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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260929T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260929T193000
DTSTAMP:20260929T004318Z
CREATED:20260717T034805Z
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UID:16032-1790703000-1790710200@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Innovation Month: Hybrid Event - From PhD to Founder: Building (and Selling) a Startup
DESCRIPTION:From lab bench to boardroom: what does it actually take to build (and sell) a biotech company? Join us for a fireside chat with Kristina Fontanez\, PhD — a two-time founder who scaled her last startup\, Fluent BioSciences\, from 2 to 40+ employees\, raised $19M+\, and led it to an $85M acquisition by Illumina. Now she’s building Adept Scientific\, an AI platform tackling a problem she saw firsthand: life science labs have no real-time visibility into how their products actually perform. \nWhether you’re curious about science\, startups\, or the leap between academia and industry\, come hear how Kristina turned a research gap into a growing company — and bring your questions. \nPizza served at 5:30pm\, talk starts at 6:00pm. \nAbout Kristina Fontanez \nAdept Scientific is led by founder and CEO Kristina Fontanez\, PhD (Princeton AB\, Harvard PhD\, MIT postdoc). Kristina co-founded Fluent BioSciences\, scaling the team from 2 to 40+ employees\, launching 7 commercial products\, and raising $19M+ in funding. She played a pivotal leadership role in securing the company’s $85M acquisition by Illumina in 2024. Throughout her tenure at Fluent and later as Senior Director at Illumina\, Kristina identified a systemic gap: life science companies lacked real-time visibility into product performance in customer labs. Support was anecdotal\, field engineers didn’t scale\, and product teams flew blind. This firsthand operator experience\, spanning R&D\, commercialization\, manufacturer economics\, and post-acquisition integration is exactly why she’s building Adept: an AI-powered platform designed to provide the “Google Maps” for lab workflows\, finally closing the visibility gap in life sciences. \nThis Innovation Month event is jointly hosted by Auster Center for Applied Innovation and Research and Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.  \nLearn more about the Auster Center: austercenter.tufts.edu\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu.
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/entspeaker-kristinafontanez/
LOCATION:JCC 1st floor\, 177 College Avenue\, Medford\, MA\, 02155\, United States
CATEGORIES:Innovation month,Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-09-29-Kristina-Fontanez-v5.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261008T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261008T143000
DTSTAMP:20261004T010723Z
CREATED:20260923T184153Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261004T010723Z
UID:16506-1791466200-1791469800@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Fireside Chat with Amber Madison\, Founder\, Merritt AI
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a fireside chat with Amber Madison\, a licensed therapist and two-time founder who spent a decade as an HR consultant advising 100+ organizations\, including Grammarly and Betterment. Now she’s building Merritt\, an AI-native platform tackling a problem she saw again and again: performance management that hurts fairness\, morale\, and productivity instead of improving them. \nWhether you’re curious about startups\, leading teams\, or how AI is changing the way we work\, come hear how Amber turned years of consulting experience into a new company\, and bring your questions. \nAbout Amber Madison\nMerritt is led by co-founder and CEO Amber Madison. Amber previously co-founded Peoplism\, an HR and DEI consulting firm\, and is a licensed therapist. Over 10 years of consulting across 100+ organizations\, she saw performance management damage fairness\, morale\, and productivity. She also saw that the software companies relied on often reinforced practices proven to lower performance and engagement. That experience led her to build Merritt with co-founder and CTO Darla Shockley. It’s an AI-native platform for 50–500 person companies that helps managers set clear expectations from day one\, capture high-quality feedback where it happens\, draft trustworthy reviews in minutes\, and more accurately surface top performers. The platform draws on decades of performance research that most organizations never put into practice. \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event for ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning.\nThis event is hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu\nLearn more about Merritt: merritt.app
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/entspeaker-ambermadison/
LOCATION:JCC 170\, 177 College Avenue\, Medford\, MA\, 02155\, United States
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series,entrepreneurship
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-08-Amber-Madisonv2.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261020T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261020T193000
DTSTAMP:20261004T010710Z
