Babson Magazine Spring 2020

BABSON

MAGAZINE

SPRING 2020

Embracing a New Virtual Reality Amid Unprecedented Disruption

THE COMMUNITY RESPONDS / 10

IN SERVICE OF OTHERS / 24 MORE THAN PROFITS / 32

IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY, ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL The world can change in the blink of an eye. Entrepreneurial leaders know how to take action. Introducing the Master of Science in Advanced Entrepreneurial Leadership, Babson’s first 100% online degree.

Take advantage of a 20% tuition discount for Babson alumni with the Second-Century Alumni Grant.

babson.edu/msael

FROMTHEPRESIDENT

our strategic initiatives to own entrepreneurial leadership and deliver education to learners where and when they need it.

We are witnessing the global community’s

need for and recognition of the power of thinking and acting entrepreneurially to produce scalable solutions that can benefit individuals, communities, and the world. Babson is expanding our view of entrepreneurship to focus on the human

S

ince I last communicated on the pages of this

condition, and building leaders with empathy,

magazine, Babson College, the world, and all

morality, compassion, and drive. Our unique

of our lives have changed dramatically. This

ability to define, own, and propagate the

winter, as COVID-19 swept across the globe,

core competencies of problem solving,

we made the heart-wrenching decision to

values-based leadership, and collaboration

close our physical campuses and transition to

is increasingly relevant and necessary.

learning, teaching, and working remotely. The

decision was not made lightly and was guided

where and when they need it also has

by a dual imperative of safety and well-being

become more urgent and important in

of our community and academic continuity

today’s circumstances. While we are

for all students. While I am proud that we

physically distant, it is essential. And, to

have achieved those goals, this remains

thrive in the future, we must continue to

an unprecedented period of challenges

transform our educational models to reach

and change for our global community.

learners—everywhere—and empower

them to lead in a robust ecosystem.

As we have navigated the new normal,

Delivering education to learners

our community has come together in

extraordinary ways. There are heroes

community has demonstrated agility,

among us: students helping students; staff

collaboration, and innovation—hallmarks of

working tirelessly to keep us operational

entrepreneurial leadership and the Babson

and safe; faculty extending the dynamic

way. I have never been more grateful for

and integrated Babson experience into

this community or more confident in our

the virtual environment; and alumni

ability to create value and make a difference

businesses prioritizing the greater good.

in the world. Babson will emerge from this

I am inspired by the resilience of our

unprecedented time stronger and more

community, and proud of our ability to adapt,

impactful than ever. We will get there together.

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, our

problem solve, and collaborate. This is the essence of entrepreneurial leadership.

This experience also has tested the

strategy Babson has been developing over the past 12 months. It has validated what we have identified as our strengths and accelerated

Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 1

TABLEOFCONTENTS

FEATURES

24

Virtual Reality 10

In the face of the global health crisis, the Babson community united in

In Service of Others 24 Through the Community Action Program, Babson students experience firsthand

the benefits—for those they serve and for themselves—of volunteering in local communities.

More Than Profits 32

Thanks to a perspective developed at Babson, alumni prove that sustainability

2 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

unprecedented ways to transition classes online and point toward a digital future.

Here’s how the College mobilized: Campus Responds.............................10 Students Respond..............................14 Alumni Respond.................................16 Community Responds........................18

and social responsibility are critical components of their businesses and careers.

DEPARTMENTS

4

9 On the cover: Illustration by Cathy Cahill

22

38 BABSON MAGAZINE STAFF Volume 87, Number 1

1 From the President and Beyond 4 Babson The Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership helps expand Babson’s brand; the strategic planning process accelerates in the face of crisis; the Butler Institute for Free Enterprise Through Entrepreneurship takes a broader view; plus, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and more news.

People of Babson

We welcome your feedback on the magazine.

reflects on the growth and importance of Babson’s community service efforts.

Contact Eric Beato at ebeato@babson.edu

9 Lisa Thomas, the director of Service and Justice Programs in The Lewis Institute,

Hours 22 Office Professor of Finance Richard Bliss leads the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small

EDITOR Eric Beato PUBLISHER Kerry Salerno, chief marketing officer CREATIVE MANAGEMENT Cheryl Robock CREATIVE ART DIRECTION Cathy Cahill SENIOR JOURNALIST John Crawford JOURNALIST Bryan Lipiner CONTRIBUTORS Michael Chmura, Scott Dietz, Christina Etre, James Kiley, Karl Klaussen, Kait Smith Lanthier, Brianna Radicioni, Thecla Ree, Wendy Schoenfeld MULTIMEDIA TEAM Christopher Brown, Paul DeWolf, Maggie McGinnis, Adam Pearlman

Businesses program; plus, Professor Julie Levinson discusses films about the American dream; and good reads by Babson faculty.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENING AT BABSON COLLEGE AT:

entrepreneurship.babson.edu

38 Athletics Coming off its first College World Series appearance, the Babson baseball

team began the year with sky-high expectations. The pandemic, though, left the Beavers to ponder “what could have been.”

Notes, and Nods 40 News, Undergraduate, 40; Graduate, 45; Connections, 44; On Campus, 45;

In Memoriam, 47

Tales 48 Beaver The roots of giving back at Babson trace back three decades with the creation

of a student-run organization called Get Into the Volunteer Experience (GIVE).

Babson Magazine (USPS 898-140) is published by Babson College, 231 Forest Street, Babson Park, MA 02457-0310, three times a year in the spring, summer, and fall/winter. Copyright 2020 by Babson College. Editorial office: Babson Park, MA 02457-0310.

Send address corrections to advancement_services@babson.edu, or call 781-239-4044.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 3

BABSONANDBEYOND 4  BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

Saying Goodbye, but

PULLING TOGETHER When the pandemic forced Babson to shift courses online for the rest of the spring semester, shock soon gave way to action. As students began to pack up belongings and move off campus just before spring break, groups congregated at the Babson World Globe to pose for photos and say temporary goodbyes to friends and classmates. Action also swept across the campus, as students, faculty, staff, and alumni mobilized to complete an impressive transformation, ensuring that everyone would stay united and proving how powerful the Babson community is when it comes together. For more coverage on how the community responded to the crisis, see Pages 10–21.

For the latest updates on the College’s response to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), visit:

babson.edu/coronavirus

PHOTOS: BRYAN LIPINER

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 5

BABSONANDBEYOND

Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership

EXPANDING THE BABSON BRAND

Arthur M. Blank ’63, H’98

“We are revolutionizing entrepreneurship education, we are changing business education, and we even are influencing higher education.”

— President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD

Babson College has been synonymous

of Faculty Ken Matsuno and including

with entrepreneurship for the better

seven senior faculty members—will

part of three decades. Now, thanks to

be looking for a candidate who has

Arthur M. Blank ’63, H’98, the Babson

demonstrated success crossing

brand is positioning itself to own

disciplinary boundaries and engaging

entrepreneurial leadership as well.

people across cultures. The earliest

appointment date is August 15.

The key to that strategic expansion

is the Arthur M. Blank School for

Entrepreneurial Leadership (AMBSEL),

leadership position, a new executive

which was announced last November

doctorate program, transdisciplinary

as part of a groundbreaking $50 million

curriculum, and new research and case

gift to his alma mater—the largest gift

writing curated via a new portal. It also

ever granted by The Arthur M. Blank

will create the Blank Global Challenge

Family Foundation and the largest

to drive thought and action to address

single gift ever received by Babson.

the Global Goals of the United Nations.

Now, in the midst of the coronavirus

AMBSEL will include a funded

The center of Babson’s expanding

pandemic that has impacted the College

entrepreneurial ecosystem will be

in unprecedented ways (see cover story,

the new Entrepreneurial Leadership

Page 10), the need for entrepreneurial

Village. The idea is to model the

leadership has never been greater.

village on the existing eTower, which

is home to 21 high-achieving student

“We believe this expansion of

entrepreneurship will create more

entrepreneurs. The goal is for the

opportunities across the broad

new village to build and scale a

population,” said President Stephen

similarly integrated community—

Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD. “It centers

one that could even be replicated

the story on the human condition.

beyond Babson’s Wellesley campus.

It is about putting people at the

center of the learning process.

then be replicated and it can influence

Babson’s idea of entrepreneurial

“With this one initiative, thanks

“If it’s a collaborative model, it can

to Mr. Blank’s wonderful gift, we are

leaders in a more robust way,” Spinelli

revolutionizing entrepreneurship

said. “It’s a huge opportunity.”

education, we are changing business education, and we even

Editor’s note: Babson Magazine had planned

are influencing higher education.”

extensive coverage of the Arthur M. Blank

School for Entrepreneurial Leadership, including

In a major step in April, Babson

announced the launch of a national search for the Arthur M. Blank Endowed Chair for Values-Based Leadership.

The search committee—led by Dean

6 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

what it means for the College and the future of entrepreneurial leadership, in this issue, but we’ve pivoted in these extraordinary circumstances.

We will be revisiting coverage of Arthur Blank and AMBSEL in an upcoming issue this year.

PHOTO: MELISSA GOLDEN

‘REAL-TIME MARKET TEST’

of College’s Strategic Plan

Babson College’s strategic planning

process now has been a year in

need for accelerated implementation of

the making, involving hundreds of

the five strategic initiatives:

The crisis already has revealed the

stakeholders and participants and thousands of community inputs, and

1 • OWN ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP,

helping to chart the College’s future in

its second century.

“There is disruption in the

marketplace that, for a lot of people, is scary,” said President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD. “But, Babson is a different and special place. We were built for

LEARNERS DEMAND IT, which suddenly became both essential for the current moment and critical for continued innovation to ensure long-term success.

100 years, and we will be even more important for the next 100.”

Spinelli spoke in front of the

campuswide community meeting

3 • DEVELOP ADDITIONAL EDUCATION MODELS, so that every Babson learner gains and employs skills to solve the real-world problems of business, government, and society.

March 5, less than a week before an entirely new disruption—the coronavirus pandemic—forced Babson to take dramatic action, moving all of its

4 • BOLSTER ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

students, faculty, and staff.

The pandemic, though, has not

paused nor slowed the planning

driving a culture of trust, collaboration, and inclusive excellence, exemplified in the ways the College mobilized during the crisis.

including five strategic initiatives that emerged from the Board of Trustees meeting in February—helped inform necessary decisions and actions.

virtually any college or university

“We are better positioned than

time market test of the strategy,” Spinelli

in the country,” Spinelli said at the

said in early April. “The current global

community forum in early March.

health crisis validates what we have

“What we’re doing is important. The

identified as our strengths, specifically

changes are rapid, but the opportunity

our initiatives around delivering

is substantial.”

education where and when learners

demand it, radically recreating our

changed, and the College’s five strategic

organization, and expanding our focus

initiatives became even more relevant

to include entrepreneurial leadership.

and more important.

“Now is the time to accelerate

implementation for the greatest impact on Babson’s future.”

INFLUENTIAL LEADER Jamie Siminoff ’99, founder and chief inventor at Ring, was one of the 25 business school graduates honored in the 2020 class of Influential Leaders by AACSB International, the world’s largest business education alliance. “I am thrilled to not only receive this recognition, but to be in the company of these many influential leaders working to leave a lasting mark on society,” Siminoff said.

5 • RADICALLY RECREATE THE ORGANIZATION,

process. Instead, the strategic plan—

“This crisis has proven to be a real-

Noah Doris ’20 of Goba Tea, Vaidehi Tembhekar MBA’21 of Busy Boda, and Aakaanksh Pothukutchi ’13 of Dash Beyond won the 2020 B.E.T.A. (Babson Entrepreneurial Thought & Action®) Challenge during the April 16 virtual finale. The winning ventures, led by Babson undergraduate, graduate, and alumni entrepreneurs, each won a grand prize of $20,000 plus​“services in kind” donations from corporate sponsors.

IN KEY REGIONS AND SECTORS, convening and/or engaging in ecosystems to transform entrepreneurial systems and conditions.

classes online and closing its campus to

B.E.T.A. CHALLENGE WINNERS

2 • DELIVER EDUCATION WHERE AND WHEN

this time. We were unique for our first

establishing the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership—with the $50 million gift from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation—to produce empathetic entrepreneurs capable of creating solutions to benefit communities and the world.

