33 Northeastern Entrepreneurs Supported by 2024 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards

Northeastern University’s 2024 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards will recognize 33 entrepreneurs for their innovative, boundary-pushing work.

The recipients — students and alumni from the Northeastern community — were selected by a panel of judges and will receive a total of $500,000 in funding. 

The Innovator Awards, now in their fourth year, have provided more than $1.32 million in funding to over 100 changemakers.

The awards are unique in that the money goes to the individual entrepreneur, not their venture, with the intent of investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs and offering them the network of support they need to be successful.

More than 100 applications were received this year as the program was expanded to include the Roux Institute Founder Residency program and the Lab of Inclusive Entrepreneurship.

“Our students and alumni never cease to impress, inspire and energize me,” says Diane Nishigaya MacGillivray, Northeastern’s senior vice president for university advancement and founder of Women Who Empower. “This group — our current and past innovator recipients — truly represent the best of Northeastern. We are honored to invest in them and work together to create a community driven by impact. Their success has a halo effect — enriching all that we do. I could not be prouder to claim them all as Women Who Empower Innovators.” 

For nearly 10 years, Women Who Empower has been building a global, inclusive and dynamic community through events, scholarships, mentorship programs and entrepreneurial initiatives. 

The women in the 2024 Innovator Awards cohort represent Northeastern’s global reach, hailing from the U.S. and U.K. to Nigeria, Hong Kong, Nicaragua and Vietnam. They also span the entire spectrum of Northeastern’s academic offerings, representing every college at the university. 

Organizers are already looking ahead to the fifth cohort of Women Who Empower Innovators next year and Women Who Empower’s 10th anniversary with global celebrations and plans for even greater impact ahead.

“This program supports founders with more than critical financial capital — it also provides networks and community,” says Betsy Ludwig, executive director of Women’s Entrepreneurship at Northeastern. “The power of these connections can sometimes be overlooked, but it’s what makes all the difference.”

The panel of judges included several parents of current and former students. Some, like Jill Bornstein, have been with the program since the Women Who Empower Awards began.

“This is my fourth year being a judge. It’s so inspiring to see the work of our applicants … to see how this program has grown,” she says.

Parent Julietta Dexter says it’s an honor to be part of the Women Who Empower community.

“I want to thank Northeastern for making this a possibility,” she says.

Sharon Wong, another parent, says “90% of entrepreneurship is about courage.”

“The courage to hang on to an idea, the courage to listen to your instincts and … the courage to believe in the value of yourself,” she says. “There is so much courage here that I’m blown away.”

And parent Asha Chandra congratulated all 33 award-winning entrepreneurs.

“The ideas all of you have … the inspiration, the perseverance, the passion, the grit, and the resilience it showed in everything that you’re doing,” she says.

For a full list of the award winners or to learn more, visit Women Who Empower.