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Black and African MBA Events Celebrate Milestone Anniversaries 4

School News

Black and African MBA Events Celebrate Milestone Anniversaries

The Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference turns 50 this year, while the Wharton Africa Business Forum marks its 30th

Learning When to Speak Up

Blog Network

When to Speak Up in Meetings

Professor Michael Parke’s recent paper shows how employees can harness the power of “strategic silence”

Dan Moore speaking at a podium during a building's groundbreaking

Blog Network

A Veteran’s Lessons in Leadership

Daniel Moore WG00’s non-traditional journey from Air Force Captain to real estate CEO

Dean James speaks to Qi Ruan G17 at Impact Tour Shanghai

School News

Dean Erika James’s Inaugural Asia Visit

Wharton Impact Tour stops in Seoul and Shanghai celebrate growth and resilience

Two men stand side-by-side posing for a photo leaned against a desk, with computer monitors behind them.

News

Chapter

Like many government programs, Medicare often leaves consumers confused, as Chapter CEO Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz C12 W12 learned firsthand. “After spending weeks on research, my parents still nearly missed deadlines and enrolled in sub-optimal plans,” he says. Alongside co-founder Corey Metzman C12 W12, Blumenfeld-Gantz started Chapter to provide Medicare advice to older Americans in their search for the best value. The Medicare advisory firm scours options to suggest plans, advise on when to enroll, and more. As the company grows, it’s investing in an app to provide additional support and services to retirees.

Two men in black tops and blue pants posed around two wooden, decorative chairs.

News

Recuperet Health

The idea for Recuperet Health stemmed from an encounter Sanjeev Suratwala WG22 had with a patient who was experiencing post-operative bleeding after spinal surgery. The case, which required immediate medical attention, led Suratwala and co-founder Gary Arora WG22 to identify several gaps in the post-surgical recovery journey for patients, families, and clinical providers. Together, they launched Recuperet Health as a technology-based approach to monitor patient progress and improve both clinical workflows and at-home experiences. Recently part of Venture Lab’s VIP-X program, the firm connects patients and health-care providers through a platform that leverages wearables, AI algorithms, and other technology to collect detailed information about the recovery process and avoid negative post-op outcomes.

Portrait of a woman with a blue shirt and teal necklace.

News

Eyeful

Kristen Nwanyanwu M09 WG09 is bringing style to the eye-examination room. Nwanyanwu, a vitreoretinal surgeon and associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, founded Eyeful to address her dissatisfaction with both the look and the utility of the weathered case she previously used to hold her ophthalmic lenses. Now, Nwanyanwu is sharing her designs with eye-care providers far and wide. Eyeful currently offers two stylish cases, each made from vegan leather and equipped with features such as impact-resistant foam and an inside pocket for accessories like a cleaning cloth.

News

Portabl

Accessing financial services over the internet doesn’t have to be a hassle, says Portabl, which is making sign-ups, sign-ins, and overall online experiences for firms with complex verifications more seamless. Co-founded by CEO Nate Soffio WG22, the startup’s log-in client can be integrated with other apps and pre-verifies data regarding users’ identities, payment methods, and accounts. By leveraging decentralized identity standards, Portabl aims to help users avoid repeatedly completing lengthy confirmations for financial services while maintaining compliance and keeping information safe.

Illustration of winged shoes floating among the clouds.

News

Birdies

This comfort-forward shoe line sprang from Marisa Sharkey WG03 and Bianca Gates’s conviction that there had to be better footwear options for hosting dinner parties than casual slippers — or bare feet. Relying on their collective experience at companies such as Ross Stores, Bain and Company, and Facebook, the Birdies co-founders teamed up in 2015 to create a design that combines sleek fashion with long-lasting comfort. After their first pair of loafers took off, they expanded the line to include a wide variety of sneakers, sandals, flats, and slides. Sharkey and Gates have also led Birdies to become a Certified B Corporation, propelling purpose-driven efforts such as a mentorship program for women and girls and donations of more than 54,000 pairs of shoes.

Working Trees founders posing for a photo together in front of a green background.

News

Working Trees

As more organizations adopt environmentally friendly practices, some farmers are utilizing trees to help do the work. Founded by John Foye ENG13 W13 and Aakash Ahamed, Working Trees partners with landowners to facilitate tree-planting on their properties. The firm, which was part of Venture Lab’s VIP-X Fall 2022 cohort, provides technology to measure carbon stored by the trees, which in turn generates revenue for farmers from companies that pay for the sequestration as part of their net-zero commitments. Among the extra benefits, the method can improve agricultural conditions and production — for instance, by creating better grazing conditions for farm animals and increasing soil’s nutrient content.

News

Ophelia

Zack Gray WG19 was nearing the end of his time at Wharton when he lost his girlfriend to an opioid overdose. She had tried to get help but didn’t know where to look. Ophelia, which Gray co-founded shortly after graduating, is now licensed to provide telemedicine and prescriptions to treat opioid addiction in more than a dozen states. The startup’s efforts to make treatment more accessible can be especially critical at a time when, Gray says, other options for obtaining medications such as Suboxone to curtail opioid use are sparse across much of the U.S. The medication can prevent cravings and withdrawal symptoms from drugs such as heroin, morphine, and fentanyl and in turn help avert tragedies like the one from which the startup takes its name.

