Q: What drew you to start this new company with Jerre?
A: I met Jerre and his wife, Mary Joy, in 1997 while I was working at the University of Iowa. Jerre has long served as a mentor to me, and I am thankful for the wonderful friendship I have with Mary Joy. For more than 25 years, I have seen firsthand the transformative impact of their philanthropy. I’ve also realized we have a lot in common: we are from smaller communities in Iowa (Maquoketa and Mason City) and carry those values forward in everything we do. We also share the belief that our backgrounds don’t limit us, but rather are at the heart of what drives us to make a positive impact on the world.
In 2021, Jerre asked me to serve as his chief of staff at Clarivate, a global provider of transformative intelligence, and then two years later as CEO at Stead Impact Ventures and Foundation. This is a great privilege and opportunity to build upon the Stead family legacy and commitment to making the world a healthier place. Working with Jerre, Mary Joy, the Stead Impact board, and leadership team, we have focused our investments in key areas—neurodegenerative disorders, mental health, and obesity—so we can accelerate solutions to urgent problems and have a bigger impact.
Q: What are your goals with Stead Impact Ventures and Foundation?
A: Having served a leadership role in higher education for 25 years, and consulting with universities around the country, I saw the opportunity to help faculty commercialize their discoveries and to “connect the dots” between philanthropic, academic, and commercial efforts. In turn, Jerre and I began thinking about bringing his investments and the Stead Foundation philanthropy under one umbrella.
In the short term, my goal is to help focus our investments and grants on a trajectory to meet some very ambitious investment and philanthropic goals. More broadly, I want to create an ecosystem of industry, academia, nonprofits, and government in our focus areas to effectively tackle these tremendous healthcare problems, inspiring other investors, leaders, and dreamers to do the same. We can be stronger together.
Q: What are some of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of this first year?
A: It is fulfilling to support the work of our partners. These are great leaders who are making meaningful advances in Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, improving patient outcomes in neurosurgery, finding preventive ways to empower each of us to improve our metabolic health and lifespan, and so much more. I also love mentoring and investing in the leaders of tomorrow and instilling the value of giving back to young entrepreneurs or the students in the many universities we support.
The most challenging aspect is keeping up with Jerre. I honestly don’t know if anyone can do it, but everyday I do my best to learn from his experiences, understand what drives his success, and see how he has learned from his failures (although he’s had very few of those).
Q: As you have stepped into the role of CEO, what personal experiences or lessons have prepared you for these challenges and opportunities?
A: In my tenure at the University of Iowa, I had the opportunity to learn from our board members, 30 of the top professionals in their fields—business, investment management, legal, human resources, and most important, leadership. Each one took me under their wing and helped me develop a broad skill set to not only run a business, but more importantly be a servant leader and understand that creating a great culture starts at the top. This also showed me that selecting the right board members with the right skill sets and leveraging them is critical for the success of any organization and its leadership.
I have also had the chance to serve in multiple c-suite roles and wear many hats, which is of course what our founders have done. I enjoy helping our startups build out their organizations and bring in top talent to accelerate their growth and be successful.
Q: What are you most looking forward to as you enter the second year of Stead Impact Ventures and Foundation?
A: As part of our values of “stronger together,” I am excited to host our first Stead Innovators Symposium this November in Scottsdale. It will be an opportunity for our Stead Impact community of portfolio companies to come together with alumni, nonprofits, our board and leadership to network, learn, and be inspired together.
