PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Bia-Echo Foundation, the recently launched private foundation established by Nicole Shanahan, today announced that Dr. Christine Gulbranson will serve as Chief Executive Officer and Wendy Lim as Chief Operating Officer. Bia-Echo seeks to invest in changemakers at the forefront of innovation tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges within three core areas of focus: reproductive longevity & equality, healthy & livable ecosystems, and criminal justice reform.
Gulbranson brings a unique combination of experience as a scientist, entrepreneur and investor to Bia-Echo, having previously held the role of the first Chief Innovation Officer for the University of California System and as the founder and CEO of Christalis, a strategic advisory firm specializing in solving highly challenging and complex problems. In the investment realm, she was a partner at the venture capital firm GCP, and senior advisor to a family office in Europe. By the age of 25, Gulbranson held five degrees from UC Davis – a BS in Physics; BS, MS, PhD in Materials Science & Engineering; and an MBA.
Lim has enjoyed tremendous success scaling and growing internet businesses, including 10 years with Yelp, where she led the evolution and transformation of several key functions, including operations, finance and marketing. Prior to her time at Yelp, Lim held marketing roles at eBay, The Clorox Company and American Express, after beginning her career in management consulting at Bain & Company and The Bridgespan Group. Lim holds a BS from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Initial investments and projects led by Bia-Echo include, the launch of the world’s first Center for Female Reproductive Longevity and Equality at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and a partnership with the Stanford Computational Policy Lab to drive social impact on criminal justice reform via data analysis and technical innovation.
The addition of these two strong leaders to the Bia-Echo Foundation will allow Shanahan and the entire team to make an even more significant impact within the core investment areas by supporting the creation of new organizations and partnering with cutting-edge institutions and individuals pioneering the most promising ideas and solutions.
“I founded Bia-Echo Foundation to amplify fresh narratives and innovative approaches to problem-solving. Recognizing that all of humanity’s problems are inherently rooted in scarcity, I want Bia-Echo to have the flexibility to work broadly across resource supply chains. I believe philanthropy only works well when approached with ecosystem-oriented thinking. This means working together to ensure we are contributing in fundamental and sustainable ways,” Nicole Shanahan, President of Bia-Echo, said. “I am thrilled that Christine and Wendy will be leading Bia-Echo; Christine’s breadth of experience across the sciences, innovation and investing alongside Wendy’s strategic and thoughtful leadership will be significant assets to this work.”
“Nicole’s vision for pioneering and sustained progress across Bia-Echo’s core investment areas is truly inspiring,” said Gulbranson. “I’m looking forward to effecting global change by creating new paths in philanthropy and impact investing.”
“I am excited about Bia-Echo’s commitment to investing in changemakers who are addressing societal problems at scale,” Lim said. “As we break ground on this important work, I am thrilled to be working with Christine and Nicole as we accelerate social change to enable future generations to thrive.”
Prior to the launch of Bia-Echo, Shanahan, a California-based attorney and the founder of ClearAccessIP, has contributed to her family’s philanthropic investment efforts alongside her husband, Sergey Brin, through the Sergey Brin Family Foundation.
About Bia-Echo Foundation:
Bia-Echo Foundation is a private foundation, founded by Nicole Shanahan, that aims to accelerate social change in order to establish a fair and equitable society for future generations to thrive. We invest in changemakers at the forefront of innovation who are tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges within our core areas of equality-based investment: Reproductive Longevity & Equality, Criminal Justice Reform and Healthy and Livable Ecosystems. https://www.biaecho.org/
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SOURCE Bia-Echo Foundation