Join this virtual panel discussion featuring VCU alumni business owners who have been featured in Forbes magazine. Panelists will share their entrepreneurial journey, how VCU set them up for success and much more. Pre-register for the opportunity to speak to the panelist of your choosing in a breakout room, ask questions and be entered to win a 30-minute coaching session.

Register for the Zoom link.

Panelists

Vern Howard Jr. (B.S.’12/B), CEO and co-founder, Hallo

Isaac Rodriguez, Ph.D. (M.S.’10/En; Ph.D.’13/En), co-founder and chief science officer, SweetBio Inc.: SweetBio Inc., is a Memphis, Tennessee-based, commercial-ready medical device company with FDA-cleared, bioengineered, honey-incorporated advanced wound care products. Since 2015, SweetBio has raised more than $5 million, graduated from ZeroTo510 and LaunchTN accelerators, was a finalist in Steve Case’s 2018 Rise of the Rest tour and has been highlighted by Apple, on 60 Minutes and in Forbes. Rodriguez is a Gates Millennium Scholar and earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia and VCU. He then spent 2 ½ years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Memphis. While there, he co-invented the patented honey biomaterial technology that has now become the basis for SweetBio’s product lines. Rodriguez is responsible for evidence/publication strategy, science communications to investors and the field, new product development, intellectual property strategy, and supporting strategic, marketing, operations and fundraising activities. Some of his notable achievements include serving as the keynote speaker for NASA Langley’s 2017 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration, being named a Memphis Top 40 Under 40 in 2015 and being honored in 2017 by VCU as a top 10 Alumni to graduate in the past 10 years.

Laura Colagrande (B.F.A.’13/A), co-founder, Chippin: Chippin is the future of sustainable pet food and was recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 for Social Entrepreneurs in 2020. Before Chippin, Colagrande was at Starbucks Global Creative and Innovation Team, working on the design retail strategy for Starbucks Italy. The team launched the Reserve Roastery brand in Italy. She started her career working as a strategic designer creating branded, user-centered experiences for clients such as Sunkist, Red Bull and RockNation. In 2017, she was nominated by the University of Pennsylvania to serve as a Human-Centered Design Fellow for Peek Vision (health tech startup named by Google as “Best-Tech for Social Impact” in 2017). Working closely with the Botswana Ministry of Health and the Peek Vision team, she worked on the launch of a smartphone-based technology that enables health care providers to supply cost-effective, targeted treatment (national implementation, phase 2). She was the recipient of the T-Square fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania where she earned her Master in Architecture and completed a program with Penn Engineering and the Wharton School  (IPD program). She received two American Institute of Architects awards and several design awards. She also studied Business at UCLA, and holds a Master of Architecture & Integrated Product Design from the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Italy (Milan) and former rock climbing instructor, she loves reading and going on walks with her dog, Peanut. 

Nidhi Tewari (M.S.W '14/SW), business owner at Nidhi Tewari, LCSW, LLC: Tewari is an acclaimed licensed clinical social worker and mental health therapist with a decade of experience. In her private practice, she specializes in treating high-performing CEOs, lawyers and doctors coping with trauma and anxiety disorders. As a professional speaker, her personality and passion for her field shines through as she speaks to leadership teams and audiences on the topics of burnout prevention, diversity and mental health, mental health in the workplace, resilience, leadership, trauma-recovery and self-care. Tewari has spoken to a variety of audiences, including speaking at the international Embodiment Conference, VCU Health System, VCU School of Social Work, Virginia Society of Clinical Social Work, Virginia Association of School Social Workers, The ACE Collective, The Conversationalist and many government agencies. She’s been featured as an expert in national publications including Forbes, Oprah Daily, Yahoo, Vice magazine, Theravive and Psych Central, and has been interviewed on various networks regarding topics of mental health. She has established herself as a thought leader on the new social media platform Clubhouse, where she runs a group, Mental Health Matters, that discusses mental health with over 70,000 active subscribers. She has partnered with brands like Mars Inc. and AfterPay as a mental health expert, and she was invited to collaborate with Grammy-nominated musician Aloe Blacc in multiple mental health awareness events in honor of his collaborator/friend Aviici, who completed suicide three years ago. 

Moderator

Garret Westlake, Ph.D., executive director, da Vinci Center or Innovation: Westlake is leading the transformation of VCU into one of the nation’s top universities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation. Students and startups he has mentored have been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for Healthcare Innovation, awarded Rhodes scholarships, named Resolution Project Fellows and have been accepted to SXSW and Y Combinator. He is a 2020 Visiting Scholar at Northern Michigan University’s SISU Institute for Innovation and Educational Transformation and founded a social impact company that employs individuals with autism in STEM.