Harvard
innovation labs
innovation labs
Our Staff: Helping you and your ideas go further, faster.
Matt Segneri
Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director
(he/him/his)
Matt Segneri is the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director of the Harvard Innovation Labs, which includes the Harvard i-lab, Launch Lab X GEO for alumni, and the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab. He oversees the i-lab’s strategy and operations and acts as the primary liaison to the i-lab’s key stakeholders and the local, national, and global innovation community.
He has more than 15 years of leadership experience in organizations of different sizes and stages of development across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining the i-lab, he was the Director of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative. During that time, he served as co-lead of the HBS New Venture Competition and as a judge for the President’s Innovation Challenge, MassChallenge, and the MIT $100K. He also played a lead role in developing the proposal that established the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
Previously, he was a senior leader on the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies. He co-led the inaugural Mayors Challenge, a $9 million competition to inspire American cities to develop bold solutions to common challenges and oversaw initiatives on cross-sector collaboration and innovation teams around the world. In addition, he served as a senior advisor to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. In the Mayor’s Office, he focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, service and civic engagement, and safety and security. He also led projects at the Monitor Group and worked in the Special Advisor Program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
He holds an A.B. in Psychology from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was recognized by the Boston Business Journal as one of Boston’s “40 Under 40” and by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce as one of Boston’s “Ten Outstanding Young Leaders.” He lives in Newton with his wife and three children.
Rebecca Xiong
Managing Director, Programs and Engagement
Rebecca Xiong is the Managing Director, Programs and Engagement. She spearheads a strategic portfolio of programming and resources for the Harvard Innovation Labs’ community of student and alumni innovators across industry sectors, including health and life sciences; social impact; consumer products and services; business-to-business (B2B) technology.
Becca brings to the Harvard Innovation Labs two decades of experience in the MIT startup ecosystem. She previously served as the program director of MIT Startup Exchange, which promotes collaboration and partnerships between 2000 MIT-connected startups and industry. Prior to that, Becca co-founded two startups: social analytics and marketing startup SocMetrics, and Going.com, an events social network that grew to one million members and was acquired by AOL. Xiong has also held positions at DataPower (acquired by IBM) and Akamai Technologies.
Becca received a PhD in Computer Science from MIT, and did her thesis research at the MIT Media Lab. Becca has been an active member of her community including president of the MIT Club of Boston (the largest alumni club serving 17,000 area alumni) and lead organizer of Cambridge Parent Summit.
Meagan Hall
Senior Director, Administration
(she/her/hers)
Meagan Hall is the Senior Director, Administration. In this role, she leads the core business operations and oversees key systems and annual planning processes.
For the past 15 years, Meagan has worked as a programmatic and operational intrapreneur in higher education and professional learning, including previous roles at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Division of Continuing Education, Harvard Business School, and Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. In her leadership roles, she has operationalized new degree programs, designed professional education offerings, led organization design and engagement strategies, and developed operational infrastructure, including operating principles, policies, and practices.
Meagan holds an MBA from Babson College and a BS in Communication from Cornell University. Prior to business school, she began her career managing performance operations within the performing arts industry. When not working, Meagan enjoys travelling and staying active with her husband and two children.
Jorge Cortell
Senior Advisor, Health Care and Life Sciences
(he/him/his)
Jorge Cortell is the senior advisor for health care and life sciences. A serial entrepreneur, Jorge has founded six bootstrapped and profitable startups (five exits and one shutdown, including a paper unicorn) in three countries and across five industries. His pioneering innovations in health care technology—used by hospitals in 15 countries to diagnose and treat millions of patients—span the areas of AI, precision medicine, clinical genomics, medical imaging, digital pathology, and augmented reality. During his time as venture partner at NLC, the largest health tech venture studio in Europe, Jorge also co-built seven startups.
As an educator, Jorge has delivered keynote talks at events like HIMSS and RSNA; given guest lectures at institutions like Oxford, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford; and taught innovation at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Open University of Catalonia. He was also an Innovation Fellow at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ Technology and Entrepreneurship Center.
Jorge is also a former professional basketball player and member of the European Commission Expert Group on Venture Philanthropy and Social Investments.
