Women Who Empower: Queen City Entrepreneurs

Prepare to be inspired: Women Who Empower returns for its second year in Charlotte, building on a decade-long tradition that began on Northeastern University’s Boston campus and now continues across all global campuses. This year, we are turning the spotlight on women entrepreneurs in the life sciences, trailblazers who have transformed ideas into groundbreaking products while overcoming barriers.

Charlotte has long been recognized as a hub for business and innovation, and today, women are driving its evolution in new and powerful ways. From pioneering startups to established companies, these leaders are shaping the future of health, life sciences, and research. Join us for an engaging conversation featuring some of the region’s most dynamic women entrepreneurs, as they share their journeys of innovation, resilience, and success.

We are thrilled to welcome Sally Ann Frank, Worldwide Lead – Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft for Startups, as our event moderator. With deep experience in technology and innovation, Sally Ann Frank will guide this inspiring discussion on the past, present, and future of women-led entrepreneurship in health tech and life sciences.

More on our moderator and panelists:

leads the worldwide HLS strategy, programs and portfolio for Microsoft for Startups, an organization dedicated to accelerating the development of innovative, market-making companies. Through business strategy planning, go-to-market development, and technical excellence, she enables startups to achieve their short-term revenue goals and long-term visions. Previously, she was part of Microsoft’s IoT Solutions team, helping healthcare and life sciences companies use IoT to improve patient outcomes and efficiency.

With more than 25 years in the technology industry, she is focused on business outcomes, helping providers, payers, medical device, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies use IoT, Machine Learning, AI and a variety of other Microsoft technologies to meet the changing demands of the healthcare industry. She earned an MBA from The George Washington University (Washington, DC), an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a BS in Marketing and Computer Science from Virginia Tech. Sally is the author of The Startup Protocol: A Guide for Digital Health Startups to Bypass Pitfalls and Adopt Strategies that Work, from Routledge Press and is currently working on her next book, The Unicorn Protocol, due out late 2025/early 2026.

, Margik Founder & CEO, is a highly accomplished entrepreneur, scientist, and choreographer with a diverse professional background. As the founder of Margik, she leads groundbreaking innovations in organic light technology, specifically focusing on non-invasive cell and tissue revitalization solutions for medical applications. Recognized as one of Charlotte Inno's Under 25 and a TEDx speaker, Margaret has successfully raised funding from entities such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Air Force WERX.
With a Ph.D. in Nanoscale Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Margaret has a strong theoretical and applied science foundation and she has filed multiple patents and secured copyrights for her innovations. Her journey spans from Ukraine to the United States and showcases resilience, academic excellence, and entrepreneurial success. As a mentor and advisor to med tech and advanced materials startups, Margaret continues to inspire others, guiding them through commercialization challenges and fostering innovation.

is the founder of Pump For Joy, a company building the first single use yet sustainable breastmilk collection kits for lactating moms on the go. With over a decade of experience launching products, Erin is currently leading research and development for the product, which she aims to manufacture in 100% biodegradable material.

, Kepler Team Founder & CEO, is a visionary entrepreneur and the driving force behind Kepler Team, a technology firm specializing in digital health innovation and seamless EHR integrations. With a passion for empowering healthcare startups, she has helped numerous innovators build, optimize, and scale their solutions. Under her leadership, Kepler Team has collaborated with industry pioneers, winning recognition for its impact on healthcare technology.

A dedicated advocate for women in tech and entrepreneurship, Olga actively mentors and supports fellow founders, emphasizing the importance of strategic partnerships, resilience, and innovation in navigating the complex healthcare landscape. She is committed to fostering a community where women entrepreneurs thrive and make lasting contributions to the industry.

is the Founder and Executive Director of FOODiversity, a national nonprofit that increases food and health education access for people who are experiencing food insecurity while managing food allergies, celiac disease, alpha gal syndrome or other diet-treated diseases. Nearly 30 years ago, Pake began collaborating with fellow national food allergy advocates to increase awareness about the needs of her child, and others, impacted by allergic disease. Pake’s firsthand challenges in obtaining necessary food allergy resources for her child, coupled with her knowledge of available resources in the current advocacy and support landscapes, motivated her in 2020 to establish FOODiversity. Pake’s focus is on the intersection of diet-treated diseases, underserved communities, and healthcare. FOODiversity connects the most at-risk populations with resources needed to increase positive health outcomes and improve quality of life.

Pake’s research has been published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, and FOODiversity’s work featured by Allergic Living Magazine, Allergy & Asthma Network, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), Ajinomoto Cambrooke (essentiallybetter.com), Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), Healio (Healio.com) and others. She has a B.S. in Business Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Human Resource Development from Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

is a board-certified pediatrician and the CEO and founder of Black Med Connect. As the founder of the Black Med Connect (B-MED) initiative and the host of the Black Med Connect podcast, she is dedicated to building an inclusive online platform for Black physicians and medical trainees. Through sharing their stories, she aims to inspire the next generation of Black physicians while working to increase representation in the healthcare workforce and address health disparities. Dr. Weiss is also highly sought-after as a speaker, author, and entrepreneur. Her passion for children also led her to write the Amazon Best Selling children's book entitled "What Will Kami E. Bee?"

Her academic journey began at FAMU as a pre-medical student, where she graduated summa cum laude before attending Duke University School of Medicine for medical school. Following her passion for helping children, she pursued her pediatric residency training at Emory School of Medicine, where she served as chief resident in the pediatric residency program. She furthered her education at Yale School of Medicine in the National Clinician Scholar Program, obtaining her Master’s in Health Sciences to delve into workforce diversity research. Specifically, she explores the contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities to the physician workforce. She continues to provide care to pediatric patients and their families in North Carolina while pursuing a career as a physician-researcher, holding the position of Assistant Professor at UNC School of Medicine.

If you are passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship, join us for this important conversation and be part of celebrating the women who are shaping the future of life sciences!

Host or Publisher Northeastern University in Charlotte