The dedicated team of professionals at the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship (AMBCE) helps to ensure the successful execution of the center's initiatives.
Trish Costello
Director, Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
tcostello@babson.edu
Trish Costello’s professional background includes entrepreneurial, corporate, non-profit and academic experience. She is recognized internationally for her pioneering work in educating and preparing venture capital investment partners, through the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program. As the founding CEO and now CEO Emeritus of the Center for Venture Education, she expanded the Kauffman Fellows education program to venture capitalists in 10 countries on four continents. Costello was on the start-up team of the Kauffman Foundation’s entrepreneurship center, where for eight years she directed its efforts in venture capital, angel investing, entrepreneur support programs, and programming to accelerate high potential women entrepreneurs. She played a leading role nationally in obtaining greater financial equity investments in women’s businesses and in funding initiatives supporting high-growth women entrepreneurs, including Springboard and The Diana Project.
Costello continues to serve as President of CVE Capital Corp, a holding company affiliated with a $250 million VC fund of funds created to endow the Kauffman Fellows Program. Her prior experience includes developing small business products and marketing strategies at the initial divestiture of the Bell System and launching medical ventures for an investor group of twenty prominent children’s hospitals as Executive Vice President of the start-up Child Health Corporation of America.
She serves on the National Advisory Board of the National Science Foundation for its Small Business Innovation Research Grants. She was an advisor to the Small Business Administration on its work with entrepreneurs under President Bill Clinton and served on the Small Business Administration Transition Committee under President George W. Bush. She has served on numerous boards and advisory committees to entrepreneurial organizations and institutes, including the National Venture Capital Association, the International Business Forum, and the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program. Costello’s free time centers on 17 year old twin daughters.
Janet Strimaitis
Associate Director, Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
jstrimaitis@babson.edu
781-239-5023
Janet joined Babson and the Arthur M. Blank Center in 2003 as Managing Director of the Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators. In her current role as Associate Director, she leads the team that is responsible for all of our programs and outreach programs, Special Events, Babson College Research Conference, and Co-curricular Entrepreneurship programs. Prior to joining Babson, she had her own company through which she organized and implemented more than 30 international conferences.
Janet has an AB in Chemistry from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, an MS in Environmental Science from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from Babson.
Helen Coates
Program Manager, Symposia for Entrepreneurship Educators
hcoates@babson.edu
781-239-6279 Helen joined the Arthur M. Blank Center in 2005 as Administrative Division Coordinator and soon became the Assistant to the Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Global Management. She is now the SEE Program Manager responsible for all operational aspects of programs delivered to entrepreneurship educators around the world. Prior to joining Babson, Helen worked at Curry College for 7 years in physical plant operations and construction. Prior to working at Curry, she worked for 5 years as the Director of Operations and subsequently as the Director of Acquisitions for a New York based energy-services company identifying and negotiating the purchase of industrial facilities throughout the US and Canada. Helen was born in South Wales, UK and has worked in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Marcia L. Cole
Project Manager, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
colema@babson.edu
781-239-5795
Marcia Cole works closely with the leaders and the members of the GEM Consortium in the US and overseas. Marcia manages the GEM website (www.gemconsortium.org), the GEM publications, the GEM Organizational Meetings along with routine daily operations. She has been employed at Babson College since 1995. Marcia has Bachelor’s in Literature from Michigan State University and a Master’s of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College.
Valerie Duffy
Coordinator, Blank Center Cases and Budget
vduffy@babson.edu
781-239-3970
Valerie joined the Blank Center in August 2004. She oversees the AMBCE case collection and assists with the Blank Center budget. Prior to Babson, she worked at the American Arbitration Association and was Director of the Lemon Law Programs at the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs, both in Boston. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.
Carolynn Henderson
Program Assistant, Price-Babson
and BabsonSEE Programs
chenderson@babson.edu
781-239-4449
Carolynn joined the Blank Center in August 2004 after a completing a two-month temporary assignment at Babson helping with the Price-Babson SEE-20 and Summit programs. Carolynn assists Helen Coates with the annual Price-Babson SEE programs and helps to expand the Babson SEE programs to international locations. Prior to Babson, she worked for seven years in the Human Resource Department at Boston Scientific, Natick.