A first-generation college graduate from the University of Oxford (computer science), MIT (Entrepreneurship Development Program), and the University of Valencia (postgraduate in Medical Genetics), Jorge has received innovation and academic awards from NASA, California Governor, HIMSS, IBM, Digital Pathology Association, Frost & Sullivan, and the Wall Street Journal.
Rebekah Emanuel
Senior Advisor, Social Impact
(she/her/hers)
Rebekah Emanuel is the senior advisor for social impact. A McKinsey alum and HBS grad, Rebekah has started flagship organizations across the private, public, and social sectors. While a student at HBS, she incubated a startup at the i-lab, took her startup to a residency at MassChallenge, and was invited to the second class of the Harvard Launch Lab.
Alongside startups, Rebekah has also spent significant time guiding mature organizations. As a director at the City of Boston, Rebekah wrote the long-term growth plan for the city, including exciting plans for the Allston area where the i-lab is situated. The first long-term plan completed in 50 years, she helped solicit and integrate over 14k constituent voices and align the city’s budget against the strategic priorities. The metrics she designed to track progress attracted media attention for their cutting-edge public accountability.
Rebekah holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an LLM in Law from the National University of Ireland Galway as a Mitchell Scholar, and a BA from Yale University. She also serves as a chaplain.
Peter Gladstone
Senior Advisor, B2C
(he/him/his)
As the senior advisor, B2C, Peter Gladstone leads programming and mentoring for all consumer-facing ventures at the Harvard Innovation Labs. Peter has over 20 years of consumer marketing experience having held marketing jobs of varying responsibilities for Gillette, P&G, and The Boston Beer Company. Peter will be working in a part-time capacity. When not working at the Harvard Innovation Labs, he can be found shipping blue socks all over the world for his two sons (ask him about it), training his family’s new puppy, or mentoring consumer start-ups outside of the Harvard community.
Phil Green
Senior Advisor, B2B and Technology
(he/him/his)
As senior advisor, B2B and technology, Phil Green’s mentoring is focused on B2B, as well as teams where engineering/product development choices are critical to the venture.
Phil brings 30 years of experience in building products, services, teams, and companies. As a former CTO, he has built web-based enterprise applications, as well as consumer mobile apps for iOS and Android. As a former CEO, he built a customer base of 5,000 organizations, in 50 countries, serving over 1 million users. This B2B venture used a direct sales channel to penetrate F1000 accounts such as Bank of America, NASA, Owens Corning, Pfizer, and Kraft Foods, and used an indirect partner channel to penetrate international markets as well as small to midsize U.S. businesses. As a COO, he has improved operations and profitability, and has led the company’s push to establish an inbound marketing strategy focused on generating B2B leads. Phil has experience in conversational AI, search, database systems, agile development, no-code product development solutions, such as Bubble & Glide, and has worked at venture-backed startups, self-funded startups, and publically traded companies. Phil can also advise on how to approach angel investors, and he is a Boston Techstars alumnus. Phil holds an MBA from HBS and graduated from Harvard College with an AB in economics.
Thara Pillai
Director, Alumni Programs & Engagement
(she/her/hers)
As Director of Alumni Programs & Engagement, Thara pilots programs and extends the reach of the Harvard Innovation Labs – both to provide ongoing support to Harvard Innovation Labs’ alumni ventures, and to bring together Harvard’s greater, global community of alumni entrepreneurs.
Thara is a veteran marketing and business development professional who has mentored and advised early-stage ventures in Boston and beyond. She is a Board Member at TiE Boston, a mentor at Founder Institute, and the founder of a networking and mentoring group for female entrepreneurs, RebelWomen. Over the past three years, she held roles at Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, overseeing programs to support alumni founders, from building community to developing programs to advance their ventures.
Thara holds an MBA from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, a Master’s in Journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Broadcasting from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
Alexa Barry
Manager, Alumni & Student Programs
(she/her/hers)
Alexa Barry is the Manager, Alumni and Student Programs at Harvard Innovation Labs. She works closely with our network of ventures and founders to make connections to valuable resources and experiences at the i-lab.
Prior to joining the Harvard Innovation Labs team, Alexa worked for the YMCA of San Francisco at an educational non-profit where she developed workforce development programming for high school aged youth in partnership with the Bay Area’s business community. Alexa graduated from Bowdoin College where she studied History.
Outside of her time at the i-lab, Alexa loves to play basketball, explore nature, experiment in baking, and travel.
