Mission and Support
About Us
Mission
ACTION’s mission is to accelerate the success of early-stage cleantech entrepreneurs that are supported by our membership of incubator organizations. Through the comprehensive ACTIONetwork of New England based incubators, we are dedicated to providing cleantech startups with a variety of support services that include the use of specialized technical facilities for R&D, subsidized office space and administrative support, research and patent collaboration, quality business mentoring and professional services, and potential funding opportunities to facilitate commercialization. The breadth and diversity of our incubator network offers entrepreneurs a diverse hub of knowledge, experience, and resources that is most often unavailable from a single incubator organization.
Participation and Support
Companies, associations, organizations and individuals interested in supporting the growth of the clean technology business sector in New England may participate in ACTION as members, partners or sponsors.
Membership in ACTION can be applied for by organizations or consortiums that function as incubators for cleantech enterprises in start-up or pre-commercial stage. Partners are industry associations, government agencies, media, and academic/research organizations that offer support, collaboration and services to ACTION and its members. Sponsorships are available to companies, organizations and individuals who will provide financial and professional services support to ACTION, ACTION members, and member portfolio companies.
Sponsorships and participation in ACTION provides your organization with exposure to the most influential leaders and emerging stars in New England’s burgeoning Clean Technology Sector. As a partner or sponsor of ACTION, you will have the opportunity to build solid business relationships with the management of promising new companies early in their business lifecycles, while helping to build a prosperous green economy and a healthy, sustainable environment.
The ACTIONetwork
The ACTIONetwork is a consortium of incubators throughout New England that share a common purpose - to strengthen the regional cleantech cluster, accelerate early stage company growth, and grow green jobs. While it is necessary for our incubator members to support the cleantech industry they may also support other technologies and business interests. Contact us so we can grow the ACTIONetwork together.
Initiatives
U-Launch – Grants For Entrepreneurs
In collaboration with Cleantech Open, U-Launch provides financial and technical assistance to help university clean energy technology entrepreneurs and emerging companies transition from the laboratory to the market. U-Launch awards grants in combinations of funded and in-kind services ranging from R&D assistance and incubation to mentorship. U-Launch is partially funded by a three-year award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Innovation Ecosystem Development Initiative and operated by Fraunhofer USA and three partner organizations including the New England Clean Energy Council, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and ACTION (for more information, please visit http://cse.fraunhofer.org/u-launch/).
Accelerating Success – Educational Content For Entrepreneurs
To strengthen ACTION’s mission of supporting entrepreneurs and emerging companies, ACTION has partnered with the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization (ITEC) at Boston University, to create and deliver an educational content program relevant to start-ups hosted in our ACTIONetwork incubators, and to select stakeholders as determined by the ACTIONetwork Member sites. By joining an incubator in the ACTIONetwork, emerging companies and entrepreneurs have access to an ongoing and evolving program of invaluable information on topics critical to cleantech company formation and growth including: creating an effective elevator pitch, intellectual property management, high-impact marketing and sales, common mistakes to avoid, financing options, and many others. This interactive program encourages participation and provides coaching from senior, experienced executives and subject matter experts.
iGreen New England Partnership – Accelerating Clean Energy Startup Activity
The iGreen NE Partnership, led by the New England Clean Energy Foundation (NECEF), is a multi-state network of university researchers, innovators, public sector leaders, corporations, venture capitalists, and other cleantech stakeholders who are collaborating to provide promising cleantech lab and pre-venture projects with funding, business assistance, technical resources, and testing infrastructure. The partnership will, over the two-year grant period, support 20-30 early-stage projects across New England, with the involvement of each state and inclusion of economically distressed areas. It will create or keep over 100 jobs and leverage more than $65 million in private cleantech investment. ACTION has partnered with NECEF as a key player to drive participation in the Innovation Connector, an online infrastructure and human network that will facilitate acceleration of cleantech innovations by connecting pre-venture project leaders, commercialization program managers, and other stakeholders through knowledge sharing and at real-time and virtual events across New England.
Our Team
Gillian Isabelle, Executive Director
Dr. Isabelle is an engineer and cleantech entrepreneur, and a 2011 Fellow with the New England Clean Energy Council. She has worked at the intersection of science and business, leading multi-disciplinary teams and building collaborative partnerships to advance early-stage technologies towards commercialization. Previously, she spent five years at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, as Founding Director of the Broad’s Business Development Office. She has also worked with PureTech Ventures, a venture creation firm in Boston, serving on the executive management team for three startup companies Prior to PureTech, Gillian spent 10 years with Corning, Inc. in roles from product development in telecommunications to business development in the life sciences. She received her S.B. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT, and M.S. from University of California, Berkeley, all in Materials Science and Engineering.
Joan Popolo, Programs Director
For over 5 years, Ms. Popolo held various roles with the Northeast Cleantech Open, an accelerator and competition for cleantech startups (formerly Ignite Clean Energy competition) most recently as Startup Recruitment Chair. Joan brings an understanding of the unique needs of early-stage companies and helps to identify and provide resources to support their growth across the region. Through her prior work at BioTechnica International, an early-stage biotechnology company and as a former small business owner of J. Popolo Design, a sustainable landscape design and consulting firm, she brings relationship-building and operational skills and entrepreneurial and creative problem solving experience to her work. She holds a B.S from Cornell University and a M.S. from Michigan State University, both in the plant sciences.
Michael Hanson, Program Manager
Mr. Hanson contributes his expertise to program development and management, and to cultivating partner relationships. Michael has over 12 years business development experience and is committed to helping organizations achieve growth goals and efficiently deliver solutions. He identifies catalysts that create opportunities for the growth of startups and organizations, connecting business leaders with expertise that help them advance their businesses. Michael previously held several sales and relationship management positions in the financial services industry, building relationships with investment advisors. He holds a B.A. from Bucknell University.
Board of Directors
| Executive Committee | Board Members |
|---|---|
|
Chairperson
Executive Director
President
Treasurer
Clerk |
Marla Michel
Jason Hanna
Jeff Marks
Paul Sereiko
Eric Graham
Jeff McAulay
Vincent DeVito
Bob O’Brien |
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