NEWS IN BRIEF

And, that was before the world

For more details on Babson’s strategic plan,visit: babson.edu/strategicplan

TRAINING COACHES With a two-year grant from the Cummings Foundation, the Babson College Youth Impact Lab will work with Roxbury, Massachusetts, nonprofit The BASE to teach entrepreneurial leadership skills to coaches and staff, in order to help urban teenagers become the next generation of problem solvers. Over the next two years, Babson will train about 40 staff members of The BASE, impacting about 150 students annually.

MAKING LOCAL CHEESE Babson Dining was awarded the New England Food Vision Prize by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation.

Thanks to the $250,000 grant, Babson is partnering with Mountain Dairy to help the Storrs, Connecticut, farm expand into producing mozzarella cheese, increasing locally sourced food served on campus.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 7

BABSONANDBEYOND

NEW BUTLER INSTITUTE Takes Expansive Approach Thanks to a $10 million gift from the

encourage more

family of John Butler ’52, P’84, Babson

entrepreneurial

College is establishing the Butler

activity, said

Institute for Free Enterprise Through

John Butler’s

Entrepreneurship. The new institute will

son, Andrew ’84.

look at entrepreneurship from a macro

“Entrepreneurship

level, examining how government,

does so much

business, and society can help

more than help

entrepreneurship to grow and thrive in

the individual

communities across the world.

entrepreneur,”

said Andrew

The Butler family—philanthropists

President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD, and John Butler ’52, P’84

and community leaders who have

Butler,

long-term ties to Babson—made

Cottingham & Butler’s executive

and activities for students. It will be

its latest investment in the College

chairperson. “It provides jobs and

housed under The Arthur M. Blank

because it believes in the power of

opportunities. It does so much for our

Center for Entrepreneurship, and the

entrepreneurship. The Butler family

society and economy.”

expansive research of Babson’s Global

previously endowed the John E. and

Entrepreneurship Monitor now will fall

Alice L. Butler Launch Pad, Babson’s

questions surrounding entrepreneurs

under the institute’s purview.

startup incubator.

and their relationships to the

The Butler Institute will examine big

“I’m unbelievably excited. Through

communities and governments in

the wonderful and generous support

for a long time,” said John Butler, the

which they interact. The institute will

of the Butler family, we have a great

chairperson of his family’s business,

look at research but also reach out

opportunity here,” said Andrew Corbett,

Cottingham & Butler, an insurance

to government officials, community

faculty director of the Butler Institute

broker based in Dubuque, Iowa. “They

leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and

and chair of Babson’s Entrepreneurship

make an amazing contribution to

anyone else who might have an impact

Division. “As we build up the institute,

our society.”

on entrepreneurial activity.

I want to find all the people in our

community who want to address

“We have admired entrepreneurs

Because of that, the Butlers

felt a responsibility to find a way to

The Butler Institute also will host

programs and events and create courses

these issues.”

— John Crawford

GEM GLOBAL REPORT Highlights Encouraging Signs Forty percent of entrepreneurs in 35 economies want to use their businesses to make a difference in the world.

That’s one of the findings of the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Global Report, released during the annual meeting, hosted by Babson College, on March 3 in Miami.

The report also found that, in the United States, the average level of both entrepreneurial activity and established business ownership has trended upward for the past 19 years.

“The positive attitudes about entrepreneurship that we see in the United States, and in many other

8 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

parts of the world, are an encouraging sign,” said Donna Kelley, Babson’s Frederic C. Hamilton Professor of Free Enterprise Studies.

The meeting also highlighted the recent GEM report on Women’s Entrepreneurship and featured a keynote address by Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD, and a host of presenters, including Kelley and Babson Vice Provost of Global Entrepreneurial Leadership Candida G. Brush. Also, Babson Miami Director Gustavo Trindade MBA’17 moderated a panel including Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez on the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Babson is proud to be a founding partner and longtime supporter of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor,” Spinelli said. “The outcomes of this paramount study impact economic policies; educate students, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders worldwide; and influence the research and teaching around entrepreneurship all over the globe.”

Co-founded by Babson in 1999, GEM studies the state of the entrepreneurial mindset, motivations, activities, and ambition, and the national framework conditions required to allow entrepreneurship to flourish in an economy.

— Michael Chmura

FOR MORE BABSON NEWS AND EVENTS:

entrepreneurship.babson.edu

PEOPLEOFBABSON

Small Talk with LISA THOMAS From her earliest days, Lisa Thomas P’18 ’19 ’21 has been motivated to serve others, thanks to the example of her parents. “But, I don’t think I understood how important it was for me to work in a career that was aligned with my values until I was in a job that wasn’t,” she says.

So, for the past two decades, Thomas has led the service programs on campus, including, since last June, as the director of Service and Justice Programs in The Lewis Institute. Under her leadership, student service has increased from 2,500 hours a year to about 40,000.

Why is service so important for students at Babson?

“Because empathy is a big part of entrepreneurship and being an entrepreneurial leader. I think the importance of getting into the communities just adds so much more impact, so much more understanding, and so much more empathy.”

What types of service projects have you participated in?

“So many. I try to go on projects with students every year both locally and globally, because, just like I ask the students, I want to stay in touch with the injustices in our community and the world. The service immersion trips, because I work so closely with the students and really get to know them, are some of the highlights for me. I also appreciate the strong collaborations within the communities we serve—whether it is Habitat for Humanity in El Salvador, the Ganako School in Tanzania, or an alum in Guatemala. I am always thankful that together we create an experience that benefits Babson students and the communities.”

What issues mean the most to you personally?

“Homelessness. It’s probably from my experience with Habitat for Humanity, but I really do understand how a home can change the dynamics of a person’s life. I think we should have a solution for that, because I think that with the home and that foundation and that security, it can springboard to being able to get an education and being able to get a job.”

What inspires you?

“It’s really the students. I also appreciate that Babson is so entrepreneurial. It inspires me to think about new and creative ideas of how we can utilize the really smart Babson students to make changes and make an impact in the community. It’s just amazing to me what they come up — Eric Beato with and what they’re doing.”

TO READ OUR COMPLETE Q&A WITH LISA THOMAS: magazine.babson.edu

PHOTO: MICHAEL QUIET

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 9

CAMPUS RESPONDS

How the Babson community united in the face of a global health crisis to transition online and lead the way into the future

by Eric Beato

I

n times of disruption, the questions often come faster than the answers.

What does this mean? What do we do about it?

Are we prepared? How quickly can we transition?

When do we act?

When Babson College announced March 10 that it would move classes online and students off campus in response to the coronavirus pandemic—after days of deliberations in the face of the escalating global crisis—the questions only accelerated.

What about grades? What about spring sports?

What about Commencement? When will this end?

Answers large and small would arrive over the hours, days, and weeks ahead as Babson completed a remarkable transformation to a virtual campus over spring break, while keeping the community connected even as students are scattered around the world.

10 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

CAMPUS RESPONSE

BY THE NUMBERS When Babson announced March 10 that all classes would transition fully online, the community mobilized over spring break to prepare for the resumption of classes March 23.

Amid the unprecedented uncertainty, a trio of unwavering confidences guided the College’s path forward:

• The health, safety, and academic continuity of students remains paramount.

• The community of entrepreneurial leaders will respond.

• Babson was built to excel in moments of great disruption.

“We’re entrepreneurs. We all know the importance of problem solving and creating value, and we’re seeing that emerge across campus now in a dramatic way,” says President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD. “It’s the belief that Babson would react in an exceptional manner.”

‘COMMUNITY REMAINS STRONG’

In times of disruption, the questions often are accompanied by an array of shared emotions.

As it grapples with the global crisis, the Babson community shares a sense of isolation—from one another, from campus.

It shares a concern for the future and the well-being of family and friends. It shares a sense of mourning for what has been lost or altered—traditional experiences, clubs, events, co-curricular activities, Commencement, normalcy itself.

At the same time, the College community shares a common belief in the power of entrepreneurial leadership, a common belief that has bonded it together in literal ways amid a new virtual reality.

So, facing questions and uncertainty, Babson reacted.

Students began packing, moving, and creating ways to stay connected. Faculty began altering lessons and teaching methods. Alumni began offering their time, money, and assistance. Staff began transitioning the student support systems—including academic advising, professional and career development, and the College’s centers and institutes— to sustain the growing and vibrant virtual campus. (For more on the Babson Heroes who rose to the occasion, see Page 18.)

HERE’S A LOOK AT THAT EFFORT

BY THE NUMBERS:

1,900 students moved off campus

1,000 faculty and staff working remotely

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 11

CAMPUS RESPONDS

450

faculty and staff members trained on Webex by ITSD

650

courses online

300

faculty members creating new approaches to teaching

2,500

Webex sessions in the FIRST week of online learning

12 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

“I’m enormously proud of the Babson community,” says Lawrence P. Ward, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “Even though we don’t see each other on a regular basis in person, I believe the community remains strong and remains committed to a shared sense of goals.”

At the heart of the virtual campus, of course, is the online learning.

Phillip Knutel, vice president and chief information officer, and Eric Palson MBA’09, director of academic technologies, mobilized their teams: the Information Technology Services Department and Academic Technology Innovation Center. Building on a tremendous amount of work and progress over the past year to bulk up the graduate school’s online offerings, the teams quickly provided training and documentation for faculty to utilize an array of online tools, including Webex, Canvas, Google Drive, Brainshark, and LinkedIn Learning. They also prepared additional IT “drivers”— both student assistants and newly trained IT staff —to help faculty members with the technical aspects during live classes.

“It was a Manhattan Project-like mentality,” Spinelli says.

“People were working 18-hour days to get it ready.”

In all, they transitioned 650 courses online in a week, and nearly 200 faculty members were trained to teach online. When classes resumed after spring break March 23, Babson began its new virtual reality.

‘Love for OUR Students’ Success’

In times of disruption, as one problem is solved, others emerge, opportunities emerge. It’s the entrepreneurial leaders who continually adapt, move forward, and add value.

In the first days after spring break, faculty members were finding innovative ways to maintain academic continuity and deliver lessons and experiences to students at their new residences.

“We may have had the smoothest and most glitch-free transition of any school in the country,” says Keith Rollag, dean of the graduate school. “After a week, we’ve already settled into routines and are looking beyond the transition to other challenges.”

David Blodgett, assistant professor of biology, immediately thought about his students’ plants and their experiment for his Sustainable Food Systems course.

“I have some old data that we could use, but just looking at data is going to be boring,” Blodgett says. “If I just give the students a couple of tables of data with the back story, they won’t have any point of reference for what yield means, what pollination means. I can show pictures or find videos, but not on the plants that we grew.”

So Blodgett preserved the lab experiment by moving it to his home. A day after Babson’s announcement, he loaded a plant stand into his car, along with 40 of the nearly 80 potted Wisconsin Fast

Plants, and the necessary lighting and supplies. Over spring break, Blodgett began caring for and pollinating the plants, and collecting all of the data to study the effects of pollination and soil on growth and yield rates. So when his students meet for class via Webex on Mondays and Wednesdays, they not only have real-time data but they also can observe their plants.

That’s just one prime example of faculty members who embraced opportunity and quickly added tangible value to a virtual environment.

“What our faculty have done over the past two weeks is the ultimate affirmation that they care so deeply about Babson College, and they have such a deep love for our students’ success and students’ learning,” said Ian Lapp, dean of the undergraduate school.

“Nobody questioned the amount of work they had to put in to get their courses online. Everyone just did it.”

‘A Real-Life Case Study’

David Blodgett preserved his students’ lab experiment in his Sustainable Food Systems course by moving the plants to his home.

For the latest updates on the College’s response to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), visit:

babson.edu/coronavirus

PHOTO: PAIGE BROWN

In times of disruption, the world needs leaders to answer the call.

Babson has been No. 1 in entrepreneurship education for nearly three decades, and it’s already building for the future with the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Perhaps better than any institution, Babson is poised for this moment—and the challenges ahead.

“Babson was built for this kind of problem. This is a place that sees problem solving and collaboration as competitive advantages,” Spinelli says. “Now, as the world experiences this unprecedented disruption, the need for entrepreneurial leaders has never been greater, and the value of Babson becomes more and more evident.”

Higher education likely will never be the same following the coronavirus pandemic. The lines between traditional learning and digital learning will continue to be blurred as the demands of other changing markets and industries also evolve. And Babson stands ready to lead in unique ways.