Leo Guyshan
Director, Programs and Engagement
(he/him/his)
Leo Guyshan is the Director of Programs and Engagement at Harvard Innovation Labs. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer of Open Avenues, a social impact startup driving narrative change around immigration. Leo has worked throughout the Boston startup ecosystem. He was the Program Director at MassChallenge Boston, where he helped design the accelerator while streamlining operations for the Boston program and site. Before MassChallenge, Leoworked at the Harvard Business School Rock Center for Entrepreneurship where he managed the HBS Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, developed alumni entrepreneurship programming, and supported the New Venture Competition and Rock Accelerator.
Leo graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University with a B.A. in Politics and Russian Language & Literature.
Kimberly Willette
Programs Manager
(she/her/hers)
Kim Willette is the Programs Manager at the Harvard Innovation Labs. In her role, she works with the product team to deliver and execute programs and offerings to support our entrepreneurs.
Prior to joining the i-lab team, Kim was the Community and Business Operations Manager for the HBS Initiatives department. In this role, she managed special projects, developed new processes and procedures, and planned community-building events. Previously, Kim worked on the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative team managing the planning of the SEI25 convening and various projects surrounding the event. Before joining the Initiatives department, Kim was part of the Event Services team within HBS Operations, where she worked with numerous departments on campus to help them manage their events. Prior to joining the Harvard community in 2015, Kim was the Assistant Director of Conferences and Special Events at Bryant University, where she managed large-scale academic events and summer residential conferences.
Kim holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Bryant University and the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation from the Events Industry Council. She has been a member of the International Live Events Association (ILEA) Rhode Island Chapter Board of Directors for the past eight years. Outside of work Kim loves to read, organize, and plan events for her friends and family.
Alice Foster McCallum
Network Engagement Manager
(she/her/hers)
Emmy Silberstein
Community Coordinator
(she/her/hers)
As the Community Coordinator at the i-lab, Emmy works closely with Venture Program members and anyone involved with or interested in the Innovation Labs. In this role, Emmy helps support i-lab users on their entrepreneurial journeys by connecting them to resources, opportunities, and each other.
Before joining the i-lab team, Emmy worked at Netcapital, a Boston-based fintech startup. At Netcapital, she led digital and social media marketing efforts for clients, in addition to assisting with Netcapital’s own PR, email and event marketing strategies. Prior to her time at Netcapital, Emmy worked at Wellesley College as both a Public Speaking Tutor and the Office of International Study Marketing & Administrative Assistant. She graduated from Wellesley with a B.A. in English and Minor in Economics.
In her free time, Emmy enjoys hiking, going for runs along the Esplanade, and exploring Boston’s live music scene.
Tracy Sorto
Programs Assistant
(she/her/hers)
Tracy is the Programs Assistant at Harvard Innovation Labs. In this role, she assists and supports the team in providing the i-lab’s many programs and offerings to our members! A self-described jack of all trades and master of none (yet), Tracy brings a wealth of information from her diverse background in education, urban planning, data science, and immigration law. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Planning from MIT while tutoring high school students in a variety of subjects throughout her time there. Prior to joining Innovation Labs, she provided zoning guidance and reviews while working for the City of Cambridge and was a paralegal for an immigration law firm. She loves finding new ways to apply her varied skills and knowledge to help people and learn new things.
In her free time, Tracy enjoys going out to eat new foods, watching anime and sitcoms, kickboxing, baking, and getting her steps in at Target!
Alexandra Stephens
Director, Communications and Marketing
(she/her/hers)
Alexandra Stephens oversees the communications and marketing strategy for the Harvard Innovation Labs. She and her team work to increase awareness, usage, and advocacy of all i-lab programs, and proudly communicate about the world-changing work of Harvard student and alumni innovators.
Prior to joining the i-lab, Alexandra led the advancement communications team at Brandeis University where she engaged alumni, donors, families, and friends as lifelong members of the Brandeis community. Before working in Institutional Advancement, Alexandra created and implemented a scalable alumni engagement program at Brandeis’ Hiatt Career Center including a robust career webinar series, meaningful volunteer placements, numerous online and in-person mentorship programs, and networking nights across the country that brought together the Brandeis community around career success.
