Though the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down campus and
eliminated the possibility of in-person celebrations, WashU Olin still plans to
recognize all our graduating students this year.
Washington University’s Chancellor
Andrew Martin announced his creation of an Alternate Commencement Committee
on April 17. That committee will examine the best way to honor the class of
2020 throughout WashU when it becomes safe to do so. While no formal
announcements have been made, the committee plans to have more information
available soon.
In the meantime, WashU Olin will move forward with virtual
graduation recognition ceremonies that supplement, but do not replace, the
university-wide celebration. On May 8 and May 15, Olin will release virtual
graduation videos for each planned ceremony at the time of the original event.
Olin professor Hilary Anger Elfenbein wore her regalia to record her speech from home.
Each video celebration will include remarks from Dean Mark
P. Taylor and Chancellor Andrew Martin, student speakers, announcements of
student award recipients and remarks from the Reid Teaching Award winners. Though
the degree candidates will not be able to “walk” during the ceremonies, their
names will scroll on the screen during the presentations.
Executive Education: EMBA & WashU at
Brookings master of science in leadership, 10:30 a.m.
Friday, May 15
BSBA, 11:30 a.m.
Graduate programs, 3 p.m.
We welcome any photos or reflections from your participation
in our graduation ceremonies. Please share any images or videos with us
@wustlbusiness and use #WashU20. Though this isn’t the ceremony any of us
expected, we offer our heartfelt congratulations to the class of 2020.
When Adam Greenberg began research on the business of baby diaper delivery service in 2002, he encountered a staggering deficit in quality resources for adults managing incontinence.
This is how Greenberg, an Olin ‘94 BSBA graduate, conceived NorthShore Care Supply: a company dedicated to providing high-quality adult diapers to millions of Americans struggling with incontinence and the stigmas surrounding it. Eighteen years later, Greenberg has transformed NorthShore from a small internet retailer into a flourishing direct-to-consumer brand with consistent five-star customer ratings.
There is an increasing need to educate medical professionals and patients alike on incontinence care, as it usually is a symptom of another health condition requiring more attention. Still, the stigmas surrounding incontinence prevent many people from resolving their problems with it; in fact, the average person will wait nine years before seeking medical help. “There’s no reason our society adds additional stress on patients due to this lack of control that’s not their fault,” Greenberg says.
He and his team share a passion to #EndHealthStigma by filling in the communication gaps delaying proper care for the 80 million Americans managing incontinence. They also frequently donate resources to communities struggling with incontinence, such as patients with Alzheimer’s, autism, MS, and cerebral palsy.
Greenberg recalls how relevant his WashU Olin education remains, twenty-five years after his graduation, as he operates NorthShore. The dynamic array of coursework WashU Olin requires helped him form long-term relationships with factories in North America, Europe, and Asia, and shaped the philosophy and morale of NorthShore’s comprehensive business model. Recently, their strategy has shifted to focus on the heavy incontinence market, an area where most retailers avoid due to the need for bulkier, more expensive materials. Yet, because the demand is prominent for high-quality versions of this product, Greenberg’s decision to concentrate on this niche need has been imperative to sustaining NorthShore as a major player in its market.
“Without proper data measurement and analysis, it’s very easy to lose focus on customer behavior and process efficiency. I expect we will continue to make large investments in data and analytics, which are critical to success in a hyper-competitive global marketplace. It is these values and experiences which have supported not only Greenberg’s success as a CEO but the millions of people that NorthShore cares for nationwide. “We’re helping so many people regain their dignity every day, it’s very rewarding and humbling.”
During unprecedented times, the WashU Olin community is coming together as the community we truly are. Though students, faculty and staff span across the city, the country and even the world, setting up virtual study spaces everywhere from New York to India, we’re working to maintain that sense of community, collaboration and friendship that defines the WashU Olin experience.
As virtual classes started this Monday, March 23, students and faculty took the time to document their classroom “views” for the Olin blog.
Doug Villhard, professor of entrepreneurship, asked students to share what their “study spaces” look like.
Top row, left to right: Kaila Pederson (MBA ’21) confronts the challenge of a small space and embraces innovation to create a desk; Marguerite Whitelaw (MBA ’21).
Bottom row, left to right: Lexi Lessaris (MBA ’21) and her co-worker Lola; Ellen Kenzora (MBA ’21).
Students and faculty also shared moments from their virtual classroom spaces and team meetings on Zoom.
