Charleson Bell, research assistant professor of biomedical engineering and director of biomedical innovation, biodesign and I-Corps at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, and George Wilson, assistant director of new venture programs at the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization, have been selected by Global Action Platform for the Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School.
The program convenes leaders from 15 U.S. cities who are working across sectors to help their communities prosper. Other participating cities include Boston, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Seattle.
“Global Action Platform is committed to advancing local innovation cluster economic growth for shared prosperity,” said Scott T. Massey, chairman and CEO of Global Action Platform in a release. “We are pleased to be the regional affiliate of [the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness] at Harvard and to be collaborating with them on the Young American Leaders Program and other projects. Through this collaboration, we hope to help enable emerging and established local leaders to work together for the shared growth and prosperity of our region in today’s global economy.”
Bell, Wilson and the eight other members of the 2022 Nashville class, who were inducted into the program at the Wond’ry last month, will form a task force to build a biomedical cluster strategy for the region and to address concerns regarding U.S. competitiveness on the global stage. Global Action Platform research shows that workforce skills, schools and infrastructure are not improving fast enough and are cause for an unsustainable divergence in the U.S. economy, particularly among working- and middle-class Americans.
“Prosperity is being generated but not shared as broadly as desired. The COVID pandemic has underscored these challenges and reinforced the need for collaboration and inclusive prosperity. The Young American Leaders Program is designed to prepare local leaders in Nashville and across the country to address and reverse these trends,” the release said.
Global Action Platform is the local partner and coordinator of the Young American Leaders Program for Nashville and the regional affiliate of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School. Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management is Global Action Platform’s academic partner in the relationship with Harvard Business School.
Previous Vanderbilt faculty and staff members who have participated in the program include:
- Mario Avila, director of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures at the Owen School (2016),
- Samar Ali, research professor of political science and law and co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy (2017),
- Caroline Randall Williams, writer-in-residence in medicine, health and society (2017),
- Dr. Alex Jahangir, medical director of the Vanderbilt Center for Trauma, Burn and Emergency Surgery (2018),
- Nathan Green, vice chancellor for government and community relations (2019), and
- Bonnie Dow, professor of communication studies and dean of academic affairs at the College of Arts and Science (2021).