EPISODE DESCRIPTION

There are millions of unpaid caregivers in the US, and still, our health and elder care systems are fragmented. In this episode we meet the founders of Rezilient Health and Memory Well, who are solving real problems they faced as caregivers. We hear about the need for innovation as a solution to many caregiving problems from Jason Towns, Managing Director of Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, and Susan Golden, Director of dciX and mentor to Memory Well in the Techstars Accelerator.

Thanks to Danish Nagda, founder & CEO of Rezilient Health, Jay Newton-Small, founder and CEO of Memory Well, Susan Golden and Jason Towns. Special thanks to Sarah Hippert, Naborforce, and ConnectCareHero.

You can see pitches from all 10 companies involved in the 2020 accelerator program here: https://demoday.techstars.com/longevity-2020-t5

EXPERTS: SUSAN GOLDEN, JASON TOWNS AND SARAH HIPPERT

SUSAN GOLDEN Susan Golden’s career has spanned both the private and public sectors in venture capital and public health.  She is currently the Director of dciX at the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute and an Adjunct Professor, where she leads initiatives to develop innovations to support healthy longevity.  Dr. Golden also serves as a thought leader and is a lead mentor for the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, which partners with Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates.  She has been named as a visionary for the Care 100 list.

In collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity and Graduate School of Business, she has co-developed a new course on the business implications and opportunities associated with longevity. She is the author of a forthcoming book on business innovation strategies and longevity which will be published by Harvard Business Press next year, and advises companies on developing their longevity strategies.

Previously, Golden was a partner at Schroder Ventures specializing in life sciences and health care investments, and was a partner in the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund.  She has been an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Boston University Medical School, and served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.  Dr. Golden received her doctorate of science in Public Health from Harvard University, did her post-doctoral fellowship at UCSF in Health Policy, attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development, was a 2016 Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow, and a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Previously, Golden was a partner at Schroder Ventures specializing in life sciences and health care investments, and was a partner in the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund.  She has been an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Boston University Medical School, and served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.  Dr. Golden received her doctorate of science in Public Health from Harvard University, did her post-doctoral fellowship at UCSF in Health Policy, attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development, was a 2016 Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow, and a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity.

JASON TOWNS Over the course of a 20+ year career in the tech space, Jason Towns has advised and invested in dozens of courageous entrepreneurs, solving problems around the globe. Today, he serves as Managing Director of the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, a partnership with Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates. Jason is passionate about driving capital and resources into underserved innovation ecosystems. Prior to his current role, Jason served as Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at Code2040 in San Francisco where he launched the Google for Entrepreneurs (now Google for Startups) Residency. He’s also led work with the Uncharted Social Impact Accelerator to support early stage agtech innovation in Durban, South Africa.

Jason has served as a Senior Advisor at the Millennial Policy Initiative’s Commission on the Future of Work. He’s also received numerous professional distinctions such as The Root’s list of the 100 Most Influential African Americans, The DDN Change Agent Award and The Registry’s 40 Under 40 in Silicon Valley.

SARAH HIPPERT Sarah currently serves as the Program Manager for the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator. In her role, she leads all operations and logistics for the accelerator, including securing speakers and programming development, managing relationships with 150+ mentors, investors, business development partners, and now alumni, recruiting and managing program staff, organizing our culminating investor event (Demo Day), and tracking success metrics on program quality.

Prior to Techstars, Sarah spent 6 years operating her own business as a multi-faceted fitness instructor, teaching yoga, aerial yoga (yoga in a hammock!), acro yoga (yoga with a partner!), Pilates, and strength training. She has worked with dozens of dedicated personal training clients on corrective exercise in an effort to prevent surgical intervention, post operative rehabilitation, and injury prevention. Sarah is known for her deep understanding of therapeutic movement and has been teaching for over 10 years. She is also known for her track record of teaching 38 fitness classes per week for 2 consecutive years. She is passionate about the therapeutic applications of aerial yoga for many conditions, including back pain and vertigo.

Sarah’s first career was working for the federal government, first as the Foreign Liaison for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice, later in the Policy shop in the East Wing with the former First Lady Michelle Obama on her childhood obesity campaign, and after receiving the Presidential Management Fellowship did a stint at the Department of Defense on a Task Force under the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy) working on using private-sector strategies to create a sustainable Afghan economy.

Sarah holds an M.S. in Nutrition from Tufts University and spent a year teaching nutrition and exercise science to undergraduates at MIT. She currently provides nutritional consultations and often presents on nutrition topics to corporations. In addition, she holds a Master’s Degree in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School and an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Music from Bowdoin College.