Left column, top to bottom: Tom Fields’ Strategic Cost Analysis class, submitted by Nitish Yadav (MBA ’21); EMBA 54’s first virtual class, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, taught by Nick Argyres; Barton Hamilton’s Compensation, Incentives and Organizing, submitted by Nidhi Kandari (MBA ’21).
Right column: Peter Boumgarden, professor of practice, strategy and organizations, teaches a group of undergraduates.
Teams and student groups won’t let distance stop them from getting great things done.
CEL practicum team works on a project for Midwest Bank Center.
From left to right, top to bottom: Hannah Levin, Lael Bialek, Bruno Moreira Yamamura, Lin Xie, Frankie Hong, Chris Colon (not pictured).
The Graduate Business Student Association’s incoming leadership team holds their first meeting.
Top row: Ellen Kenzora, Kendra Kelly, Shivani Jain
And staff and faculty have shared their new personal workspaces.
From left to right Row 1:Brooke Van Groningen (Assistant Brand Manager, Marketing & Communications), Ashley Macrander (Assistant Dean & Director of Student Affairs),
Row 2: Todd Milbourn (Vice Dean of Faculty & Research); Glenn MacDonald (Professor of Economics & Strategy), Allison Dietz (WCC Employer Relations Lead),
Row 3: Dorothy Kittner (WCC Associate Director & Dean of Business Relations) Paige LaRose (Director of Undergraduate Programs), Amy VanEssendelft (CEL Senior Program Manager),
Row 4:Heather Cameron (Professor of Practice, in Berlin), Molly Cruitt (Social Media Strategist, Marketing & Communications), Jodi Heen (Faculty Support).
Though we are far apart now, WashU Olin remains together as a community. We can’t wait for our students, faculty and staff to be on one campus once again. Until then, a virtual cheers and best wishes for a great semester.
Update 3/31/2020 – GiftAMeal has raised $20,000 for COVID-19 hunger relief.
GiftAMeal is a St. Louis startup founded by Andrew Glantz, BSBA ’17. The following is a press release from the organization.
Andrew Glantz (BSBA ’17), founder, GiftAMeal
GiftAMeal, a St. Louis based mobile app, is stepping up in the face of the COVID-19 crisis that has hit our community so hard. Today [March 18], GiftAMeal announced an ambitious five-point plan to provide relief to struggling restaurants and the most at-risk segments of our society.
GiftAMeal
is a mobile app that helps provide a meal to someone in need each time a user
takes a photo in a partner restaurant. Just two weeks ago, they announced they had
reached 200 partner restaurants, with 400,000 meals provided to those in need.
Founder
& CEO of GiftAMeal, Andrew Glantz, explained, “A majority of the community
members supported through GiftAMeal are children and the elderly. Schools are
closing, and children relying on meals normally provided are facing a new
challenge as social services scramble to readjust. At the same time, older
community members, the most at-risk population for COVID-19, need our support
now more than ever.”
Glantz
continued, “Just as the community is struggling, so are many restaurants in the
face of public health guidelines designed to contain the spread of this virus.
Employees depend on their jobs to pay bills and make rent, and our partners are
doing their best to mitigate the effects of this crisis on their staff. But
they cannot do it without the support of the public.”
Seeking
to assist both local restaurants and those at-risk in the community, Glantz
announced the following plan:
Donation program available for delivery/pickup/offsite customers
With
the mandated closing this week of dining rooms across the bistate area,
Glantz’s team quickly devised a big change to their program that was previously
only available to in-restaurant customers at partnering locations.
“We just launched an update to the GiftAMeal app that will temporarily allow users to take pictures off-site to donate meals for takeout, delivery, and gift card purchases. We will do this by lifting the location requirement of needing to be at a partner restaurant when you take the photo and we will move to manual verification. PLEASE support our local partner restaurants that are struggling during this difficult time.” – Glantz
Immediate financial support of hunger relief agencies – $5,000 matching challenge
“Having spoken to Operation Food
Search about their needs, we will be making our donations for the next few
months early to provide immediate funding to get food to those facing hunger.
We may be a small startup with limited means but we’re launching a campaign to
match donations, up to $5,000, for our food bank partner. If you would like to
contribute, click here: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/GiftAMealMatch.”
