Watson Institute Team

Saarika manages the program and Preceptors at Watson Institute at Lynn University. In her role, she oversees all programming, including workshops, Impact Series, and our Mentor Network. She also serves as a liaison to the broader South Florida community to build a vibrant and engaged community to coach and support the students.

Mary manages the Impact Fellowship programs and team for our partners and for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders. The Impact Fellowship programs include award-winning training, venture development stipend opportunities, committed mentorship, and a vast network of resources.

Cinthia is a graduate of Watson Institute at Lynn University. She collaborates with Programs Managers to enhance the foundational aspects of the fellowship journey, including Watson Institute’s Summits and Basecamps.

Lallas manages Watson Institute’s programming in China, as well as searching China and the globe for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders.

Jordan manages the Impact Fellowship programs for our partners and for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders. The Impact Fellowship programs include award-winning training, venture development stipend opportunities, committed mentorship, and a vast network of resources.

Evelyn (Evie) manages the design and implementation of a world-class Summit experience that showcases the projects, ventures, and initiatives of highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders.

Gulmina supports the design of global programming to meet the needs of all partnerships and deliver high-quality programming to meet the needs of our fellows and scale our global impact.

Lizzy manages the Impact Fellowship programs for our partners and for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders. The Impact Fellowship programs include award-winning training, venture development stipend opportunities, committed mentorship, and a vast network of resources.

Ali is a dedicated facilitator and strategist with 15+ years of experience, passionate about empowering teams and communities for positive change. She specializes in systems change, well-being, and empowering young changemakers, artists, and movement-builders. Her work is rooted in our shared humanity and guided by creative and spiritual practice, always with a focus on justice and well-being for all.

Denise has over 35 years of experience in the behavioral health field. She serves as the Executive Director at The Guidance Center, a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic in rural Northwestern Pennsylvania. Her passion and commitment are to the underserved. Believing that obstacles can be overcome, Denise has spent most of her career developing new programs to fill identified gaps in services. She believes in the importance of strong communities and enjoys opportunities that foster team building and leadership development.

Mentor brings over a decade of experience in leading impactful projects within social entrepreneurship. Mentor has a wealth of experience in launching businesses and crafting effective Go-To-Market strategies, and he is enthusiastic about embarking on this journey alongside you, leveraging his expertise to drive success and create meaningful impact. At his core, Mentor is a conscious leader who enjoys connecting with people and working together for a greater impact. He is a dedicated meditator on a mission to spread compassion and joy to all.

Erick Gavin is the Executive Director of Venture Miami, an economic development office of the City of Miami tasked with facilitating the growth of the technology and innovation ecosystem. Prioritizing STEM education, he fosters social and economic impact through collaboration, shaping Miami as a tech hub.

Cole Hoover, a seasoned transformative facilitator with 15 years of social impact experience, enhances social and environmental impact through business principles. As an entrepreneur and co-founder of Washington state’s first accredited social enterprise certificate program at the University of Washington, he actively teaches related courses. Serving on the board of the Whidbey Institute and an alum of the World Economic Forum’s “Global Shaper” program, Cole’s global influence extends through inspiring professionals in social enterprise, equity, and microfinance.

Pearl, a Wharton and NYU Law alumna, is a former attorney, Wall Street banker, corporate executive, and internet entrepreneur. Pearl is now a mindfulness coach, guiding others toward inner growth and resilience. She brings mindfulness and self-compassion courses to schools and corporations, aiming to cultivate meaningful, burnout-free lives. As a Lululemon ambassador and Global Ambassador Advisory Board member, Pearl crafts mind-body approaches to unlock human potential and promote well-being.

Chris Houghtaling, CEO and co-founder of RaiseLink, was active in the European startup ecosystem living in Vienna, Austria, and started VisioneersPartners, an international sales strategy consulting and coaching firm. Chris was involved in the European Council and World Bank’s Pioneers of the Balkans, worked with scores of international accelerators/incubators and event organizers, CMO of DealMatrix, venture capital including expanding the European Super Angels Club across Europe, corporate innovation teams, and has been an adjunct faculty member for seven universities in Austria and the US.

Jason is the Founder and Managing Partner of Propellant Ventures, a Seed-stage fund that invests in the growth of Chicago and the greater Midwest. He is also the Managing Director of the Chicago chapter of Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed technology accelerator. With over 20 years of experience, Jason supports entrepreneurs through investor readiness, strategic advisory, and capital formation. Additionally, he teaches business and entrepreneurship at DePaul University as an adjunct faculty member.

Javier supports our global search for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders for Watson Institute at Lynn University. In addition, he supports the daily operations at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

Casey manages our global search for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders for the Impact Fellowship programs.

Milena is a graduate of Watson Institute at Lynn University. She manages the Search & Admissions team and leads our global search for highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders for the Impact Fellowship programs.

Javier leads the Watson Institute at Lynn University team and ensures team and student success by fostering our northstar where students can major in their mission, gain experience as interns with leading organizations in their field, and develop a skill set necessary to create impactful, successful careers.

Dora manages core elements of the development team by prospecting, strengthening, and building corporate and foundation partnerships to expand Watson Institute’s impact on highly promising rising entrepreneurs and leaders.

Maeve strengthens Watson Institute’s brand and partnerships and impacts highly promising, diverse, rising entrepreneurs and leaders through effective storytelling, communications, and strategic prospecting.

Ariana leads our global development team with the goal to build relationships and meet fundraising goals required to expand our impact. This includes compelling writing of grant proposals, strong funder communication, and serving as lead for some of our corporate and foundational partners.

Isabel leads our global admissions team with the goal to strengthen our search strategy and impact worldwide. In addition, she oversees our Career Accelerator program. In this capacity, she advises program design, identifies and assesses technical and operational requirements, and ultimately translate those requirements into an implementation strategy that meets the needs of both our partners and Watson Institute.

Dwayne leads the Programs and Design teams for Watson Institute’s Impact Fellowship programs and ensures the highest level of programmatic quality and impact. The Impact Fellowship programs include award-winning training, venture development stipend opportunities, committed mentorship, and a vast network of resources. He is a pioneer graduate of our inaugural cohort at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

Tyler leads the recruitment of a vibrant and engaged community of Preceptors, Mentors, and Entrepreneurs in Residence to coach and support our Fellows. Her goal is to add ‘moonshot’ level individuals to our network so that we have the best network in the world to support our Fellows and grow our impact. Tyler also oversees and serves as a coach to the team at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

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 our organization-wide functions: Programs, HR/Operations, Search & Admissions 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.

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.

Partner in the Private Equity and Independent Sponsor practices at McGuireWoods, Jason has extensive corporate, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.