Thara Pillai

As Director of Alumni 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 Harvards 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 Schools 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 Masters in Journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, and a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Broadcasting from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.