CREATED:20261004T005853Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261004T010710Z
UID:16552-1792519200-1792524600@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Beyond Founder & Funder: Entrepreneurial Leadership at Every Level
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a panel of Tufts alumna who studied entrepreneurship and now use it across a range of careers. The moderator and panelists work full time in fields from finance to marketing\, and some also run businesses on the side. Together they’ll show that entrepreneurial leadership isn’t only for founders and funders. The mindset and skills that launch startups also help people turn ideas into action and lead at every level. \nAbout the Moderator\nSamantha Chen\, A25\, is a Senior Associate at State Street. She won a business case competition as an intern there before joining the firm full time. \nAbout the Panelists\nChristina Roberts\, E26\, is a Marketing Assistant at Long Hagan Huff-Harris and the co-founder of Matcha Luxe Inc. \nMore panelists will be announced soon. \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event for ENT100 Creativity\, Innovation\, & Entrepreneurial Thinking.\nThis event is hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/womeneship-26/
LOCATION:Room 140\, Joyce Cummings Center
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series,entrepreneurship
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-20-Women-Eship-Panel.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261029T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261029T143000
DTSTAMP:20261004T010702Z
CREATED:20261003T184151Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261004T010702Z
UID:16548-1793280600-1793284200@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Fireside Chat with Alex Edwards\, Founder\, Thumbprint Realty
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a fireside chat with Alex Edwards\, founder and principal broker of Thumbprint Realty and author of Mortgage Before Marriage. Alex bought his first house at 20 and worked in bank management before launching his own brokerage in 2015. Today he helps individuals and couples use real estate to build financial security and make smarter decisions about money and relationships. \nWhether you’re curious about starting a business\, real estate\, or building wealth early\, come hear how Alex turned a childhood interest in homes into a brokerage and a mission\, and bring your questions. \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event hosted by ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning. \nAbout Alex Edwards \nAlex Edwards is the founder and principal broker of Thumbprint Realty\, which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has recognized for its commitment to being a progressive community partner. He began his career in banking\, holding several management roles at Bank of America\, including leading a strategic plan to grow the customer base at its Brookline\, MA branch. Alex has been drawn to real estate since childhood and bought his first house at 20. He earned his Massachusetts real estate license in 2009\, quickly built a large client base\, and later earned his broker’s license and founded Thumbprint Realty in 2015. He is a TEDx speaker and the author of Mortgage Before Marriage\, a step-by-step guide to building a healthy financial mindset and securing your finances before you say “I do.” \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event for ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning.\nThis event is hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/alex-edwards/
LOCATION:JCC 170\, 177 College Avenue\, Medford\, MA\, 02155\, United States
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series,entrepreneurship
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-29-AlexEdwardsv2.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261109T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261109T160000
DTSTAMP:20261006T173915Z
CREATED:20261004T203928Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261006T173915Z
UID:16574-1794236400-1794240000@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Fireside Chat with Andrew Bishop\, Deputy Director\, Cummings Foundation
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an in-person fireside chat with Andrew Bishop\, Deputy Director of Cummings Foundation\, one of the largest private foundations in New England and learn why Cummings Properties donates all net income each year to Cummings Foundation\, which supports 1400+ local organizations with their local grant program. \nJoyce Cummings and Bill Cummings (A58\, H06\, J97P\, M97P) established Cummings Foundation\, Inc. in 1986. Woburn-based Cummings Foundation has awarded $650 million in grants to greater Boston nonprofits alone. Its giving is concentrated in Middlesex\, Essex\, and Suffolk counties plus several abutting communities in Norfolk county\, and it benefits a broad range of causes. \nThe Cummings also have a special interest in Rwanda\, where the Foundation collaborates with Partners In Health and a limited number of other organizations to aid in that East African country’s post-genocide recovery and rebuilding. \nThe Cummings quietly contributed