Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen Laura Vang Rasmussen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She holds a PhD in geography from 2013. She is interested in understanding and seeking solutions to the global challenge of feeding the world while conserving nature at the same time. She has pursued this research field in a number of different contexts and countries, particularly in Africa. She is currently leading an ERC starting grant focused on how wild foods can contribute to people’s dietary quality.
Faculty Director, Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Michigan State University Laurel Ofstein is Faculty Director of the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Associate Professor-Fixed Term in the Department of Management. Prior to coming to Michigan State University, Dr. Ofstein was Associate Professor of Management at Western Michigan University, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Operations Director of the student business accelerator. Her research examines creativity, innovation and strategy within ecosystems, specifically entrepreneurial teams, organizations, and incubators. Most recently, her research focuses on social entrepreneurship, both within an incubator setting, as well as within the community through cross-sector social partnerships. She recently concluded an academic sabbatical during which she researched community-based incubators focused on poverty alleviation and economic development and the financial and social challenges associated with these efforts. Dr. Ofstein recently co-authored a white paper on growth strategies of successful women entrepreneurs in partnership with Babson College and Bank of America. Her research has been published in several academic journals, including the International Small Business Journal, the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, and the International Journal of Management Education. Dr. Ofstein has taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels on entrepreneurship, family business, and strategy at Western Michigan University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DePaul University. She has presented her research locally, nationally and internationally at academic and practitioner-focused conferences. Before entering academia, Dr. Ofstein was a consultant in the financial services industry at Accenture, helping several Fortune 500 companies to streamline their financial processes and operations. She was also a Consulting Manager for a risk management company. Following her MBA degree at DePaul University, Dr. Ofstein served as the Assistant Director to the university’s Center for Creativity and Innovation and taught as adjunct faculty before pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Ofstein is a reviewer for several peer-reviewed entrepreneurship journals and has conducted editorial reviews of academic textbooks. She has not only published in academic journals, but also co-authored the book, Women in Business: The Changing Face of Leadership, as well as a related book chapter in the book, Gender, Race and Ethnicity in the Workplace.
Research associate in sociology, Mississippi State University Lauren Etheredge is a Research Associate at Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center. She received her B.A. in Sociology and her B.S. in Psychology from Mississippi State University in December of 2023. Her primary research interests include social determinants of physical and mental health, LGBTQ+ health and life outcomes, racial disparities in health and life outcomes, ADHD and Autism assessment and diagnosis, and impacts of AI and social media use. Her undergraduate honors thesis examined barriers to mental healthcare among college students through an intersectional lens. She is currently a sociology master's student, and she expects to pursue her PhD in sociology as well.
Visiting Professor of Strategy, INSEAD Lite Nartey is a visiting professor of strategy at Insead (Fontainebleau campus), in France. Leveraging her professional background in international development, her academic research seeks to demonstrate the business case for stakeholder engagement and the business case for international development. Her research focus on stakeholder engagement and management examines the contingencies and dynamics at the nexus of the relationships among multinational firms, governments, and civil society actors, as well as the implications of these dynamics on both firm performance and societal value. Her research focus on development explores the role of multinational firms in the development of emerging markets, specifically Africa, and her work in this area seeks to draw strategic and policy implications. Her work has been published in the Strategic Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly and Strategy Science and has received numerous international academic awards and honours including the Ralph Gomory Best Industry Studies Paper Award, Best Conference Paper and Best Conference Paper Prize for Practice Implications at the Strategic Management Society. She has worked in different capacities with multinational extractive companies in oil, gas and (gold) mining, in different parts of Africa, as well as with non-governmental organisations and with multilateral organisations, including the International Finance Corporation. More recently, she has worked with different organisations on banking and mobile money adoption in west Africa. She received her PhD in management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She also holds an MPA in public and nonprofit management and policy, with a focus on international development, from the Robert Wagner School of Public Service, New York University, as well as an MSc in management from The Wharton School. She was formerly on the faculty of the Sonoco International Business Department, Darla Moore School of Business, at the University of South Carolina. She is originally from Ghana.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies, Kenyon College Lauren Herold joined Kenyon in 2022 as a visiting assistant professor of women's and gender studies. Her research explores feminist and LGBTQ cultural production, local and community media, television history, and media activism. Before joining Kenyon, she served as a visiting assistant professor in the Critical Identity Studies Department at Beloit College. Her teaching interests include gender and sexuality studies, LGBTQ media, transgender studies, and feminist and queer theory.