Kerrie Hourihan
Administrative Assistant, Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
khourihan@babson.edu
781-239-5621
Kerrie joined the Blank Center at Babson in January of 2008. She supports the Director and Assistant Director at the Blank Center. Prior to coming to Babson, she worked in marketing and advertising for a national real estate company and general office administration for a family dental practice.
Jennifer MacDonald
Program Assistant, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC)
jmacdonald2@babson.edu
781-239-3984
Jen joined the Blank Center in November 2005. She assists with all aspects of the BCERC conference, maintains the BCERC website and manages the distribution of Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, the annual publication of the BCERC conference proceedings.
Prior to joining Babson, Jen worked at Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. and Fidelity Investments. She is a graduate of Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT.
Robert Nason
Coordinator, The STEP Project
rnason@babson.edu
781-239-4420
Robert Nason joined the AMBCE in 2004 as an intern at the Institute for Family Enterprising. In this role he is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and coordinating all events and initiatives of the research project. Through his involvement in STEP he is extending his knowledge and experience in the family business field and his current research interests including stakeholder theory, resource based view and performance in family firms. Robert graduated cum Laude from Wheaton College (IL) with a B.A. in International Relations and German. He is now in the evening MBA program at Babson.
Georgia Papavasiliou
Manager, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference
papavasiliou@babson.edu
781-239-4992
Georgia has been with Babson College since 1987 and was the Program Coordinator for the Babson Entrepreneurial Exchange and the Administrator for the Babson Entrepreneurial Review until April 2001. From 1991 to 2001, she also coordinated Babson's business plan competitions for both undergraduate and graduate students.
In 2001, Georgia assumed the role of Program Coordinator for the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, (BCERC) and Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. BCERC is an annual international conference and premier scholarly forum for entrepreneurial research. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, published every year, contains the proceedings of the conference and is the most comprehensive collection of empirical research papers on entrepreneurship. Andrea Ross
Special Events Manager, Blank Center
rossa@babson.edu
781-239-4304
As Special Events Manager, Andrea's responsibilities include planning, promoting, organizing and executing all programs, competitions and events for the AMBCE. In addition to coordinating programs and events for the center, she works closely with student entrepreneurship groups, hatcheries, and individual professors to secure speakers, coordinate logistics, and market their events.
Andrea has been at Babson since 1999. She assumed the role of Special Events Manager for the AMBCE after two years with Alumni Relations/Development. Prior to Babson, she spent three years in advertising and eight years in the banking industry. She is a graduate of the New Hampshire College, Manchester, NH.
Sarah Sykora
Director of Marketing
ssykora@babson.edu
781-239-6278
Sarah is responsible for promoting Babson's Academic Centers and building the Babson brand globally around entrepreneurship, global management, and women's leadership. Prior to Babson, Sarah worked at Northwestern University where she successfully launched a regional business development center/incubator for women entrepreneurs starting new ventures, Center for Women Entrepreneurs in Technology (CWET). Prior to working at Northwestern, Sarah held jobs in strategic marketing and communications at three start-up companies in the Boston area. Sarah has a BBA in Marketing from the College of William & Mary and an MBA from Babson College.
Stephanie Viera
Academic Division Coordinator – Entrepreneurship
sviera@babson.edu
781-239-4420
Stephanie first joined Babson in 2006 in an administrative role at the F.W. Olin Graduate School at Babson College. After a brief absence, Stephanie returned to Babson and joined the Arthur M. Blank Center as the Academic Division Coordinator. In this role, Stephanie is responsible for managing the front office, working with division faculty members and assisting Division Chair, Dr. Candida Brush.
Stephanie holds a Bachelors Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management and a Diploma in Events and Conventions Management. Prior to joining Babson College, she worked extensively in the hospitality industry in Canada and the United States planning conferences and events, catering and hotel management.