to the local community for many years. Then\, in May 2011\, they joined The Giving Pledge\, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet through which some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and couples have publicly pledged to donate at least half of their assets for philanthropic purposes. Bill and Joyce had already donated 90 percent of their wealth. \nAbout Andrew Bishop \nAndrew Bishop joined Cummings Foundation as grants manager in 2022\, building on his years of professional experience working within private foundations\, and he was appointed deputy director in 2023. He most recently served as grants officer at The Klarman Family Foundation\, a Boston-based family foundation\, where he led day-to-day grantmaking operations. Previously\, Andrew held various programmatic and grants management roles at DentaQuest Foundation (Boston\, MA) and The Healing Trust (Nashville\, TN). \nA graduate of Belmont University\, Andrew also holds a Master of Business Administration\, specializing in nonprofit management\, from University of Massachusetts Boston. Andrew resides in Salem with his husband\, Luke\, and their son. \nAbout Usha Pasi \nUsha Pasi has spent her career serving as an advocate for donors and institutions pursuing their philanthropic and programmatic aims\, and she has advised boards and organizations about best practices in governance. Her experience includes increasingly responsible roles at Columbia University\, Yale University\, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston\, Facing History and Ourselves\, the Cambridge Community Foundation\, and consulting roles with local and international organizations including Stanford University. Her consulting work includes serving as an executive coach\, providing development and governance guidance along with scaling entrepreneurial organizations\, and pro bono community work responding to local organizations’ needs and priorities. She teaches a course on Nonprofits\, Philanthropy and Impact at Tufts University. \nShe currently serves on the boards of the Associates of the Boston Public Library (Vice Chair); Code the Dream; and the ICTP Advisory Board\, and Usha is active with HBS Community Action Partners and Community Consulting Teams of Boston (CCT). In addition\, she committed to expanding professional development opportunities for colleagues in the field and has been active as a board member at the Association of Fundraising Professionals and as President of Women in Development of Greater Boston. \nUsha holds an Ed.M. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her undergraduate degree from SUNY-Binghamton. She was awarded a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship in Improved Fundraising Capabilities. In addition\, she holds an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Harvard Kennedy School; a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University; and\, a Certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting from BoardSource. \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event hosted by Professor Usha Pasi who teaches ENT142 Nonprofits\, Philanthropy and Impact at Tufts University. Open to students\, faculty and staff.\nThis event is hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/andrewbishop-26/
LOCATION:JCC 301\, 177 College Ave\, Medford\, MA\, United States
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-11-02-Andrew-Bishop-v3.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261119T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261119T143000
DTSTAMP:20261004T010808Z
CREATED:20261003T183431Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261004T010808Z
UID:16543-1795095000-1795098600@derbyecenter.tufts.edu
SUMMARY:Fireside Chat with Jason Kleinerman\, Food Entrepreneur
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a fireside chat with Jason Kleinerman\, a food and hospitality entrepreneur behind three distinct businesses. He is a partner at The Rail Trail Flatbread Co\, the founder of New City Microcreamery\, and the owner of Less Than Greater Than\, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant in downtown Hudson\, MA. \nWhether you’re curious about the restaurant industry\, running more than one business at once\, or turning an idea into a place people want to visit\, come hear how Jason built his brands\, and bring your questions. \nAbout Jason Kleinerman\nJason Kleinerman has been a partner at The Rail Trail Flatbread Co in Hudson\, MA\, since 2013. In 2015\, he opened Less Than Greater Than\, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant in downtown Hudson. He is also the founder of New City Microcreamery. \nThis is an Inside the Classroom speaker event for ENT101 Entrepreneurship and Business Planning.\nThis event is hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.\nLearn more about the Derby Entrepreneurship Center: derbyecenter.tufts.edu \n 
URL:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/event/jason-kleinerman/
LOCATION:JCC 170\, 177 College Avenue\, Medford\, MA\, 02155\, United States
CATEGORIES:Speaker Series,entrepreneurship
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-11-19-Jason-Kleinermanv2.jpg
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