Alexandra holds a BA in communication studies from Northeastern University where she learned about the power of experiential learning through co-op and study abroad. When not working, Alexandra enjoys travelling and staying active with her husband and two children.
Isabel Feinstein
Marketing Manager
(she/her/hers)
Isabel Feinstein is the Marketing Manager at Harvard Innovation Labs. In this role, she develops and implements communication plans and marketing campaigns to engage students and alumni in the i-lab community.
Isabel joins the i-lab after three years at Harvard Kennedy School, where she was most recently the Communications Specialist at the Center for Public Leadership. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s in political science.
In her free time, Isabel enjoys travel, art, and learning about culture and history. You might find her memorizing geography trivia or watching the latest HBO drama with her cat.
Josh Rowe
Associate Director, University Engagement
(he/him/his)
As the Associate Director of University Engagement, Josh leads a team of marketers whose mission it is to inspire the world to question the status quo. This includes driving Brand Strategy, curating content, and creating engaging digital and physical experiences. He has been a leader in consumer marketing for 20 years, spending over half of his career at Nike before moving to New Balance, then into the world of entrepreneurship. He co-founded Nix, a Harvard Innovations Labs based start-up before becoming the Head of Marketing for Tracksmith, a Boston-based running apparel brand. Throughout his career, creating original programs and one-of-a-kind experiences has been his passion.
Josh serves on several youth- and sports-related boards and remains active in the sports marketing industry. He graduated from the University of Portland with a degree in marketing & management and earned his MBA from Northeastern University with an emphasis in finance.
Aruna Rajan
Associate Director, Technology Strategy and Operations
(she/her/hers)
Aruna Rajan is the Associate Director, Technology Strategy and Operations at Harvard Innovation Labs. In this role, she oversees strategic digital initiatives and technology development for the organization. Prior to joining HIL, Aruna worked in the Enterprise Student Systems team at Harvard University. Aruna has a background in information systems and technology, working in the US, Switzerland and Thailand. Her areas of expertise include data analytics, cloud technologies, project management and systems support covering student information, commercial operations and finance. Prior to working at Harvard University, Aruna worked as a consultant with clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Swissport, a global aviation services company.
Aruna holds a master’s degree in Information Management Systems from Harvard University Extension School, a B.S. in Computer Science from Seton Hall University, NJ and an Advanced Project Management certificate from Stanford University.
In her spare time, Aruna taught at a culinary school in Singapore and also undertook a menu design project for a famous restaurant there. Passionate about preserving our planet, Aruna enjoys baking, cooking global vegetarian cuisines and traveling the world – there’s Bali, and there’s the rest of the world!
Shelby Grasso
Technology Operations Coordinator
(she/her/hers)
Shelby is the Technology Operations Coordinator at Harvard Innovation Labs, where she provides systems support and administration for the software platforms used by HIL staff across the i-lab.
Before coming to the i-lab, Shelby worked in operations, supporting scientists and entrepreneurs at LabCentral – a co-working and wet lab space servicing high-potential biotech startups in Cambridge. While there, she gained experience alongside the IT team in tackling issues related to software integration and automation, customer relationship management platforms, and data reporting. Shelby holds a B.A. in Psychology from Boston College and is pursuing graduate education in software engineering at the Harvard Extension School.
On a productive day, Shelby likes learning about web development and tackling sewing projects. When left completely to her own devices, she enjoys sipping jasmine tea, gazing at raindrops, and drafting pieces of fiction.
Maureen Schrader
Director of Operations
(she/her/hers)
Maureen Schrader is the Director of Operations at Harvard Innovation Labs. She holds a BS in Management from Purdue University. Her professional background prior to her start at the i-lab has been in the real estate and senior care industries. The past several years of her life have been spent on an exhilarating roller coaster of a ride while supporting her husband with his entrepreneurial venture. She is passionate about exploring all of what New England has to offer, from the White Mountains to the Vineyard. You will find many of her weekends spent traveling with her family.
Jennifer Noon
Assistant Director, Events and Operations
(she/her/hers)
Jennifer Noon is the Assistant Director of Events and Operations, supporting the everyday events that take place within the space and leading on the project management of Harvard Innovation Labs events. Jennifer holds a BA (Hons) in Festival, Events and Marketing Management from Edinburgh Napier University. After graduating university she set out on a successful career in the UK charity sector. Working in her native Scotland for the UK’s largest children’s charity and then relocating to London to work for Parkinson’s UK. Her professional portfolio includes a variety of events from small high profile receptions to large scale awareness and fundraising events. In 2018 she relocated from London to Boston with her fiancé to explore life in the USA. She is enjoying the highs and lows of Boston weather!