Spinelli calls it “a real-life case study”—one in which the students are learning firsthand about labor economics, the stock market, public policy, food sustainability, and much more while adapting to a digital future amid their own real-life challenges.

There’s nothing virtual about the lessons they’re learning— lessons that will set this special group of Babson students apart as it transitions to the workforce in the months and years ahead, and lessons that empower them to solve future challenges in the decades to come.

“We will prove to be some of the great problem solvers of our time, and we can do something special,” Spinelli says. “This is the type of challenge we’ve been expecting, and we’re proving that we’re up to the task.”

Whatever questions arise, Babson will find the answers. 

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 13

STUDENTS RESPOND

Despite the disruption to life on campus, the Babson community purposefully helps keep students connected to their courses, to their ventures, and to one another.

By John Crawford

A

s the pandemic upended life on campus and around the globe, Nathalya Mamane MBA’21 was just like any other Babson student trying to adjust to the new normal.

Mamane came to Babson because she was looking for a change. Having run her own event-planning business since 2008, she now wanted to do something with a higher purpose.

So when the crisis hit, Mamane contacted Cheryl Kiser, executive director of The Lewis Institute and Babson Social Innovation Lab. “We just can’t sit back and do nothing,” Mamane says. “When I saw this unfold, I went to Cheryl and said, ‘Put me to work.’ ” Despite the disruption, Babson remains a community at work, and the learning and vibrancy of the College continue.

“I am really proud of our student

Wasi Mahi ’21

body for handling this situation extremely well,” says Wasi Mahi ’21, president of the Student Government Association. “We are doing a good job of adapting and keeping the Babson spirit and community alive.”

That has meant taking classes

14 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

online, holding virtual events, working on startup ventures, and, in some cases, tackling new projects they never could have imagined.

Maintaining Connection The spring semester had been humming along before the pandemic changed everything. Mahi remembers the shock and sadness of his fellow

Nathalya Mamane MBA’21

students when the College announced

Making a Mark

March 10 that the campus, for the most part, would be shutting down.

“You could see the looks on people’s

In these times, says Mamane, something essential defines Babson.

faces as they realized what was

“Everyone here just wants to

happening,” he says. “That took a huge

make a mark,” she says. “Sitting back

emotional toll on a lot of our students.”

and waiting, while being stripped of

As students scrambled to adapt,

everything you can control, we all were

Aly Massoud MBA’20 mourned the

looking to be able to do something.”

loss of community in Olin Hall.

That need to be pro-active is

“Never in a million years could I

what led Kiser to quickly connect

have thought I would be wrapping

Mamane with Dr. Claire-Cecile Pierre,

up my MBA from my living room,”

the executive director of Babson’s

says Massoud, president of the

Kerry Murphy Healey Center for

Graduate Student Council.

Global Healthcare Entrepreneurship.

Maintaining connection has

Pierre also advises health systems

been a top priority for students and

in the United States and abroad.

for the College, and Babson has

One of those health systems

provided a range of digital tools. “The

offers integrated services for seniors,

beautiful thing is that technology

including a day program that brings

makes the world small,” Mahi says.

them together for exercise, food,

In both the undergraduate and

medical evaluations, and community.

graduate schools, most events moved

With social distancing, however, that

online: coffee hangouts and book

program required a new approach.

clubs, bingo games and chess matches,

Mamane was presented not only

job fairs and professor meetups.

with a chance to give back but also

“I have had a lot of students

a unique learning opportunity. She

reaching out,” Massoud says. “There

worked with Pierre, as well as students

was a huge influx of support. People

in the Future Lab: Mobility Innovation

were realizing, ‘I want to stay

class, to think about potential

connected to the community.’ ”

technological solutions that can help

the seniors stay connected and help the staff monitor them at home.

“All we can do is use our own sense of heart to help others,” Mamane says.

“Being involved with this has helped me stay sane. It has given me so much hope.”

Support Network This being Babson, the work of starting

Pictured left to right: Zarius Dubash ’21, Ashritha Karuturi ’22, Christopher Lally ’20, Ryan Laverty ’20, Jake Casillas ’20, and Maya Gupta ’21

and building businesses continues as well. Christopher Lally ’20 is the

while living with five eTower friends

games of Monopoly. “We are helping

founder of Flight Squad, a platform

in a ski condo at Loon Mountain in

each other through the struggles,” Lally

that aims to simplify the process

New Hampshire. When Babson closed

says. “It’s amazing to have this group

for booking and managing flights.

the residence halls, one of the friends

to rely on in such a tough time.”

Amid the economic disarray, Lally

offered up his family’s condo as a place

Massoud is curious about what kind

knows that this might not be the best

to stay. They relished the support at

of ventures Babson entrepreneurs such

time to launch a business, particularly

eTower, and they knew they could

as Lally ultimately will build. “I wonder

in the travel industry, but he’s not

replicate that community off campus.

how they will pivot their business to

concerned. He plans to spend the

The students spend their days

adapt to the new reality,” he says.

upcoming months on developing

taking online classes, working on

Whatever they do, he knows it

his venture so that, when people are

their businesses, and chatting with

will be amazing. “I’ve always been

flying regularly again, he’ll be ready.

professors and mentors on video calls,

impressed with Babson,” he says.

Lally is working on his business

while also taking time for hikes and

“It has never let me down.” 

With Commencement ceremonies postponed because of the pandemic, Babson College remains committed to celebrating the Class of 2020. The College will hold virtual events in May and will confer all degrees on undergraduate and graduate students May 16, as planned. When it is safe to gather again, Babson will hold in-person Commencement ceremonies to honor the achievements of graduates. The Class of 2020 also will be highlighted in the Summer issue of Babson Magazine.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 15

ALUMNI RESPOND

Babson’s ‘Guardian Angel’ Answers the Call

F

Robert Weissman ’64, H’94, P’87 ’90, G’20 and his wife, Jan Weissman P’87 ’90, G’20

earing the impact that the global coronavirus outbreak may have on Babson College’s financial health, Edward Chiu needed to make a call.

The person he dialed? Robert Weissman ’64, H’94, P’87 ’90, G’20.

On the phone, Chiu, the Governor Craig R. Benson Endowed Senior Vice President for Advancement, outlined a proposal. What if Weissman’s annual contribution to the College was allocated to current needs? That would allow College leadership the flexibility to address head-on whatever issues they may encounter.

Weissman listened to the proposal.

He didn’t hesitate with an answer.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary action,” Weissman said.

“I want to ensure the well-being of Babson students, faculty, and staff.”

And, so, with that phone call, $1 million was given to Babson to use however it sees fit in a time of

16 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

unprecedented crisis and uncertainty.

“He trusts the leadership of the College to employ it in the way it sees best,” Chiu said. “This provides some much-needed flexibility to ensure academic continuity.”

Weissman’s gift is just another in a long line of generous contributions that he and his wife, Jan P’87 ’90, G’20, have made to the school. In just the last couple of years, they have supported projects that have radically changed the look and feel of campus: the relocation of the Babson World Globe and the openings of both the Weissman Foundry and Babson Commons at Horn Library. During the course of their lives, they have committed more than $100 million to the College.

“No words can describe the impact that they and their entire family continue to have on Babson,” Chiu said.

“Guardian angel might be a good way to describe it.”

— John Crawford

Alumni, Friends Provide ‘Safety Net’ for Students Babson College alumni, families, and friends from all over have overwhelmingly responded to support students during the global health crisis.

“The tremendous response from people on campus and around the world demonstrates that when times are tough, the Babson community comes together in inspiring ways,” said Edward Chiu, the Governor Craig R. Benson Endowed Senior Vice President for Advancement.

As of April 22, more than 500 Babson community members had donated more than $135,000 to the Emergency Fund.

“The College has a long history of folks providing support to students on an ad hoc basis,” said Ryan Travia, associate dean of students for wellness.

“It seemed like an opportune moment to mobilize these efforts.”

In the first few weeks of the crisis, the fund was critical in helping students move off campus, providing assistance with transportation, housing, shipping costs, and offsite storage needs. It also helped provide

temporary financial support to students while refunds were processed for meal plans and housing.

The Emergency Fund is supporting student needs related to the new virtual academic environment, including WiFi, mobile phone bills, and other technology costs, ensuring that all students can access online classrooms. It continues to assist students who have lost their jobs and internships because of the pandemic.

Reserves also are providing food and personal care essentials for students who remain on campus because of travel restrictions or other impediments; about 65 students were still on campus as of April 1.

As the crisis continues and impacts the economy, the need will only grow when students return to campus.

“Given the ongoing health crisis and economic downturn, providing a financial safety net for our students has never been more important,” Chiu said. “We need to be here for them.”

Alongside this essential funding, the Babson community has rallied to

find other ways to help. In true Babson fashion, community members used their creative problem-solving skills to find thoughtful solutions to student issues such as travel and housing.

Stephen Martiros ’83, MBA’85, P’21 ’21, an alumnus and parent of two Babson students, has taken in a classmate of his children—just one of many parents who helped ensure that roommates and friends also have a safe place to stay this semester.

Alumni and friends donated frequent flyer miles and purchased plane tickets for international students (read more, Page 18). And, when staff could no longer travel, several alumni and parents offered to help the Babson admissions offices recruit prospective students.

“I’ve always been struck by the tremendous ethic of care that folks in the Babson community demonstrate for one another,” Travia said. “Donors are leading with their hearts and finding the opportunity to provide what they can, when they can.”

— Christina Etre

To donate to the Emergency Fund, visit babson.edu/emergencyfund or scan the QR code.

Donors who give to Babson’s Emergency Fund in 2020 can receive an additional tax benefit with the new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This universal charitable deduction allows donors to deduct up to $300 with a standard deduction, or, for significant cash donations, you can deduct up to 100% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), rather than the current 60% of AGI.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 17

COMMUNITY RESPONDS

If there’s one positive thing we’ve learned during the first weeks of the pandemic, it’s that there are heroes all around us, most prominently caring for patients in hospitals, stocking shelves and assisting customers in grocery stores, and protecting our towns and cities as first responders.

But heroes also exist throughout the

Babson College community. Just days after the coronavirus outbreak took hold of the United States, students, alumni, faculty, and staff made a variety of contributions, from coordinating travel arrangements, to offering free learning opportunities, to donating—and innovating ways to provide—personal protective equipment.

How members of the Babson community adapted quickly to lend a helping hand

Giving Back, to Move Forward Ettore Biagioni ’80, Board of Trustees, Global Advisory Board (GAB) member and former GAB chair, received numerous notes of appreciation shortly after purchasing flights home for nine Global Scholars—international students in financial need—one of many acts of kindness during Babson’s online transition in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Yet, one message in particular led Biagioni to reflect on the influence of paying it forward.

It said, “I look forward to giving back the way I received.”

18 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

“That is the purpose of all of this,” he said.

“It’s something they’re going to remember in the future, to give back to others who are less fortunate when they’ve succeeded in their professional careers.”

Trustee Fred Kiang ’70, MBA’75, H’19, and Sunil Goyal P’13 ’16 ’19, both also members of the Global Advisory Board, joined Biagioni, and the three were instrumental in helping students quickly reunite with family and friends. Their actions, they hope, embolden these same students to one day also be there as pillars of support.

— Bryan Lipiner

Supporting Students Everywhere When the going gets tough, Babson is ready to lend a helping hand.

The City of Boston needed help fulfilling copy services that would provide 72-page educational packets for some of the 52,000 registered Boston Public Schools students. And, the schools needed them quickly. Babson was one of many higher education institutions to help the city in this time of need, and the College’s Canon Copy Center ran overnight to assist with the request.

Kevin Collen, director of Babson’s enterprise-wide Vendor Management & Procurement Services, said his team was glad to provide the service: “I’m happy to be part of the team to support Babson and the broader Boston community however I can.”

— Kait Smith Lanthier

Michael Ioffe ’21

Ryan Laverty ’20

Adapting to Create More Access Have you heard this narrative before?

Entrepreneurs, faced with an obstacle, find a solution, offering greater opportunities for those in need than what was previously available.

Michael Ioffe ’21 and Ryan Laverty ’20 tackled that challenge when they founded text-messaging learning platform Arist last year. They did so again when they announced free access to Arist for all schools affected by the coronavirus outbreak, allowing students who may not have access to online courses the chance to continue their studies.

