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.

Alison manages the team and oversees our location at Watson Institute, Boulder. She integrates each element of the Watson Institute model to build a strong team and create a powerful experience that equips the next generation to solve the toughest challenges of our time.

Jorge leads all of the programming elements at Watson Institute, Boulder, and the design, facilitation, and partner support for all Vertical Programs. Jorge specifically manages all of the communication between our corporate and foundational partners and our programs in Boulder.

Miranda 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 Colorado.

Audrey supports all of the programming elements at Watson Institute, Boulder, including program implementation, managing the Watson Mentor Program, facilitating workshops and events, supporting Master Course Teachers, and local partnerships.

Katie designs and implements org-wide Vertical Programs with corporate and foundation partners. In her role, she leads everything from the creation of these highly impactful programs all the way to the admissions and facilitation of these programs.

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

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

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.

Aditya runs a hard-tech company with experience of over 5 years in Rapid Prototyping and Facilitating startup events. He loves to implement and test ideas in real-time by having a customer centric approach at the core of his work.

Tyler manages the team, preceptors and development of Watson Institute, South Florida. In her role, she oversees all programming including curriculum design, 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.

Saarika leads all of the programming elements at Watson Institute at Lynn University, including program implementation, managing the Watson Mentor Program, facilitating workshops and events, supporting Master Course Teachers, and local partnerships.

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.

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.

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.”

Erick is a digital designer, who focuses on user experience design and user experience research.Specializing in data analysis and data visualization, Erick’s passion lies in transforming data into knowledge through immersive experiences that engage audiences.

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.

Derick is a social entrepreneur with an authentic voice for change, particularly in the areas education technology, and the growth of local ecosystems for entrepreneurs of color nationally. In 2008, Derick Pearson co-founded Feverish Pops, a venture backed frozen dessert company, raising a seed round of three-quarters of a million dollars.

As the Leadership and Team Development Specialist at United States Soccer Men’s National Team, Travis’s professional goal is to assist and inspire individuals and corporations in creating more authentic cultures through collaboration and purpose.

Helda leads all of the programming elements at Watson Institute at UFM such as program implementation, managing the Watson Mentor Program, supporting Master Course Teachers, and local partnerships.

Monica leads our global search for promising next-generation leaders and entrepreneurs for our Front End Web and App Development Bootcamp in collaboration with the School of Economic Sciences at Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in addition to providing world class technical and operational support to the team’s recruitment, admissions, and marketing functions.

Sandra leads our global search for promising next-generation leaders and entrepreneurs at Watson Institute’s Career Accelerator at UFM, in addition to other programmatic offerings.

Adrian is a Preceptor for our Tech Bootcamp and has experience in Android, IoT and Firebase GDE, is a TensorFlow certified Developer, Google for Startups Mentor, Design Sprint Master and GDG Cloud Guatemala co-organizer.

Cecilia is a Preceptor for our Tech Bootcamp and is a passionate and curious software engineer with 12+ years of experience. She is currently Working on mobile development specially iOS and Android. She is also the Organizer of the GDG Guatemala and a Women Tech maker Ambassador.

Pablo is the Founder and General Manager of Gestla Ventures, a Search Fund Accelerator and Private Equity Fund. He’s the instructor for the Money Lab at Watson Institute at UFM in Guatemala.

Molly supports early-stage, impact-driven entrepreneurs as they strategize and operationalize. Her current consulting focus is helping established nonprofits develop new revenue streams, which she does through On Purpose Consulting.

As the Leadership and Team Development Specialist at United States Soccer Men’s National Team, Travis’s professional goal is to assist and inspire individuals and corporations in creating more authentic cultures through collaboration and purpose.

Eduardo is a passionate leader with 25+ year-experience in finance, management, social innovation, business strategy, product development, human development, partnerships and startups. Eduardo is also a Preceptor at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

Megan is a learning designer at her training and education consultancy, Just Experiment. She is also a passionate career design enthusiast and loves supporting others to create careers of meaning and fulfillment. She served in three Director positions at Watson Institute between 2016-2021 in Search and Programs.

Adrian is the Head of Mexico Activities and the Director of the Kirchner Food Fellowship at Kirchner Group. His focus is on closing knowledge and opportunity gaps for impact projects in emerging economies.

Prior to joining the team, Brin lived in Uganda where she co-founded The African SOUP. Brin and her team built the SOUP from a community program to an organization making national education impact across Uganda in partnership with the Ministry of Education. Brin believes deeply in our collective capacity to improve the trajectory of our world, should we invest our time and resources in developing ethically-driven leadership and economic systems.

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 org-wide projects that are developed by Watson Institute’s COO and CEO in order to effectively grow our impact. Alberto previously served as our Operations Coordinator at Watson Institute at Lynn University.

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.

Dominic designs and leads the hiring process for all new and existing programs at Watson Institute. His goal is to design work in a way that encourages impactful and sustainable engagement for all teams org-wide.

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.