– Glantz
Publicity for restaurants undergoing fast changes
With
hundreds of restaurants forced to quickly find new avenues to pay their staff,
Glantz is keeping the app’s 35,000+ loyal restaurant customers aware of all
avenues to support their favorite restaurants:
“We will keep you up-to-date on
the latest with our partner restaurants on our Facebook, Instagram, and
Twitter. Many are expanding take-out and delivery programs to keep serving the
community and are implementing extremely thorough health precautions to keep
us all safe.” – Glantz
Direct coordination of food donations from restaurants
“We
are working to coordinate food donations with Operation Food Search. If you
know of any restaurant that has a surplus that is interested in donating food
to the community, please let me know or have them contact Jack Baran of OFS
directly at jack.baran@operationfoodsearch.org. It’s tax-deductible too!” –
Glantz
Program cost relief for struggling restaurants
In
a message to restaurants (who normally pay $49-$149/month to fund the program
costs and donations), Glantz extended an offer to self-fund the program for
restaurants unable to contribute in the months of March and April so that food
donations and restaurant customers could continue to flow at a time when they
are most needed. When asked how he came to that decision, he explained,
“We are a small startup with
limited means, but this is a time where we can shine the brightest. It’s
important to me that our donations continue to flow to hunger relief
organizations, and I know that the visibility of restaurants on our platform
can have a big impact on cash-flow for these local businesses. I’ve always been
struck by the generosity and love of community that our partner restaurant
operators have shown, and even if it’s a drop in the bucket, I am going to help
however I can.”
The
response by the community has been overwhelmingly positive and grateful.
Kristen Wild, Executive Director of Operation Food Search, commented on
GiftAMeal’s fast and community-centered response:
“We are so very grateful to GiftAMeal for its
innovative approach to providing more people with access to healthy food. Socially-conscious
businesses like this are changing the way people approach giving, and the
generous support of GiftAMeal is making an impact in our community every day.”
The free GiftAMeal app is available on iPhone and Android devices
– giftameal.com/download
Varsity Tutors, founded by Olin
alumnus and CEO Chuck Cohn, launched free online classes Monday for students in
kindergarten through 12th grade.
“As schools closed this week in
response to COVID-19, the speed of change being forced upon the lives of
parents has many scrambling just to keep their kids occupied—hopefully with
something constructive,” Cohn said in a
letter on the company’s site announcing the launch of Virtual School Day.
“We believe parents shouldn’t have
to carry this burden alone,” Cohn said.
Cohn, BSBA ’08 and a 2017
Emerging Leader Honoree, started the company on WashU’s campus. It’s now the nation’s leading provider of one-on-one instruction and
headquartered in Clayton.
The platform includes math, reading,
writing, literature and science courses for every grade level, expert-guided
study hall sessions and age-appropriate enrichment units, such as “the science
of pandemics” for middle schoolers, the newspaper reported.
Cohn said Varsity Tutors won’t profit from the free classes, but he thinks the coronavirus crisis will make online learning more mainstream. “People being open to online learning is a good long-term trend, and that’s why we felt obligated to help right now.”
Nine tiny lines of type near the back of Olin Business magazine’s 2017 edition announced Nate Maslak’s new venture, HealthWiz, “which helps lower healthcare costs for employers and payers by helping consumers navigate their healthcare costs and access high-quality, cost-efficient care.”
Three years and one brand change later,
Maslak, BSBA ’11, and the company he runs—Ribbon Health—landed a $10.25 million
round of Series A funding led by well-known venture capital firm Andreessen
Horowitz. The infusion marks the first investment from Andreessen’s new $750
million healthcare fund.
“Nate was a rock star entrepreneurship student as an undergrad at Olin,” said
former Olin entrepreneurship professor Cliff Holekamp in an email about the investment.
“His success is no surprise.”
The company had nailed
down two earlier seed funding rounds, according to the Crunchbase startup directory.
Details on those early rounds were not available. The Series A round led by Andreessen
closed on February 27, 2020.
A story
about the funding round on TechCrunch explained that Ribbon Health “is
trying to create an accurate database of what doctors and health plans have,
which specializations offer their services to which insurance providers, and
produce the best outcomes for patients.”
Nine individuals or firms participated in the Series A investment for Ribbon Health, including Y Combinator and New York-based early-stage investment fund BoxGroup, according to Crunch Base.
“This funding will
help us bring our healthcare data platform to more payers, providers, and other
healthcare stakeholders, allowing them to break through the information
barriers in healthcare,” Maslak, CEO and cofounder, wrote in a blog
post on the Ribbon Health website.