“With the realization that many of our peers may not have access to the internet, our team came together and realized this could be a way to help,” Ioffe said. “We see it as the ability to fix a pressing problem in a time of need.”

— BL

‘In Times Like These, It Is So Important to Think of Others’ As people were forced into isolation during the outbreak—cut off from work and school, shops and restaurants, neighbors and communities—Alex Freeman ’15 found herself focused on those in need during the stay-at-home orders.

“In times like these, it is so important to think of others,” she said.

So, she decided to act.

Her work started by asking for contributions to the Greater Boston Food Bank, a large hunger-relief organization that distributed nearly 70 million pounds of food last year. Over just a 72-hour period, Freeman was able to raise a combined $2,300 on Facebook and Instagram.

“By fundraising for them, we are able to directly provide their team with the finances to purchase, package, and deliver more meals a day to those in need,” Freeman said.

— John Crawford

For more on these and other Babson Heroes, visit Babson Thought & Action:

entrepreneurship.babson.edu

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 19

COMMUNITY RESPONDS

A Collaboration to Donate Personal Protective Equipment As the coronavirus outbreak escalated, Jodi Schaefer, manager of the Babson science laboratories, wanted to help the response effort in whatever way possible.

Associate Professor Wiljeana Glover suggested utilizing the Babson-Olin-Wellesley collaboration.

Though it was ultimately decided that providing testing was not within the collaborators’ capabilities, providing much-needed personal protective equipment to hospitals and medical workers was.

Schaefer contacted Joanne Pratt, Olin College’s associate dean and associate professor of biological sciences, to pool supplies. And they filled Schaefer’s car with all their available supplies and rushed off to a local Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Donations Management Branch.

“We donated about 65 boxes of gloves, 100 pairs of used goggles, and 40 pairs of new goggles to MEMA,” Schaefer said.

— Karl Klaussen

Jodi Schaefer, manager of the Babson science laboratories

Matthew Boyd MBA’07

“This is very personal to us.”

— Matthew Boyd MBA’07, CCO of Boyd Technologies

To Fill a Drastic Need At first glance, the problem seems easy enough to figure out. To fill the urgent need for medical masks, why not just ask manufacturers, particularly those in the medical space, to start cranking them out?

Turns out, producing a new product, one that you have no previous experience with, does take time and effort to do right. Based in Boston and Lee, Massachusetts, Boyd Technologies is taking on the challenge.

“We’re working on this 24/7 right now,” said Matthew Boyd MBA’07, the company’s chief commercial officer. “This is a tremendous

20 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

crisis. There is a lot of confusion around what can and cannot be done. We want to provide solutions.”

The family-run company has deep roots in New England, and as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded and the dire need for medical masks became apparent, Boyd and his family focused on local hospital workers and first responders.

“This is very personal to us,” Boyd said. “We feel a part of the community. We are a family business that resides here. We feel privileged to be here. We feel an obligation to help.”

— JC

Bringing Comfort to New York City When disaster strikes, the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort is often there.

“That unmistakable white hull—that is a symbol known around the world,” says Rear Adm. John Mustin MBA’06, who has served in the Navy for 30 years. “It is a very visual symbol of hope and comfort and resiliency.”

In response to the pandemic, Mustin oversaw the effort to bring the Comfort to New York City.

Preparing the ship to set sail required lots of logistics and teamwork.

Scheduled maintenance on the Comfort had to be wrapped up, 1,200 doctors and nurses were brought in from around the country, and pallet upon pallet of equipment were loaded aboard. A New York pier even had to be dredged to make sure it was sufficiently deep enough for the 70,000-ton ship.

All of these efforts by so many illustrated the shared sense of purpose that Mustin enjoys in the Navy. “This was really a phenomenal example,” he says, “of people working together.”

— JC

Rear Adm. John Mustin MBA’06 (left) discusses the Comfort with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Watch a video and read more about John Mustin MBA’06 and the Comfort:

entrepreneurship.babson.edu

Pivoting Production with Purpose

A face shield constructed

by Cascade Maverik, a sister company of Bauer

In mid-March, a Bauer employee approached CEO Ed Kinnaly ’87 with a suggestion for a solution.

“I’ve got a crazy idea,” the employee said. Kinnaly responded: “Shoot, go for it.”

The conversation was the beginning of a company pivot—from producing hockey equipment to medical face shields—in order to address the shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare providers as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The plan required employees to step out of their traditional roles. Since the production shift, manufacturing workers have taken on shippingrelated tasks, while project managers have brainstormed marketing campaigns and information technology teams have helped take orders.

It also exemplified that a significant shift like this isn’t just limited to companies led by founders.

“We exist to create,” said Kinnaly, who first joined Bauer in 2000 and has served as CEO since 2017.

“Entrepreneurship is the essence of the company.”

— BL

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 21

OFFICEHOURS

Opportunity Knocking

Babson’s first Posse mentor now leads the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program

Richard Bliss, professor of finance

Richard Bliss had only recently heard of Babson when he first received a call from the dean with an unexpected offer to interview for a faculty spot.

Bliss, then teaching and completing his PhD at Indiana University, was dubious about leaving the trappings of a huge public university.

“I’m going to go to a tiny private school? How can there be opportunities there?” Bliss recalls wondering. “It was just the opposite. Opportunities are everywhere.”

Now in his 23rd year at Babson, the professor of finance—who received the prestigious Walter H. Carpenter Prize in 2017 for his contributions across campus—always answers when opportunity knocks.

One of the most prominent examples is proudly represented by

22 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

He serves as the national academic director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

A decade ago, Bliss and his Babson colleagues, led by Professor Emeritus Patricia Greene, helped start the program—a $500 million initiative that aids small business owners with training, business support, and access to capital at 19 sites around the country. When Greene stepped aside as academic director four years ago, Bliss took the reins.

The impact has been undeniable with more than 9,000 businesses having graduated from the program.

“It’s like no other sort of teaching, because these are businesses, often in underserved communities,” Bliss says. “Our data shows they grow more quickly in terms of revenue, and they hire more people, so we know the program works.”

The program will achieve its objective of helping 10,000 businesses I love what I do here, and sometime this year. But I want to continue evolving with recent launches in my teaching here.

Iowa, New Hampshire, and Ohio, Bliss and his team see no shortage of small frustrations and rewards that probably businesses that would benefit. come with parenthood.”

Approaching a quarter-century at

The program—which welcomes the College, Bliss says he is in no hurry its 17th class of Posse Scholars this to step away, not from the Goldman fall—has produced a remarkable 97% Sachs businesses and not from his graduation rate.

Babson students.

“It’s just really nice to see kids whose lives have changed dramatically,” “I love what I do here,” he says, Bliss says. “and I want to continue evolving my

Today, Bliss splits his time teaching teaching here.” courses on campus while mentoring a

Plus, who knows when opportunity completely different type of student. may knock again.

— Eric Beato a well-worn basketball that sits on the bookshelf of his understated office.

It’s signed by the 11 members of Babson’s first class of Posse Scholars, for whom Bliss served as mentor from 2004 to 2008.

That experience— including the academic achievements, the life lessons, and even the high-intensity basketball games the group shared—had almost as much of an impact on Bliss as it did on his students.

“It really forced me to be a little more empathetic,” Bliss says. “Not ever having kids of my own, I think it made me understand some of the

PHOTO: WEBB CHAPPELL

OFFICEHOURS BOOK SHELF

5 American Dream

Good Reads by Babson Faculty

Provocative Films About the

Julie Levinson, professor of film and the chair of Arts and Humanities, has been exploring themes related to the American dream her entire career, and she wrote The American Success Myth on Film in 2012. “The American dream is an individualistic notion that claims all Americans—on our own steam, if we’re good enough and we work hard enough—can make it,” she said. Here, Levinson recounts five films about those who made it, those who didn’t, and those who lost it or opted out of the quest.

1 2 3 4 5

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS / 2006 “This is a very conventional

The Ideate Method: Identifying HighPotential Entrepreneurial Ideas by Dan Cohen, Greg Pool and Heidi Neck. SAGE Publications Inc., 2020. Professor of Entrepreneurship Heidi Neck and her co-authors illustrate an empirically proven method to identify problems, develop solutions, and pursue the most entrepreneurial ideas.

film about success in America that says even if you start with strikes against you, you have a shot at making it. Will Smith plays a guy who has bad things going on at home and his job is going nowhere, but because he’s so determined and so inspired and wants success so much, he gets it. It’s a feel-good movie that fulfills our deep need to believe that success is possible for anyone who tries hard enough.”

THE HUDSUCKER PROXY / 1994

“A deeply ironic and cynical rags-toriches story by the Coen brothers. This is a movie that takes the wish-fulfillment story and wreaks havoc with it. The film ends up being a blackly comic critique of corporate culture, of the young striver character, and of entrepreneurial invention.”

HOLIDAY / 1938 “A marvelous movie from the screwball-comedy era. It’s a great American dream story, because we have a young achiever who is making it.

Cary Grant’s character is a poor boy who made good, but he decides to chuck it all.

It’s a story in which he turns his back on success and material fulfillment and wealth in favor of finding himself through spiritual fulfillment.”

Night: A Philosophy of the After-Dark by Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh. Zero Books, 2020.

Associate Professor of Comparative Literature Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh explores the human experience of the after-dark through ancient rituals, medieval storytelling, modern philosophy, and futuristic images.

A FACE IN THE CROWD / 1957 “A brilliant movie that demonstrates the rise-and-fall pattern. The main character becomes unbelievably rich and extraordinarily famous, and then we see his downfall. Like a lot of movies about the American dream, it tells us it’s lonely at the top, to quote the cliché. This is an extraordinarily powerful and timely movie that still resonates.”

I, TONYA / 2017

“Here, we have a wildly talented and ambitious figure in Tonya Harding, who is fabulous at what she does but still doesn’t achieve her dream. The film doesn’t let her off the hook for her moral failings, but it also doesn’t let the culture off the hook for the hurdles it puts up for people who don’t conform to American ideals of how we want to see ourselves reflected.”

PHOTO: WEBB CHAPPELL

Go-To-Market Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs: Creating and Exploring Success edited by Victoria L. Crittenden.

Emerald Publishing, Ltd., 2019. Professor of Marketing Victoria L. Crittenden and a cast of global contributors examine the power, the challenges, and the inspiration of women entrepreneurship.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 23

Abbie vanLuling ’22 participates in finger-painting activities with fourth-graders at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts.

24 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

OTHERS

In Service of

With the rewarding Community Action Program, Babson College students experience the benefits—and even personal lessons— of giving back in local communities.

By Bryan Lipiner / Photos by Webb Chappell

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 25

“It’s important for me

to do my very best

T

to make them excited about what they’re learning right now, so

hird-grade students sprinkle into the library just after 4 p.m. on this weekday at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Each member of the group— known as All Stars—takes a seat on a colorful carpet at the front of the room.

Directions for the afternoon are discussed, before the group breaks out into smaller groups for learning opportunities. Today’s lesson?

Multiplication exercises, “a fun way to practice math,” led by a few Babson College students.

It’s a weekly ritual for both Babson and Woodrow Wilson students as part of the Community Action Program (CAP).

By way of community assistance, youth afterschool, and youth entrepreneurial leadership programs, more than 200 Babson students annually, led by 18 CAP manager liaisons, step away from campus for up to 10 hours each week to educate local elementary students and children, and to better local organizations, towns, and cities.

“A lot of these children go home to empty houses … it’s crucial for them to have access to support,” said Josh Stevenson, associate director of The Lewis Institute’s Service and Justice Programs at Babson. “In a lot of our global communities, they don’t.”

It’s through this service that Babson students mentor and become role models in the lives of children and teenagers in need. Although the less fortunate group of students is the primary focus, these Babson students often also learn a thing or two about themselves in giving back.

“The relationship is reciprocal,”

26 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

Buslov also is a Natalie Taylor Scholar, one of the highest recognitions in terms of social impact on campus.

Taylor Scholars participate in 250 hours of community service a year, Stevenson said.

“A lot of these kids don’t have people they can look up to,” Buslov said. “It’s important to have someone to talk to, be there for support. Even just showing up means something to the kids. That consistency is not always there for them.”

Last summer, Buslov interned as a fellow at the Forest Foundation, a Boston organization that funds area nonprofit internships, opening even more doors if she chooses to work for a nonprofit organization after graduation.

