Women's Leadership Conference - Women Entrepreneurs: Taking the Leap
Sponsored by the Women of Hopkins and the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
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Has your career taken twists and turns that you didn't expect? Are you at a crossroads, deciding between your current path or taking the road less traveled. This panel of female entrepreneurs will share their professional stories and best practices. Uncover what inspired them to take those first steps towards entrepreneurship and, even though the path was unclear, what kept them going.
During this candid conversation, you will experience the good, the bad, and the ugly of their entrepreneurial experiences. Did they make it? Find out together!
MEET OUR MODERATOR
Alina Predescu, Bus '13, '17, National Institute of Health
Alina Predescu is a Health Science Policy Analyst at NIH in the Office of the Director, Office of Science Policy (OSP), Technology Transfer and Innovation. She works on assessing the landscape and policy needs related to technology transfer at NIH as well as the federal government’s role in medical product development and incentives for biomedical innovation. Alina joined the federal government as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Cancer Institute and the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Her projects spanned from fostering collaborations across HHS and with other agencies as well as helping establish a new office focused on accelerating clinical innovation. Prior to being a PMF she was at the Johns Hopkins University where she focused on creating effective multidisciplinary teams and involving multiple stakeholders in addressing healthcare access and healthcare disparities. She graduated the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School with an MBA in 2017.
MEET OUR FACILITATOR
Margia A. Arguello, A&S '07, Bus '16, JHU Office of Innovation Initiatives
Margia A. Argüello is the Associate Director of Innovation Initiatives at Johns Hopkins University Development and Alumni Relations. Her focus is on cultivating a dynamic community that gives back in support of Hopkins entrepreneurs; and the design of programs that engage students, faculty, and alumni in the innovation ecosystem.
She was previously an Associate at Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), where she managed knowledge transfer and consulting projects for hospitals in Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining JHI, she oversaw laboratory operations for a research group conducting micronutrient trials among women of reproductive age, and infants, in rural Southeast Asia and Africa at the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Human Nutrition - Department of International Health. With her public health group, she authored and co-authored several research articles published in scientific journals including The Journal of Nutrition, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Her passion for cultures has led her to work in Zambia, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Perú, Panamá, Bermuda, and with groups from Canada, Colombia, and Brazil. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
As a board director at the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC) and Foundation she chairs the scholarship committee, creating opportunities for Hispanic students in the state of Maryland, and closing gaps in education. Margia was recently named one of Maryland’s The Daily Record 2020 Leading Women honorees.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Society from Cornell University, Master of Science in Biotechnology, and Master of Business Administration from The Johns Hopkins University, where she is a Carey Business Leadership Society pledger.
MEET OUR PANELISTS
Pava LePere, A&S '19, EcoMap Technologies
Pava LaPere is the CEO & Founder of EcoMap Technologies, a company that uses AI to help entrepreneurs find the resources they need to build startups, small businesses, and nonprofits in their local communities. In addition to EcoMap, Pava is the Cofounder of Innov8MD, a nonprofit that supports student entrepreneurs across the state of Maryland. Pava’s work began when she was a student at Hopkins, where she founded a nonprofit, TCO Labs, meant to build a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem at the university. As part of that, she founded the first ever incubator for student ventures, The Hatchery; after her graduation, she was hired by the university to turn this incubator into the official FastForwardU Spark and Fuel Accelerator programs. In her free time, Pava enjoys reading, cooking, and lifting weights.
Katherine Pinkard, Bus '14, Pinkard Properties
Representing the fourth generation of Pinkards in the commercial real estate industry as the Co-Founder and President of Pinkard Properties, Ms. Pinkard oversees the commercial real estate services firm, providing asset and property management, development, project management, and advisory services for a portfolio of office, retail, industrial, and special assets. Since founding the certified woman-owned company in 2012, she has worked with clients ranging from local real estate owners and developers, to publicly-traded REITs, as well as large public companies, public institutions, and government agencies to manage and consult on an array of assignments. Ms. Pinkard holds an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and a BA from Georgetown University. Ms. Pinkard currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Center for History and Culture.
Tara Gallant, Bus '05, '15, Good Words Marketing
Tara is a serial entrepreneur, having started several successful businesses over the past 20 years. One of her first ventures was a landscaping business that catered to women homeowners. After building a thriving business, she sold the landscaping business. Tara also founded a start-up education technology company that grew from concept to generating revenue in three years.
She had a successful career in sales and marketing between her entrepreneurial adventures, working in the healthcare, real estate, and construction industries. In 2016, Tara founded her marketing agency, Good Words Marketing, which provides small business owners with a strong marketing team that produces results.
Tara received her MBA from The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, her Business of Medicine graduate certificate from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and her Bachelor of Healthcare Administration from The Johns Hopkins University. When she is not working, Tara enjoys golfing, playing guitar, and spending time with her four children.
Elyse Heob, Bus '18, Public Health '18, ClearMask
Elyse Heob is excited about commercializing new health technology to solve social justice issues. She is a co-founder and COO at ClearMask, the first company to develop an FDA-cleared transparent surgical mask and sell millions of masks internationally. Previously, she managed and exited a corporate wellness startup called My Healthy Toolkit and created virtual and augmented reality experiences for the healthcare space at Booz Allen Hamilton. Elyse earned her MBA and MPH degrees from Johns Hopkins University and began her health career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Ernesto Chanona, A&S '07, '08, Maryland Department of Commerce
Ernesto leads the economic development of the biotechnology and medtech sectors for the State of Maryland. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, Center for Biotechnology Education. He trained as a cancer immunologist, who worked in the pre-clinical development of immunotherapies at the National Cancer Institute.
As a business and innovation development expert, Ernesto helps local and international companies overcome challenges in commercialization. These include obtaining funding, real estate, academic research partners, federal lab innovations, connections to local CXOs, exports, and overcoming issues with international government agencies.
Ernesto is also a biotechnology supply chain expert. His primary research interests include the growth, structure and dynamics of biotechnology hubs. By analyzing the relationships between the stakeholders in industry, the output of biotechnology talent pipelines, the priorities of government agencies, and the appetite of investment community, he develops local and international strategies that best foster the growth of industry. He regularly presents Maryland's efforts in webinars to trade partners including Korea, the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Japan, to foster the foreign direct investment of companies seeking to expand into the U.S. market.