachers, and local partnerships.

Daniela designs and implements a world class logistics and operational experience for students selected to attend Watson’s Accelerator and Fellowship programs in Boulder, CO. She implements and coordinates a large portion of Watson Institute’s daily operations, including elements of a vibrant student life experience.

Helda supports our global search for promising next-generation leaders and entrepreneurs for our Accelerator and Fellowship programs, in addition to supporting our program implementation teams at our Accelerator.

Monica supports our global search for promising next-generation leaders and entrepreneurs for our Accelerator and Fellowship programs, in addition to providing world class technical and operational support to the team’s recruitment, admissions, and marketing functions.

Sandra supports our global search for promising next-generation leaders and entrepreneurs for our Accelerator and Fellowship programs, in addition to other programmatic offerings.

Jim integrates the fields of anthropology, education & design to support individuals and organizations define and activate their purpose. At the heart of this work is his deep sense of empathy and an orientation towards the future.

Rob has more than twenty years of experience working with businesses, governmental agencies and nonprofits in various leadership and entrepreneurial roles across diverse sectors.

Saarika manages the team, preceptors and development of Watson Institute, South Florida. In her role, she oversees all programming including workshops, Master Courses, and both our Mentor and Employer Networks. She also serves as a liaison to the broader South Florida community for the program and scholars.

Javier leads the global search to find and select the most promising young innovators by improving, expanding, and diversifying Watson Institute’s nominator network and key partnerships in South Florida.

James is a pioneer graduate of our inaugural cohort at Watson Institute at Lynn University and is the Founder and current Board Member of Street Priests, which is an organization that supports street children in Nigeria. In his role, James supports the implementation of all of the programming elements at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

Olivia designs and implements a world class logistics and operational experience for students selected to attend Watson Institute at Lynn University. She implements and coordinates a large portion of Watson Institute’s daily operations, including elements of a vibrant student life experience.

Eduardo is a passionate leader with 25+ year-experience in finance, management, social innovation, business strategy, product development, human development, partnerships and startups.

Eduardo founded //Movement, a socially-responsible fitness initiative that recycles the energies of it’s fans and patrons into socially conscious projects in the community and around the world.

Santra currently serves as the Interim Executive Director for the Miami Workers Center, a strategy and action center whose purpose is to build the power and self-determination of South Florida’s most oppressed communities, and help to build a progressive voice and platform that can nurture the growth of movements for social change in Florida and in the United States.

Marte is a classically trained professional musician and strategic planner, founded Cultured Innovations to help clients translate vision into value and facilitate success on purpose. Her work as a coach and consultant, allows her to support artists, nonprofit leaders and boards in creating more value, visibility, and financial security.

Pranati “Pranoo” Kumar (Skomra) has taught, led, worked with and founded a number of elementary school systems and programs on the East and West Coast – from the South Bronx to Harlem and Seattle – committed to identity driven and empowering learning experiences. She is currently the owner and education leader of Rohi’s Readery, a social justice driven children’s bookstore and learning center committed to critical literacy that promotes inclusivity and diversity.

Manuel leads financial inclusion and impact investing projects across the US and LatAm. He was born and raised in Buenos Aires, went to University in the UK, and earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Duke University. His most recent experiences include working for one of the largest CDFIs in the US, leading the US office of a Latin American NGO as interim CEO, and orchestrating the RISE Fund in South Florida.

Madison works as the Director of Special Projects for the Office of the President at Lynn University. Madison manages a wide variety of projects including a 10,000 sq ft coworking space, a 112,320 sq ft student housing project opening in fall 2022, Lynn’s online program partnership with Kaplan, and Lynn’s student housing master plan. Her past experiences cross multiple paths from creating a non-profit organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo to project management in the entertainment, telecommunications, CRM, and direct marketing industries.

Stephanie is an applied economist and Founder of DataCents Analytics, LLC specializing in data strategy, value, and impact estimation and applications of public sector data. She is an Advisory Board member of AtliQ, a Thought Leadership Partner with Public Sector Network, and a Contributor to Forbes Ignite.

Ariana leads our global development function with the goal to build relationships and meet fundraising goals required to expand our impact. This includes compelling writing of grant proposals and strong funder communication, project management of fundraising related projects, prospecting and research into new partners and marketing.

Alberto organizes, leads, and executes the daily operations at Watson Institute, including but not limited to: hiring, HR support, financial management and other org-wide priorities developed by Watson Institute’s COO. Prior to his role at Watson Institute Alberto served as a Wildland Firefighter and is a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Katie designs and implements our Accelerator and Fellowship programs in Boulder, CO, and beyond. In her role, she leads everything from the creation of these highly impactful programs all the way to ensuring consistency across all our locations in order to elevate the scholar experience.

Lallas is responsible for leading Watson Basecamps in China, as well as searching China and the globe for entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers to join our programs.

Recognized as an Ashoka fellow, Echoing Green fellow, and one of Forbes 30 social entrepreneurs under 30, Eric’s work is driven by a simple belief: to solve the toughest challenges facing humanity, the place to start is within the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Associate in Private Equity and Corporate Practices of Benesch, Jason has extensive legal, pro-bono, and non-profit expertise. From the board, he supports Watson Institute with legal and strategy questions, among others.

A recognized leader in the natural and organic food industry, Jane is former CEO of Lily’s Sweets (sold to Hershey’s), co-founder of Haevn (with several Watson Institute alums!) and has 30 years of executive experience in PepsiCo, Heinz, and Rudi’s Bakery. Jane publishes the popular blog JaneKnows.com on the tips, tools, and truths to lead a meaningful career.

Mike is a retired Microsoft executive where he led high profile, global products and most recently the Community Development program that supports 50+ global communities. Mike is an early-stage investor, advisor and board member of numerous non-profit and for-profit start-ups.

Robin believes that the education system needs a boost. With that, she has committed her time to systemic change with charter school oversight, preschool readiness for Spanish speakers, and executive functioning skills for marginalized communities.

Under Kevin’s leadership, the university has implemented a redesigned core curriculum, the nationally recognized Dialogues; a first-year student experience titled The Citizenship Project; and a three-year undergraduate degree program.

As co-founder and former Community Director of AshokaU, Erin has been a key player in supporting colleges and universities everywhere to become hubs of social innovation.

Scott Sherman is the Executive Director of Transformative Action Institute and has worked on nonviolence and social justice projects from the war-torn island of Sri Lanka to the inner city ghettoes of America.

Roshan is the Founder of Ashoka’s Globalizer and the Amani Institute. He is a guest lecturer at over a dozen universities – from Harvard to Paris’ HEC Business School. His course is entitled: “Scaling Social Enterprises Globally.” Roshan is also a Preceptor at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

David is a writer, filmmaker, and passionate believer in the millennial generation. He is the author of the book Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping our World.