“I know it’s something I’ll definitely come back to, because I’ve been able to have that experience and see the impact it can have,” she said. “It’s something that’s been instilled in me from a young age; it’s one of my values to take what I have to help others. It brings me joy to do it, but also helps me stay compassionate and understanding.

“The program is a way to bring together people toward a common goal.

It can be hard to find other people who are interested in spending time out in the community, doing this kind of work.”

they see value in going to school every day.”

— Abbie vanLuling ’22

Stevenson said. “The organization we work with is benefiting from our students, but our students are also learning, growing, and developing.”

Validating Volunteering Michelle Buslov ’20 actively volunteered in community service in high school.

But, it has been her work with CAP in which she discovered her inclination to continue to volunteer after graduation and as a working professional.

“Finding (CAP) has helped me validate how important helping others is,” Buslov said. “It has solidified my interest in nonprofit work in my future, and making sure I’m helping those that are less fortunate.

“I really wanted something consistent,” she added, “something that would ground me and bring me perspective on a weekly basis.”

With CAP, she has worked in the Musterfield Housing Authority as part of Babson Entrepreneurial Leadership Academies in Framingham, leading groups of children in entrepreneurial and business activities through team building, brainstorming, and idea generation.

“It’s helpful to encourage them to think creatively and outside the box,” Buslov said. “They’re used to being challenged by regular school curriculums.”

A Reflective Experience Across the hall at Woodrow Wilson, a small group of fourth-grade students take part in finger-painting activities, supervised by Abbie vanLuling ’22.

VanLuling joined CAP as part of her federal work study, and said she was “amazed” when she learned she could

Gabriella Ribeiro ’23 tutors a third-grade student in math at the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Framingham, Massachusetts.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 27

fulfill financial aid by volunteering.

“I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said.

At Woodrow Wilson, in the program run by Jewish Family Service of Metrowest, vanLuling has led everything from art and math exercises to hands-on academic projects.

“It’s important for me to do my very best to make them excited about what they’re learning right now, so they see value in going to school every day,” she said. “It’s important that there’s somebody in their life that’s telling

28 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

them if they try their best, it can help them move closer to becoming the basketball player, the meteorologist, the cellist they say they want to be.”

She says her service is a frequent reminder of how fortunate she is to be a student at Babson.

“When I work with those kids, it reminds me of how lucky I am to be at this institution, and to have the opportunity to go to college,” vanLuling said. “When I get off campus, walk through that school, work with the kids on their math homework, it takes me

to this place where I recognize I’m so privileged.”

In CAP, it’s not uncommon for Babson students to ask children what they aspire to be when they grow up, in order to encourage them to set goals for their future.

In one recent instance, the question was turned back on vanLuling. When she didn’t have an answer, a number of children revealed they expected her to become a teacher, an interaction which she described as introspective.

“We can learn from anybody …

Jacqueline Cornelison ’23 (above left and at right), Gabriella Ribeiro ’23 (above center) and Abbie vanLuling

’22 (above right) assist third- and fourth-graders as part of the Community Action Program.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 29

“Finding (CAP) has helped me validate

how important helping others is.”

— Michelle Buslov ’20

it’s grounding,” vanLuling said. “For me, every time I come back, I try to encourage a little bit more positivity about the work that we’re doing, the tough aspects about our day-to-day life. … There are people who never even get a chance to get a higher education, or even go to high school.”

‘Developing Empathy’ According to Sebastian Olea ’20, it’s difficult to characterize the situations of local children and teenagers in need unless you experience it firsthand.

“Having someone that can help you out is important to kids,” he said. “Once you see someone that is in need, there

30 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

should be something done about it.”

Olea has worked with Cradles to Crayons, the Needham Housing Authority Afterschool Program, the Barton Road Afterschool Program in Wellesley, and the Pusan Road Afterschool Program in Framingham.

“You see how other people don’t have the same opportunities that we have here at Babson,” Olea said. “You learn the difficulties people have, and how in their times of hardship, they can teach you stuff, too.”

Through the Babson curriculum and specifically courses such as Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship, students such as Olea gain compassion by starting a business. Stevenson said during their

time as undergraduates, he hopes students find a desire to commit to showing warmth on a more regular basis in CAP. “The key thing is developing empathy,” Stevenson said. “We’re the No. 1 school in entrepreneurship. When they’re coming up with a business idea, our hope is that they do it with care and concern.”

Stevenson described the role Babson students play in the lives of the less fortunate as “magnificent.” Students such as Buslov, vanLuling, and Olea are some of those attempting to carry that practice forward.

“This is a way to give back while continuing to pursue my goals in life,” Olea said. “The Community Action Program takes your mind off school, but you meet so many different, special people.” 

‘True Success Is

Giving Back’ Lecturer Len Green doesn’t define success by the amount of money one has.

Success to him is measured by how you can improve the world around you, often through giving back.

In his popular course The Ultimate Entrepreneurial Challenge—along with

Rebuilding from Disaster, led by Lecturer Chuck Winrich—students learn the significance of philanthropy and what it means to be a humanitarian.

Lessons for Life

Real Solutions

Each week in Green’s course, a team of students is asked to bring food and beverages to feed the remaining 50 to 100 students in class with one condition: The team isn’t allowed to pay for it. To acquire meals, teams rely on negotiation. They also advertise, or perform other marketing-related work for restaurants in return for meals.

A group of students, led last semester by Mircea Ghita, decided to employ a similar tactic to feed others.

With approval from Green, Ghita—an exchange student from Romania who attended Babson last fall—designed a project to use leftover meals from their dining plans to feed the homeless in Boston’s Copley Square neighborhood.

Seven students ended up contributing more than 110 meals.

“Making money gives you opportunity, but that’s not true success,” Green said. “True success is giving back.”

Green said the donation of meals provided homeless men and women with a sense of optimism.

“When you reach that stage, you’re suspicious, you’ve lost hope,” Green said. “It’s important for these nonprofits to come across with hope, besides just food.”

Winrich has been teaching courses on natural disasters for 20 years, and he initiated class trips to New Orleans in 2017 and 2018 to study lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina as part of his course Rebuilding from Disaster.

During the weeklong trips, students studied the city’s levy system, spoke to residents who lived through the hurricane, and also spent time in nearby Thibodaux, Louisiana, where they helped rebuild homes for those originally displaced by the hurricane.

“In the vein of experiential learning, you go out and work on real problems with real people,” Winrich said. “You see the impact of your work.”

Winrich aspires to lead similar future work in Puerto Rico, struck by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and a round of earthquakes in December and January.

“Even if it’s for a short period of time,” he said, “we want to help people and communities get back on their feet.”

— Bryan Lipiner

Watch Len Green’s entrepreneurial students feed the homeless and the hungry: magazine.babson.edu

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 31

Andrew Lidington ’18 says, “Babson helped me connect the dots” when it comes to integrated sustainability.

32 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

PHOTO: MICHAEL QUIET

At Babson, students are taught to make sustainability and social responsibility a central part of their careers and day-to-day lives.

By John Crawford

A

ndrew Lidington ’18 already had the planet on his mind when he began at Babson College as a student. He knew, even as a teenager, that sustainability was critically important.

“I saw it as the foundational issue that affects everyone,” he says. “We have only one planet. That means we can’t mess up.”

But he admits that his understanding of sustainability wasn’t particularly deep or profound. Yes, he knew the world needed to move toward renewable energy, but he didn’t know the many barriers to making that happen. He

didn’t grasp, for instance, the role that economics and finance played.

“It’s easy to say you want to do things. It’s another to know how to do them,” says Lidington, a former Arthur M. Blank Scholar and a senior analyst at Sustainable Energy Advantage, a renewable energy consulting firm based in Framingham, Massachusetts. “If we want to change how the current system works, we need to know how it works.”

Lidington learned that at Babson. In one class, he helped set up a miniature wind turbine and studied its energy production. In another, he and his

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 33

fellow students looked at installing solar

this way of thinking,” says Vikki

panels on a campus building. In yet

Rodgers, professor of environmental

another class, he and his student group

science and chair of the Math and

examined ways to improve air quality

Science Division.

for people living near major highways

in Boston.

leading a company, integrated

sustainability calls for social and

More than learning the hows and

whys of sustainability, though, Lidington

When starting a business or

environmental concerns to be a part of

was taught to think beyond himself

an organization’s DNA, as essential to its

and recognize how interconnected

mission as making a profit. Integrated

the world is. In our careers and day-

sustainability also calls for these issues

Quite frankly, a lot depends on the young people in college now. “We have some frightening ecological and social issues coming up on the horizon,” Rodgers says. “I hope our students change the world. We desperately need them to. I think these are the tools they need to make system-wide changes.”

Laying a Foundation

A big way students are introduced to to be considered in every aspect of how integrated sustainability is through can reverberate and impact the one leads a life outside the office, from Foundations of Management and environment and our communities what you invest in, to where you live Entrepreneurship, or FME, a signature in ways we might not anticipate. and how you commute, to where and on course at Babson where teams of first “Babson helped me connect year students are taken through the what you spend your money. the dots,” he says. steps of starting their “Everything we do, in own ventures over the one way, shape, or form, course of a school year. is informed by our Danna Greenberg, environment around the Walter H. Carpenter us, and also affects our Professor, has taught environment around FME for many years us. Everything affects and enjoys watching everything else.” the tremendous growth Babson defines this students experience systems thinking, with during the class. “They its emphasis on social — Vikki Rodgers, professor of environmental science are starting to carve their and environmental own path of who they responsibility, as want to be at Babson,” the Rodgers teaches a course focused on integrated sustainability. In a time of professor of management says. integrated sustainability with Stephen great societal challenges, from climate While FME revolves around starting change to income inequality, integrated Deets, associate professor of politics a business, the goal is not just profit. sustainability has far-reaching and the chair of the History and Society “Profitability or loss has no connection implications for the planet and the Division. That course, Socio-Ecological to your grade,” says Scott Taylor, people who call it home.

Urban Systems, looks at how political, associate professor of organizational environmental, and economic issues behavior and FME coordinator. Rather, are connected in urban areas. “It allows students are taught to think about A Way of Thinking us to focus on lots of specific issues: the business decisions they make Teaching about the environment and gentrification, transportation, storm and how they impact people and the social responsibility certainly is nothing water management, garbage, food,” environment. The hope is that the new at Babson. What’s changed in Deets says. course serves as a foundation for recent years is the way in which these students as they progress at Babson

Through just such a course, Babson issues are taught at the school. Instead is rethinking how business is taught, say and beyond. of peripheral concerns, integrated “We spend a lot of time talking Deets and Rodgers, who believe such sustainability is considered a central about empathy, about putting yourself a shift is necessary. “We hope Babson part of how people choose to lead in another person’s perspective,” becomes a model for how business their lives.

Taylor says. “We’re trying to establish a education can and should change,” “I don’t want to send graduates out mindset, a mindset for doing business, into the world who don’t understand Deets says. to-day lives, the decisions we make

“We have some frightening ecological and social issues ... on the horizon. I hope our students change the world. We desperately need them to.”

34 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

‘They Care About This’

Prabaarja Bedi MBA’20 displays apparel created by her socially and environmentally responsible brand.

Prabaarja Bedi MBA’20 came to Babson knowing she wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. But she wasn’t sure what shape that would take until she spoke with Sinan Erzurumlu, associate professor of operations management.

Bedi’s family has a textile business in India, and she was speaking to Erzurumlu about his course lessons in sustainability and operational efficiency and how she might apply them.

That’s when he asked her: “Why don’t you think about ways that waste can be reduced?” And as Bedi thought about that question, and thought about the incredible amount of waste the textile industry creates, the proverbial light bulb blinked over her head.

The end result was UNfabricated, a

PHOTO: MICHAEL QUIET

socially and environmentally responsible brand that produces furnishings, apparel, and accessories from leftover materials from the Bedi family business.

“I realized there is a lot of waste that is generated, but it’s in usable form,” says Bedi, a member of Babson’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab®, a business accelerator in Boston.

“I saw it as an opportunity.”

In addition to reducing waste, the venture also seeks to empower impoverished women. All of the company’s products, which Bedi and her mother design, are made by 17 rural women working at an all-female production house that provides skills and fair wages.

Bedi has long had an interest in helping women in need, but she admits

she never thought of that as a business opportunity. “I thought it was social work,” she says.