Shuntaro Shirota
Operations Manager
(he/him/his)
Shuntaro Shirota is the Operations Manager at the i-lab. He supports the Operations team with a variety of functions, ranging from finance, events, to facilities. He graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in History and got his MS in Management from Mount Ida College. Prior to his time at Harvard, Shuntaro worked in Student Financial Services at Mount Ida, where he counseled students and families on financing their education. When not at the i-lab, he loves spending quality time with friends, preferably in the outdoors, and traveling to Japan to see his family.
Tim Jarrett
Site Head - Life Lab
(he/him/his)
Tim Jarrett works across lab and general operations to provide residents with a curated entrepreneurial environment that promotes community, collaboration, and success. Prior to joining the Life Lab team, Tim established his career in the medical device and drug delivery realm at companies like Ocular Therapeutix and Instylla. Having worked on the bench as a scientist, and in the OR training physicians for clinical use, he has a passion for seeing ideas become a reality.
Tim received his BA in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Connecticut College. Outside of work, he loves to experience different cultures through food, travel and art.
Ken Cook
Senior Associate, Lab Operations - Life Lab
(he/him/his)
Ken provides general laboratory equipment maintenance and manages the supplies provided to the shared laboratory space. He also assists in the development and modification of standard operations procedures for the lab. Previously, Ken worked for many years at Grass Instrument/Astro-Med/Natus Neurology which manufactures clinical and research neurodiagnostic recording equipment and supplies.
Ken earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Anna Maria College and has also studied marketing and electronics. When not at the Life Lab, you can find Ken around a fire pit, hiking along the ocean, or discovering a new craft beer.
Penina Crocker
Operations Associate - Life Lab
(she/her/hers)
Penina is the Operations Associate at the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab, where she works to build a strong and collaborative community among residents and ensures the smooth day-to-day operations of the space. Prior to her role at the Life Lab, she worked as a Staff Writer for The Trek, a premier online outdoor publication. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University where she studied Comparative Literature with a focus on Literary Translation.
Outside of work, you can find Penina hiking, cooking, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
Thomas Eisenmann
Peter O. Crisp Faculty Chair, Harvard Innovation Labs
Thomas R. Eisenmann is the Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, Peter O. Crisp Chair, Harvard Innovation Labs, and Faculty Co-Chair of the HBS Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Harvard MS/MBA Program, and the Harvard College Technology Innovation Fellows Program. Eisenmann teaches the MBA elective Entrepreneurial Failure and the MS/MBA core courses Technology Venture Immersion and Launch Lab.
He twice co-led a Harvard Innovation Lab course, Cultural Entrepreneurship in New York City, in which students from across Harvard spent a winter break week in New York exploring new ventures in fashion, food, and fine arts, and co-led four similar winter break trips to study entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.
Professor Eisenmann received his Doctorate in Business Administration (’98), MBA (’83), and BA (’79) from Harvard University. Prior to entering the HBS Doctoral Program, Eisenmann spent eleven years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he was co-head of the Media and Entertainment Practice. He currently serves as a director on the board of Harvard Business Publishing.
Amitabh Chandra
Faculty Chair, Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab Selection Committee
Amitabh Chandra is the Henry and Allison McCance Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, the Faculty Chair of the Leading an Enduring Science-Based Business executive education program, and the Ethel Zimmerman Wiener Professor of Public Policy and Director of Health Policy Research at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Professor Chandra is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Panel of Health Advisors, and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research focuses on innovation and pricing in the biopharmaceutical industry, value in health care, medical malpractice, and racial disparities in healthcare. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Aging, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Health Affairs. He is the Chair Editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics.
Professor Chandra is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the first-prize recipient of the Upjohn Institute’s Dissertation Award, the NIHCM Foundation Health Care Research Award, the Kenneth Arrow Award for best paper in health economics, and the Eugene Garfield Award for the impact of medical research. In 2012, he was awarded American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) medal. The ASHE Medal is awarded biennially to the economist age 40 or under who has made the most significant contributions to the field of health economics.