Illustration of a flower growing out of a sleek container.

News

Nayko Naturals

Chantee Butler WG20 was inspired to start her natural skin-care product line by her late sister-in-law, nicknamed Ney Ney, who started her own entrepreneurial skin-care journey in 2016 before passing away two years later. The name “Nayko” is an homage to Ney Ney and a nod to the brand’s “eco”-friendly mission. The company uses formulations that exclude water-based ingredients, eliminating the need for preservatives and synthetics. Nayko Naturals products range from creams to oils — including lines designed for men and expecting mothers — and are free of parabens, sulfates, fragrances, glycerin, and petrolatum.

Four tubes of mascara from My Little Mascara Club.

News

My Little Mascara Club

With its subscription model, My Little Mascara Club is ensuring that you never run out of a makeup essential. Co-founded by Patrick Ryan WMP21 GEN24, the service ships vegan and cruelty-free mascara — along with add-ons such as shaping combs and remover wipes — directly to doorsteps. The startup, a VIP-X company, uses tiny bottles and monthly shipments to help avoid clumping problems associated with bigger tubes, while options to adjust, delay, or even donate deliveries give subscribers flexibility.

Illustration of a scale with a man in a suit on one side and money on the other.

News

Pave

This startup founded by Matt Schulman ENG16 W16 is seeking to boost transparency and fairness for workers worldwide by helping companies develop more robust compensation strategies. Pave’s data-driven platform serves as a hub from which firms can access their own compensation information as well as benchmark data from other businesses to inform salary offers, merit increases, and other pay-related decisions. The ability to set company-wide compensation ranges for positions helps standardize packages and identify employees who are being under-rewarded, while insights for employees offer them visibility into their own compensation. Said Schulman last year: “We will not stop until every single person in the world knows their value and earns what they deserve.”

Stepful's three founders pose together for a photo in a lounge area.

News

Stepful

Stepful CEO Carl Madi WG17 is looking to move the needle on the U.S. health-care worker shortage through cost-effective and time-efficient career training. Launched in 2021, Stepful offers a four-week online training program for phlebotomists and four-month programs for medical assistants and pharmacy technicians. With an eye to expansion, Stepful is also launching a program for ultrasound technicians after securing seed funding earlier this year. The firm’s graduates have gone on to work at organizations including CVS, Walgreens, and the NYC Health + Hospitals public health-care system.

Three students an the executive director of the Mack Institute pose together smiling, with two of the students holding paper awards.

News

Equimeter

Used in routine vital-sign assessments, pulse oximeters determine a patient’s blood oxygen level by measuring light that travels through the finger’s skin. Studies have shown, however, that these devices can provide inaccurate readings in people with darker skin tones, leading to racial disparities in patient health. Leveraging Penn’s physics-informed neural networks technology, Advait Thaploo C25 W25, Parthiv Patel C25 W25, and Ujjayi Pamidigantam C25 W25 are developing a way for pulse oximeter readings to account for various skin colors. Equimeter won the university’s Y-Prize competition this year as well as the Venture Lab Startup Challenge’s Jacobson Social Impact Prize.

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Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Age: 36
“Chief Mom” & Co-Founder at D.C.-based Zoobean (featured on ABC’s Shark Tank); former head of K-12 Educational Outreach at Google.

Why so successful?
“An empowering husband and business partner, a grounded upbringing in Iowa and a commitment to work aligned with my values. And my kids, who give me daily doses of humility and humor.”

Favorite professional moment in the past year?
“Being featured on Shark Tank. Just weeks after starting our business, we went on the hit television show and gained an investment from Mark Cuban. The experience has changed the trajectory of our business and lives.”

The Wharton #40Under40

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Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Jordan Lloyd Bookey

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Saikat Chaudhuri

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Daglar Cizmeci

Walter Czarnecki

Sangeeta Desai

Kanika Dewan

Liuwen Duan

Amanda Engstrom Eversole

Amanda Engstrom Eversole

Rodrigo Fernandez

Rodrigo Fernandez

Kate Gallego

Eric Heil

Artis Henderson

Artis Henderson

Caroline Issa

Sumeet Jain

Eric Kacou

Sasibai Kimis

Steve Markowitz

Steve Markowitz

Joyce Meng

Aditya Mittal

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Ben Nelson

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Kathleen Kimiko Phillips

Ben Relles

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Audra Renyi

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David Safra

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Ivanka Trump

Nat Turner

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Thomas A. von Reichbauer

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Cotopaxi

FundersClub

Warby Parker

Ampush

Cover of the Fall Winter 2023 issue of Wharton Magazine, featuring two soccer players colliding in a midair jump, as well as a spread of the magazine with an image of a soccer pitch on it.

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