With her business, Bedi joins a growing number of Babson graduate students who are thinking hard about how environmental and social concerns play out in their ventures and careers. “We hear from students,” Erzurumlu says. “They are asking questions. They care about this.”

How central are these issues to Bedi now? Just take a gander at her laptop, where she displays three stickers. Each corresponds to one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations that are so pertinent to her business: no poverty, responsible consumption and production, and gender equality.

– John Crawford

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 35

that involves having a heightened sense of awareness of context and people.”

One of the FME businesses that has taken integrated sustainability issues to heart was Pivot Plastics, which last year sold bracelets made by impoverished women in Mali. The women collected plastic, usually from sandals dumped in riverways and landfills, and melted it over an open fire to make the bracelets.

Pivot Plastics achieved two big goals—reducing waste and giving work to people who need it—and thus illustrated the potential of a company in which integrated sustainability is central to how it operates.

“It’s one thing to donate 10% of your bottom line to a charity,” says Anna Nickerson ’22, who served as the venture’s CEO, “but it’s another thing to integrate that philosophy into all components that touch your business.”

The venture achieved all that while also producing a popular product on campus. Some 1,300 bracelets were sold for $3.19 each. “We were very successful,” Nickerson says.

But, as successful as Pivot Plastics was, it also showed the challenges of implementing integrated sustainability

36 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

in a business. The venture received its bracelets from a third-party vendor specializing in African imports, and Nickerson and her team realized that they didn’t know enough about the women who were making the bracelets.

Were they treated fairly? In what kind of conditions were they working?

“That became a big discussion in our class. If you can’t follow your supply chain, how can you ensure what you’re telling your customers is completely true?” Nickerson says. “As a team, if we were to do this again, we would want to

learn more about the women and the supply chain itself.”

Work with Purpose Babson’s growing emphasis on integrated sustainability is matched by an interest from its students. As she teaches the young adults in FME, Greenberg has noticed a shift in their concerns in recent years. A generation that grew up with economic and political uncertainty and the damaging effects of war and climate change, students today are much more aware of

“My mission was always to make the world a better place.”

— Debbie Cohen ’19

Debbie Cohen ’19 (right) works with artists with intellectual disabilities to create home decor products. social and environmental issues.

“I think we’re getting a generation of students who are already thinking about their place in society and their communities and their environment,” Greenberg says. “They are already caring about bigger issues.”

Debbie Cohen ’19 was just such a student when she arrived on campus. “I always knew I wanted to help people,” she says. “My mission was always to make the world a better place.”

Cohen is CEO and founder of Yad. Based in Guatemala City, Yad sells home decor products in Central America that showcase the artwork of artists with intellectual disabilities. “They have so much potential that people don’t know

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DEBBIE COHEN ’19

about,” Cohen says of the artists Yad works with. “I want to empower them.”

Cohen has long had an interest in helping people with special needs and volunteered for years at an art center for people with intellectual disabilities.

While Cohen was at Babson, that art center was short of funds and about to close its doors. Deciding to act, Cohen offered to sell the center’s artwork, leveraging the help of her family’s textile business to put that art on towels and cushions. “That was how the idea of Yad got started,” Cohen says.

While that art center eventually

closed, Cohen was able to open another with the same artists. “I love spending time with the artists there,” she says.

“That really motivates me.”

Cohen credits Babson for helping make her old idealistic dreams of helping people and making the world a better place a reality. Through the courses and support of the College, she was able to create a venture that not only makes a profit, but also has at its core a higher mission.

“I wanted to work with purpose,” she says. “Babson pushed me to work toward what I wanted.” 

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 37

ATHLETICS

Baseball’s Lost Season:

‘WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN’

Will Gallagher ’20 wrote a paper earlier

program’s first appearance in the College

squad was left to gather at Govoni Field

this year for his sports literature class on

World Series last year. They then began

on a beautiful March day. It was an

how Babson baseball helped him deal

the season with two victories against

opportunity to come together as a team

with adversity and grow as a person.

nationally ranked Trinity (Texas) and

one final time.

That was put to the test in a dramatic

finished the shortened season ranked

way when the NCAA canceled all

third in the country.

experiences you get to make with your

spring championships because of the

teammates I’ll miss the most,” said

coronavirus pandemic.

were going back to (the World Series),”

catcher Sean Harrington ’20. “It’s the

“We were pretty convinced we

“It’s a team game, and it’s the

“We’ve gone through so much

said outfielder Jake Oliger ’20. “Granted

little things, the little moments you

over our four years,” the senior pitcher

one game at a time, but after winning

have with them, a season’s worth of

said. “We stay strong and tough with

the series at Trinity, we knew we

memories that never got to happen.

whatever comes our way. We deal with

had something special and that this

it and don’t let it bother us too much.

could have been our year to win it all.

program as winners, and the tough

That’s the way our program is run.”

Obviously, that is something we all felt

part was we didn’t get to go through

we were missing out on.”

with that.”

The Beavers entered 2020 with

incredibly high aspirations after the

38 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

Instead, the 2020 Babson baseball

“Our class’s goal was to leave the

The senior class leaves an

PHOTO: JON ENDOW

SPORTS IN BRIEF

The coronavirus pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel the winter championships and the spring seasons and championships.

Here’s how the Babson teams fared before their seasons were cut short:

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY Following an 18-6-2 season and a runner-up finish in the New England Hockey Conference, Babson earned its first NCAA tournament bid since 2014. Ranked 10th in the nation by United States College Hockey Online, the Beavers were slated to host Wesleyan in the opening round before the tournament was canceled. Junior Brad Arvanitis became the eighth goaltender in program history to earn All-America honors.

MEN’S GOLF

Pitcher Will Gallagher ’20 (left) and the Babson baseball team began the year with high expectations after earning the program’s first College World Series berth last year (above).

The Beavers were ranked third in the nation when the spring seasons were abruptly canceled.

Despite not starting their spring season, the Beavers held the program’s highest national ranking at No. 15 by Golf Coaches Association of America. Babson won four tournaments in the fall and was 14th in the Golfstat rankings, while senior Chris Bornhorst and sophomore Nicholas Gianelos ranked 26th and 28th individually, respectively.

MEN’S LACROSSE The Beavers won three of their first four games to start the spring, holding Roger Williams to a single goal in their opener and defeating host Bates, 12-11, in overtime for their first victory over the Bobcats since 1990. After falling to nationally ranked Union, the Beavers erased a fourgoal deficit to turn back Endicott, 8-6, and finished their season 3-3.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE Babson won two of its first three games with victories over Skidmore and Plymouth State, and ended its spring by facing two of the top 10 teams in the country. The Beavers are 12-4 in their last 16 home games.

SOFTBALL

unforgettable legacy that included a 105-38 record, the CWS visit, two NCAA regional finals appearances, and a pair of NEWMAC tournament titles.

Now, the seniors are moving on, as Gallagher

will enter the working ranks, Harrington will attend graduate school at Boston College, and Oliger will use his final year of eligibility in grad school at a different institution.

“I will definitely miss what could have

been with this year,” Gallagher said. “Who knows, we could have ended up in Iowa as national champions or we could have had a disappointing year. I will miss playing baseball with these guys and all of my best friends.”

PHOTO: THOMAS VALENTE

— Scott Dietz

Head coach Dave Canan earned his 500th career win in grand fashion, when Babson scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off Emory & Henry, 6-5, at the prestigious National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Arizona, where the Beavers went 3-1.

MEN’S TENNIS After winning all three fall matches, Babson opened the spring with a 4-3 loss to Division I Bryant before knocking off a pair of nationally ranked foes to move to 5-1. Despite dropping their next two matches, the Beavers enjoyed their first national ranking in program history.

WOMEN’S TENNIS After dropping a 5-4 decision to Division I Merrimack in October, Babson began the spring by defeating Division II Franklin Pierce, 6-3, and blanking Endicott, 9-0.

TRACK & FIELD Some members of the men’s and women’s programs were scheduled to travel to Point Loma, California, before the pandemic hit, and the full teams were slated to compete at Tufts after spring break.

FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS, VISIT: babsonathletics.com

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 39

NEWSNOTESANDNODS

UNDERGRADUATE 1966

Partner Ronald G. Weiner’s firm, Perelson Weiner LLP, was named by Forbes as one of America’s Top Recommended Tax and Accounting Firms. Among the 227 firms identified, Perelson Weiner was recommended for both tax and accounting services. Perelson Weiner also was included for the sixth year in the “Best of the Best Accounting Firms” by INSIDE Public Accounting.

1974

William Dooley is a GED educator at Lorenzo Walker Technical College in Naples, Florida, and has been helping incarcerated people receive their high school diplomas.

A group of several 1982 Babson College graduates enjoyed a golf outing in Florida. From left to right, Tom Lydon, Jim Belli ’81, Jim Merlin, Ken Romanzi, Chris Williams ’82, MBA’83, Ed Sheehy, Jamie Dulick, Dave Lamere, Joe O’Connor ’81, Howard Nager, Ken Jasper.

Missing from the photo is David Koopman.

1978

Daniel Portnoy was appointed chief merchandising officer of specialty grocer The Fresh Market. He has spent more than 35 years in food retail merchandising and marketing, and was previously CEO of Kings Super Markets/Balducci’s Markets and chief merchandising and marketing officer at Winn-Dixie Stores. “With Dan at the helm of our merchandising team, I am confident that we will achieve our vision of being the premier fresh-focused specialty food retailer,” The Fresh Market President and CEO Larry Appel said.

Carl P. Meyer ’80, executive vice president of the Wetrich Group, was inducted into the Bellwether League Class of 2019. The Bellwether League is considered a hall of fame for healthcare supply chain professionals, recognizing those who have made a positive, innovative, and lasting impact on the healthcare supply chain.

1983

Bruce Truesdale joined Varcode, maker of digital, time, and temperature supply chain solutions, as director of business development. He has 25 years of experience with responsibilities in sales, marketing, strategy, and product development, and he has developed solutions in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food industries.

Mark Mettler P’13 published his first novel, Hell Is the CEO. The book explores the personal toll of shareholder capitalism, and questions whether it is possible to succeed without sacrificing one’s humanity. Mettler worked in multiple corporations for more than 30 years and currently is an advisor to consumer product startups.

Members from the Class of 1983 celebrated the induction of some of their classmates into the Babson Athletics Hall of Fame during the Centennial celebrations last September, including Neal Coughlin, Michael Fiorentino, James Fisher P’14, Karen Mooney Bessette, Jay Nusblatt, James Olivier MBA’06, P’17, John Pantuosco, and Rodolphe von Berg, with the rest of the 1980 men’s soccer national championship team.

1984

Kevin Kervick was hired as solar products business manager of OMG Roofing Products. In his role, Kervick has developed and implemented a plan for the solar

Brad Hoffman ’82 and a group of friends celebrated his 60th birthday. From left to right, Bruce Winer ’81, P’11, Bill Coveney ’82, Brad Ely ’82, Jim Hagen ’82, Hoffman, Peter Lake ’82, Paul Leyden ’82, George Simopoulos ’84, Neal Cherkas, and Charlie Feuer ’82, P’12.

40 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

1991

John McCabe was appointed chief financial officer of immunotherapies company Oncorus Inc. McCabe previously served as chief financial officer of Flex Pharma, now known as Salarius Pharmaceuticals.

“With its novel innovations, proprietary intellectual property portfolio, top-notch talent and leadership, and mission-driven culture, Oncorus has the elements to deliver substantial impact for patients,” McCabe said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this company’s journey.”

Michael Landsberg ’92, founder and chief investment officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, was recognized among Forbes magazine’s Best-In-State Wealth Advisors for 2020, the third time he has made the list. This year’s list spotlights more than 3,000 top advisors from across the country. “Year after year, these rankings give strong validation of the work everyone at our firm does on behalf of our clients,” he said.

Robert Howe was named chief financial officer of medical technology company Conformis, which develops, manufactures, and sells patient-specific

knee and hip joint replacement implants.

Most recently, Howe served as vice president of finance and corporate controller at NxStage Medical Inc. He has more than 20 years of experience at public medical device companies.

we can help more merchants reach customers and markets that would have been inaccessible without BlueSnap’s technology,” Capone said.

