The long-standing relationship
between the Tufts Office of Alumni Relations and the Entrepreneurial Leadership
Program (ELP) has helped to generate a new interest in an entrepreneurship
affinity group. First mentioned in the fall 2008 ELP newsletter, the group has
been officially spearheaded by four recent Tufts graduates. Bic Leu, A07, Taryn
Miller-Stevens, A07, Benjamin Siegel Wallace, A07, and Lindsay Cohen, A07, have
aided the Office of Alumni Relations in organizing this “grassroots”
entrepreneurship group.
Pamela Goldberg, the Director of
the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, along with professionals in the Office
of Alumni Relations, have always been aware of a strong entrepreneurial spirit
in the Tufts alumni community. They saw potential in starting an alumni affinity
group geared toward entrepreneurial graduates, and asked interested alumni for
help. The newsletter articles and ongoing conversations with interested alums
have led to an official kick-off event, to be held on November 3, 2009 in New York.
This kick-off will feature a
networking reception, a keynote address by Sarah Kugelman, J85, President and
Founder of skyn ICELAND,
as well as remarks from President Lawrence S. Bacow. The event provides the
perfect opportunity to showcase Ms. Kugelman’s experience as an entrepreneur in
the ever-growing skincare industry. Her company, founded in 2004, is based on
the idea that stress is harmful to skin; her company’s products use natural
ingredients from Iceland to counteract and help prevent the harmful effects of chronic stress.
The entrepreneurial affinity group
and its planning of events through which to connect Tufts alums can be viewed as
the physical expression of the Tufts Entrepreneurial Network (TEN), an online
virtual business incubator. The TEN group has garnered more than 250 followers
on the popular social networking website LinkedIn. It is no surprise that the November 3rd event,
while still not officially announced, is expected to draw a large crowd from the
New York and surrounding area alums.
While TEN began as a grassroots
movement, those involved with the entrepreneurial alumni affinity group have
already begun to consider future events following the kick-off event inNew York. Ryan Earley, a
Tufts alumni relations officer for shared interest groups, believes that there
is potential to take entrepreneurial programs and events to any area where
like-minded alumni are clustered. Ryan foresees events potentially being
conducted in Boston, Washington, D.C. and San
Francisco, though it will be up to the leadership of the
group to decide where events should be held for those most interested in
entrepreneurship, a practice that Tufts is known to foster.
Advertising for the November 3rd
kick-off event will begin later this summer, yet there is already excitement
being generated for the scheduled program. The majority of the attendees are
expected to be from the New York area, yet several Tufts administrators and
staff members, including President Bacow, will make the trip to New York to take
part in the entrepreneurial alumni affinity group’s first event.
Ms. Kugelman was a stand-out
candidate for the keynote speaker. Her company, skyn ICELAND, has been featured in
numerous beauty magazines and on talk shows across the country. She has
maintained a strong connection with Tufts over the years, and continues to
support the growing entrepreneurial interests of Tufts graduates and
undergraduates. Those in the alumni affinity group are confident that as the
keynote speaker, Ms. Kugelman will be able to combine her personal experiences
with elements that will appeal to a large, diverse crowd, including speaking to
the way her Tufts education has helped to shape her experiences in an
entrepreneurial world.
The November 3rd event is expected to be the first of many, so keep
an eye out for future announcements! For more information on Sarah Kugelman’s
company, visit
http://www.skyniceland.com/.
For more information regarding the TEN LinkedIn group, visit
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1898656.