1993

Rodrigo Mantica established two private hydropower plants connected to the national energy grid in his home country of Nicaragua. Both power plants are a result of a 14-year effort and generate 15% of the country’s hydropower, producing clean energy in a shift to move away from petroleum-based sources, which in 2006, produced 80% of the country’s energy. Today, 50% of Nicaragua’s energy is generated through renewable sources.

Gregg Capone was named senior vice president of customer success for payment platform BlueSnap. Capone comes to BlueSnap with more than 25 years of experience with customer success and operations at businessto-business companies. At BlueSnap, Capone will work to improve the company’s customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty. “By expanding their customer success operations,

1996

business division of the company, and also manages solar sales and product development. He previously worked in sales and marketing consulting.

1990

Mark Satran joined aerospace, defense, and government services, and power generation private equity investor AE Industrial Partners as a senior managing director. Satran has more than 30 years of structured finance and aviation leasing experience and previously served as managing director of Alterna Capital Partners.

Andrea Horne ’95 took a 10-day sea voyage to Antarctica, which she described as an “unforgettable experience.” The trip completed her bucket-list goal of visiting all seven continents.

Luis Carlos Reyes ’07 married Fabiola Rueda on August 10, 2019, in Roatan, Honduras. Babson College attendees pictured from left to right: Perla Brito Cuevas ’05, Reyes, Ana Rodriguez ’05, Carla Minaya ’06, Mariam Haqqie ’07 and her husband, Umair Zaeem, and Rushab Nahar ’07.

Jacqueline Chambers ’10 married Murat Koseoglu on September 21, 2019, in Crete, Greece. The couple met when they were colleagues on Seabourn Cruise Line — Chambers was the assistant cruise director and Koseoglu was the destinations manager. The couple now reside in New York. Pictured are Lecturer in the Management Division Bret Bero P’14, Tiffany Otto ’12, Koseoglu, Chambers, Catherine Lau ’10, Vanessa Theoharis ’10, Lauren Birnbaum ’10 and her husband, Jonathan Birnbaum.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 41

NEWSNOTESANDNODS

Susan Gillis ’00 founded New England Rock Moss Company to revive Massachusetts’ mossing and seaweed industries. Gillis said there are numerous health benefits to Irish moss, dulse, and bladderwrack, which promote blood and thyroid health, mood balancing, and respiratory health. Irish moss also is used in the production of ice cream, beer, skincare, pharmaceuticals, and toothpaste.

The local industry thrived until the mid-1980s when manufacturers began importing algae and seaweeds, she said.

Caitlin O’Neill ’10 and Megan Cyr ’11 were married July 20, 2019, at The Lake House Guest Cottages of the Berkshires in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. The wedding was attended by 30 Babson College alumni.

2001

Jill Shaw MBA’07, director of private markets for Cambridge Associates, was named to The Wall Street Journal’s Women to Watch list. In her role, Shaw develops ideas for new private investments and builds portfolios, ranging in size from $60 million to $4.5 billion, for the firm’s nonprofit clients and high-networth families. She began her career at Cambridge in 2001 as a member of the firm’s investment-performance group.

2012

Alyssa Smith ’11 married Martin Smith on June 22, 2019, at Grittleton House in Wiltshire, England, near their home.

Alyssa and Martin met when they were traveling in Australia. Family and friends from near and far were in attendance, including, from left to right, Victoria Ghafoor ’10, MS’10, John Brotchie ’11, Katy Brotchie ’11, Alyssa Smith, Martin Smith, Ashley Tolentino ’11, Georgina Griffiths ’10, Samantha Trusiak ’10, MS’10, and Lexie Toorock ’11.

Lauren von Stackelberg spent a few months traveling with friends from Babson College. She spent a month in Mexico and Cuba with Shaun McCreedy ’12, time in Napa Valley and Seattle with Joe Kent ’12, and time in Colombia, Turkey, and Spain with her husband, Nico von Stackelberg ’12.

Shaun McCreedy has been running his photography business, Shot by Shaun Photography, for more than three years in San Francisco and Honolulu, and provides portrait and event photography services for those who live “passionately and adventurously.”

2017

Daniel Landy was promoted from assistant to the president to vice president at UMH Properties Inc. The public equity REIT owns and operates 122 manufactured home communities with about 23,000 developed homesites from New York to Michigan.

42 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

Max Walker ’12, MBA’21 and Paige Ballard ’13 were married May 11, 2019, at Tupper Manor in Beverly, Massachusetts, surrounded by Sigma Kappa and Babson College men’s soccer alumni. Alumni in attendance included Lauren (Savastano) Langlais ’13, Zach Willner ’13, Jennifer Sargent ’12, Ariana (Bates) Mason ’10, Clint Mason ’12, Ryan Obolewicz ’12, Ian Siekman ’11, Edson Silva ’12, MS’12, MBA’18, Derek Foy ’12, Robert Schmidt-Chang ’12, Sarah Hickey ’14, MS’14, Tim Winn ’09, Mackenzi (Blais) Larence ’14, Chris Morris ’10, Pete Crowley ’12, Fabian Suessenguth ’12, Leigh (DeStefano) Coull ’13, Sasha (Pelich) Weinreich ’10, Jessica (Plunkett) Lynch ’13, MS’13, MBA’18, Conor Lynch ’13, MS’13, and Jennifer DeLacey ’13.

Kristen Haislip and Logan Brown MBA’17 married October 8, 2019, at the Laie Hawaii Temple after meeting at Babson College three years earlier. The church was built in 1919, the same year Babson was founded. Haislip’s bridesmaids included Alana Atchison ’17, Drishti Chhabria ’17, and Annie Schirm ’17.

Alexandra Glazer ’13 and James Brasco celebrated their wedding September 15, 2019, with a ceremony in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and a reception at Misselwood in Beverly Farms. The wedding was attended by 12 Babson College alumni: Hugh Glazer ’77, P’13, Carey Roessel ’77, Steven Hoxsie ’79, Patty Thibodeau ’81, Adam Conway ’98, Mike Manning ’01, Shawn Namm ’11, Hyo Lee ’13, Keira Yeager ’13, Jazz Dhillon ’15, Sam Barber ’16, and Leanne Tremblay ’16.

Kate Rust ’14, MBA’19 and Bryan Rust ’14 were married on October 12, 2019, at Aldworth Manor in Harrisville, New Hampshire.

More than 20 Babson College alumni were in attendance, including Owen Rust ’18 (best man), George Genco ’14 (groomsman), Puneeth Kumar ’14 (groomsman), Josefa Riveros ’14 (bridesmaid), Marissa Almeida ’14 (bridesmaid), Kristen Dombrowski ’14 (bridesmaid), Alissa Shulman ’14 (bridesmaid), Katelyn (Alfano) McCabe ’12 (bridesmaid), Jon Remillard ’14, MS’14, Ben Pasquariello ’14, Leisl Bard ’16, Dillon Ventura ’14, MS’14, Christina Miquel ’14, Alexa Kallianiotes ’14, Rachel Satell ’12, Patricia Manent ’15, Jamie Rappoport ’14, Kate (Katherine) Murphy ’13, MBA’18, Melissa Kandrach ’14, Andrea Murray ’14, Matthew Bujnicki ’09, and Elena West ’17 (not pictured).

ALUMNI NEWS is in demand!

To accommodate news and photos from as many alumni as possible, please limit entries and photo captions to 50 words or fewer.

Babson Magazine has two requirements for Alumni News photos: The submitting alum must be in the picture, and the image must be at least 4 x 6 inches at 300 dpi— no digital alterations, please.

We can’t promise that all submitted photos will run, but we’ll include as many as possible.

Please email all news to the Alumni News Editor at alumnews@babson.edu.

Nina Shapiro ’14 and Zach Sufrin ’15 were married October 12, 2019, in Foxborough, Massachusetts, surrounded by Babson friends.

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 43

CONNECTIONS

NEWSNOTESANDNODS

1

2

3

4

As the Centennial year came to a successful conclusion, the Babson community welcomed in a new century at events that spanned the world — from New York to Dallas to San Francisco to Mumbai, India — demonstrating how the College’s network and impact extend well beyond one campus in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

1

The Babson Alumni Club of India hosted alumni and current parents for a cocktail reception February 10 at Town Hall Mumbai, owned by Babson alumni Randeep Bajaj ’07 and Vaibhav Vohra ’08.

2

Alumni, students, and friends gathered January 14 in New York City for a Connect networking reception, where they also learned about the business of

44 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

hacking. Pictured is Shun Ping Huang ’17 (left) and Sanjana Subramanian ’16 (right).

3

Members of our San Francisco community said their goodbyes to the campus but not one another. A holiday party and final farewell December 12 on the West Coast campus included, from left to right, Tiffany Lien ’10, Hannah Melnicoe, Catherine Lau ’10, and Sam Wear ’11.

4

Over winter break, current and former students of the Roger and Rosemary Enrico Dallas Scholarship program, including Sienzhi Kouemo ’20 (right), met for brunch in Dallas to celebrate the generosity of Rosemary Enrico (left) and her late husband, Roger Enrico ’65, H’86.

GRADUATE

1995

Anne De Greef-Safft MBA’95 was named to Benchmark Electronics’ board of directors as an independent director. She previously was a strategic consultant at Windjammer Capital Investors.

1992

Stephen Laster MBA’92 was appointed chief product officer of higher education software and services provider Ellucian.

In his role, Laster will lead product direction, strategy, and research and development organizations. “Stephen is both a practitioner and visionary who brings a deep understanding of the education industry and the opportunities and challenges it faces to Ellucian,” Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen said.

1994

ONCAMPUS

Vicki Dempsey MBA’94 was elected to the 2020 MSPA Americas board of directors and will serve as chair of the membership committee. Dempsey currently is a corporate partner and vice president of sales and marketing at Jancyn Inc., a market research group that provides customer satisfaction, brand value, and employee performance feedback to clients.

1996

Jake Filoon MBA’90 joined The Bulfinch Group in Needham, Massachusetts, as a financial representative. Filoon has lived in Needham for the past 20 years, serving on the town government’s finance committee and as a town meeting member. “Jake brings a wealth of knowledge regarding the complexities of business development and wealth protection to his new post,” Bulfinch Group President Seth Medalie said.

“He will be a tremendous addition to The Bulfinch Group and a remarkable asset to his clients.”

Janet King MBA’96 joined Arizent, a business information company that advances professional communities, as vice president of its research division.

She comes to Arizent with more than 25 years of experience. “Janet’s passion in storytelling with data has delivered a strong track record of dynamic and comprehensive research, which will be vital to our day-to-day reporting as we will leverage her insights to drive all content,” Arizent Chief Content Officer David Evans said.

1998

Deborah Bitsoli MBA’98 was named president of Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bitsoli, who has 25 years of healthcare experience, most recently was president of Morton Hospital in Taunton, Massachusetts,

U.S. Bank hired Peter Gordon MBA’96 to lead the company’s emerging payment efforts and oversee strategy and product development. Most recently, Gordon served as chief revenue officer at PayFi, and he also has held leadership positions at Mastercard and RBS Citizens. “I’m impressed with the clear-eyed vision that U.S. Bank leaders have on where we will take emerging payments,” Gordon said. “I’m excited to get to work.” and previously was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Eric Crawley MBA’09

Helps Finance Students Fine-Tune Their Character

In the industry of finance, attitude is everything.

It’s this sentiment that Eric Crawley MBA’09 finds himself alluding to when he’s coaching students as a member of the Cutler Center Mentor Program.

“I go back to that kid I was in college thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’” Crawley

said. “I look to share some of that knowledge (and) previous dead ends, as much as possible in hopes that I can help people make better decisions.”

Crawley, also a member of the Cutler Center Advisory Board, currently serves as director and investment strategist in Bank of America’s Chief Investment Office. While at Babson, he was an executive portfolio manager of the Babson College Fund.

For 20 years, the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance has helped Babson College students advance their education and prepare for careers in business.

Cutler Center mentors such as Crawley are paired with an undergraduate student concentrating in finance during the program, which runs from October to May. Professionals assist students in developing their future career path, in addition to providing advice and guidance.

Crawley attributes his success to his time at Babson. “I wouldn’t have the job that I have, the career that I have, without the existence of the Cutler Center,” he said.

Crawley, who started working with mentees of his own two years ago, said he is “continuously awestruck by the level of sophistication and passionate interest these students have.”

He added, “It’s incredibly motivational.”

In particular, Crawley helps students fine-tune their approach and demonstrate character, which he says are two critical components of the investment management industry.

“Show how you are, and be sincere and genuine in everything that you do,” he says. “Be open to change. What your job is going to be, five years, a decade from now, is going to be so different than what you believe it could be.”

– Bryan Lipiner

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 45

NEWSNOTESANDNODS

through its mobile and web-based platform. Mazoff comes to the company with more than 20 years of leadership experience and previously was president of Thinking Capital, a company he co-founded in 2006.

2005

Lino Covarrubias MBA’03 was named CEO of Jewish Family Service of Metrowest. Covarrubias previously was chief operating officer of Jewish Family Service and served 20 years in the Navy.

The organization has served more than 5,000 people in the past year. “With Lino taking the helm of JFS, JFS will go from strength to strength, will continue to enhance impact, never make excuses, and always move forward,” Board President David Milowe said.

2001

Peter Mazoff MBA’01 was named president and CEO of GOLO Mobile Inc., a Montreal-based mobile on-demand eco-delivery and pickup platform. The company offers pickup and delivery services for food and other goods

Sara Loud MBA’05 was appointed president and CEO and to the board of directors of Accelerated Cure Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for people affected by multiple sclerosis. Loud joined ACP in 2005 and has held several leadership roles. She was named chief operating officer in 2015. “I look forward to deepening our existing collaborations and forging new ones with the MS community, researchers, healthcare providers, and our nonprofit advocacy partners in order to best serve those who are awaiting better health outcomes, improved quality of life, and ultimately a cure for MS,” she said.

2010

Rosemary McLaughlin MBA’10 recently sold two successful Elements Massage franchises. She started these businesses in 2011, growing revenue to $1.5 million.

McLaughlin also has worked for Berkshire Health Systems for the past five years and recently was promoted to regional director of operations, managing skilled nursing and hospice locations throughout Berkshire County in Massachusetts.

2011

Rashel Masters MBA’11 joined New England Sci-Tech as a member of the board of directors. New England Sci-Tech is a nonprofit STEM+ education center and makerspace dedicated to project-based, hands-on learning for youth and families across New England.

Tricia Silverman MBA’04 published a book, Healthy Dividends, and soon thereafter received Amazon bestseller status from a significant number of five-star reviews. The book offers readers tips for longevity and strategies for self-motivation, dieting, and fitness. Silverman has earned several distinctions and awards for her work as a registered dietician and certified wellness and fitness coach and instructor.

46 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

2012

Jenny Flores MBA’12 joined Wells Fargo to lead its small business growth philanthropy. In her role, she will shape the company’s philanthropy, which strives to help entrepreneurs access capital and technical assistance, impacting the economy and providing jobs. Flores most recently served as head of community affairs and corporate social responsibility at Bank of the West.

2013

David Rego MBA’13 was named vice president and general manager of Physik Instrumente’s North American operations. He has worked in Physik Instrumente’s U.S. sales operations for 18 years and has been an “important factor in PI USA’s future growth,” the company said in a press release.

Rego said, “Every day, we interact with pioneers in their own fields who need precision to create, measure, or explore, and that makes PI a fun place to be.”

2016

Meredith Delia MBA’16 joined GI Partners as HR manager in August.

Established in 2001, GI Partners is a private investment firm that has raised more than $17 billion in capital to invest across private equity and real estate.

Founded by Cameron Fischer MS’16 and Alfred Schofield MS’16, plant-based supplement company VitalFit Nutrition was acquired by TB12 Sports, led by John Burns MBA’05. “We’re trying to unlock that value through collaboration,” Schofield said. “We take a lot of those ideals from Babson, whether it’s ideation, brainstorming, challenging each other’s perspectives, and collectively putting our heads together.”

Douglyss Giuliana MBA’05 sold SailTime Boston, which he started while part of the Fast Track MBA program. Running it as a side hustle, he grew SailTime to a fleet of five sailing yachts. This first business spawned two others in the industry, one of which he sold years ago and one that he is still operating, Advantage Yacht Sales.

2017

Colleen O’Connor MBA’17 was promoted to vice president, leasing, East Coast and U.K. markets at BioMed Realty, overseeing almost 5 million square feet of life science real estate. O’Connor joined BioMed Realty almost six years ago and previously served as the company’s senior director of leasing for its East Coast and U.K. markets.

2019

Matthew Potter MBA’19 has been named associate director of marketing at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. Ironwood is a gastrointestinal-focused healthcare company dedicated to creating medicines that make a difference for patients living with gastrointestinal diseases. Potter is responsible for the promotion of Linzess, the leading global treatment for IBS-C.

Fernando de León MBA’14 married Belén Grimaux on November 30, 2019, in beautiful Punta del Este, Uruguay. The couple shared their happiness with friends and family in an emotive vintage beach wedding celebration, including several close Babson friends who flew from Chile and the United States. Pictured, from left to right: Gustavo Grinberg MBA’14, Juan Icaza MBA’14, Grimaux, de León, Cristián Lüders MBA’14, and Claudio Angelini MBA’14.

INMEMORIAM

Professor Julius Wangila Mukhwana ’74, MBA’75 of Victoria, Australia, died on December 14 following a battle with cancer.

He is remembered for his philanthropic work in relation to the educating of the underprivileged and disadvantaged, by contributing to libraries being built for schools and within communities that had none. He spent 42 years in academia, teaching in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Australia.

He also created, from his own funds, a personal scholarship fund, which he managed and used in the education of several disadvantaged orphans from primary school through university.

Charles Jones ’40, of Charleston, West Virginia, Oct. 20 Walter Klein Mahard ’46, of Southbury, Connecticut, Sept. 1 Parker Hastings ’49, of Weston, Massachusetts, Nov. 24 Thomas Edwin Thornhill ’49, of Charleston, South Carolina, Oct. 28 Kenneth Lane Adam ’50, of Groton, Connecticut, Oct. 23 Edward Stratton Carrier ’50, of West Hartford, Connecticut, Nov. 18 Ronald Armbruster ’51, of Austin, Texas, Nov. 8 Joseph George Schmitz Jr. ’51, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Nov. 23 William Wall ’51, of Farmville, Virginia, Jan. 9 Donald Armbrust ’54, of Rotonda West, Florida, Dec. 9 Bruce Kullman ’56, of Abbeville, Alabama, Jan. 2 Gordon William Robb ’56, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 Kenneth Hamilton Gould ’59, of Exeter, New Hampshire, Nov. 23 Thomas Lee ’59, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, Dec. 14 Robert Guy Schutt ’59, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Nov. 23 Richard Scribner Clark ’60, of Green Valley, Arizona, July 2 Kenneth Palmer ’60, of Scottsdale, Arizona, Jan. 10 Malcolm Dow ’61, of Dexter, Maine, Aug. 31 Earl Dalrymple MBA’62, of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, Nov. 19 Peter Lovely ’62, of Foxborough, Massachusetts, Sept. 29 George Jerome Rizzo ’63, MBA’64, of Natick, Massachusetts, Dec. 25 Jack Siewert MBA’63, of York, Pennsylvania, Sept. 13 Joel Rudolph ’64, of Rancho Mirage, California, Nov. 29 David Fay MBA’65, of Westborough, Massachusetts, Nov. 16 Charles Newell Cutler ’66, of Lowell, Massachusetts, Oct. 13 Morris Robinson ’66, of Newton Center, Massachusetts, Jan. 25 Marcus Moran Jr. MBA’67, of Westminster, Massachusetts, Dec. 1 Ronald Shamon ’68, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 23 Richard Alan Boyd ’70, of Indianapolis, Dec. 15 Anthony Ide Elliott ’70, of Biddeford, Maine, Nov. 30

Thomas Heneghan MBA’70, of Aurora, Illinois, March 10 Brian Keating MBA’70, of Buffalo, New York, Oct. 11 Steven Lowenstein ’72, of Austin, Texas, Jan. 5 Joseph Lynn Paramore George MBA’73, of McDonald, Tennessee, Dec. 12 Jacob Epstein MBA’74, of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Oct. 2 Bruce Thayer Amsbary MBA’75, of Needham Heights, Massachusetts, Nov. 14 Gert Bahlo MBA’75, of Friendswood, Texas, Sept. 8 Paula Palm ’75, of The Villages, Florida, Jan. 21 Douglas Rainville MBA’75, of Needham Heights, Massachusetts, Oct. 8 James Cathcart II ’76, of Lake Forest, Illinois, Jan. 21 Frederick Holloran MBA’76, of Needham, Massachusetts, Jan. 17 Jay Slocum ’77, of Sterling, Virginia, Dec. 11 Thomas Towle MBA’77, of East Weymouth, Massachusetts, Oct. 6 Steven Cox ’78, of Fayetteville, New York, Sept. 12 Kathleen Ehrensberger MBA’78, of Manchester Center, Vermont, Sept. 3 John Flint MBA’78, of Lexington, Massachusetts, Sept. 6 Sharon Clark MBA’80, of Acton, Massachusetts, Jan. 9 Daniel Markson MBA’83, of San Antonio, May 4 John Sullivan III ’83, of Waltham, Massachusetts, Nov. 16 Peter Doyle ’84, of Portland, Maine, Aug. 27 Janet Soucy Merrill MBA’86, of South Hamilton, Massachusetts, Dec. 7 James Nathan Fawcett MBA’88, of Melbourne Beach, Florida, Oct. 28 Samuel Snead Jr. ’93, of Hillside, New Jersey, Nov. 10 Corey Nelson MBA’99, of Western Springs, Illinois, Dec. 20 Timothy Manchester MBA’08, of Leominster, Massachusetts, Dec. 21 William Arnold MBA’09, of Cranston, Rhode Island, Nov. 17 Donald Brannelly MBA’10, of Amesbury, Massachusetts, Sept. 9 Lawrence Moynihan, of Avon, Connecticut, Oct. 2, 2016

SPRING 2020 / BABSON MAGAZINE 47

BEAVERTALES

THE ROOTS OF

Giving Back at Babson

T

he spirit of giving back is strong at Babson. Last year, Babson students spent close to 40,000 hours of their time volunteering.

Volunteerism, though, wasn’t always such an integral part of the campus culture. Much of that altruism can be traced back to the early 1990s, when a student-run organization called Get Into the Volunteer Experience, or GIVE, was first rallying students to think beyond campus to people in need.

“It got people out into the community, away from the bubble here at Babson,” says Juan Fernandez ’92, the student who served as the driving force behind GIVE. Nearly 30 years have passed, but two longtime Babson employees, Carol Hacker and Lisa Thomas P’18 ’19 ’21, still remember Fernandez’s impact and how he singlehandedly started recycling on campus, every week making the rounds to collect recyclables.

“He believed in it and took it on,” says Thomas, the director of Service and Justice Programs.

They also recall the many hours he spent on GIVE, turning a Hollister Hall conference room into his makeshift office. “It was almost like Juan was a part-time employee,” says Hacker, the director of Centennial engagement and giving. “He was so dedicated.”

Fernandez took the idea for GIVE from the Babson administration and began to make it reality in 1990. He set up regular service opportunities with community organizations, then spread the word among the students.

At Rosie’s Place, students did activities with children at the women’s shelter. At the Pine Street Inn, a provider of homeless services, students handed out meals. Fernandez and other volunteers grew close in their work, and he even met his future wife, Kristen ’92,

48 BABSON MAGAZINE / SPRING 2020

A look back at the people, events, and moments that shaped Babson College.

through volunteering. “You really bond with people when you’re working together,” he says.

By 1991, students were volunteering about 2,500 hours, a significant jump in community

Juan Fernandez ’92

involvement, and then-President William Glavin H’99 declared that volunteerism would be the theme for the academic year.

The efforts of Fernandez and his fellow GIVE volunteers established a legacy for decades to come. “The foundation of what GIVE started continues today,” Thomas says.

After he graduated, Fernandez continued volunteering as a mentor to young people.

Now that he has four children, he spends many hours a week coaching sports.

“Community involvement is still very important to me,” says Fernandez, who along with Kristen co-owns Elli Travel Group, a luxury travel agency in Larchmont, New York.

GIVE lives on in name and spirit as the GIVE Tower, a residential community seeking to create positive social change.

— John Crawford

Learning is your job for the rest of your life.

— Heather McGowan MBA’01

Internationally renowned future-of-work strategist and LinkedIn’s 2017 No. 1 Global Voice for Education

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