Newswise — Babson College’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab®Miami - a venture accelerator specifically for women entrepreneurs - welcomes a new director, Michelle Abbs. The accelerator is looking forward to an exciting spring of programming and the second annual finale event.

“We are thrilled to have Michelle Abbs leading WIN Lab Miami,” says Heatherjean MacNeil, Co-Founder & Global Director for WIN Lab. “Her experience and leadership will be pivotal in our continued growth and work to accelerate women founders in the growing start up ecosystem of Miami.”

“I am thrilled at the honor to lead such an incredible program like WIN Lab,” says Abbs. “The potential of each of our female founders is unbounding, and I look forward to seeing each of them scale their businesses over their eight month experience together.”

About Michelle Abbs

Michelle Abbs joins us as WIN Lab Miami Director. She brings over ten years of leadership in the education sector, with a focus in program management and business development. She was previously part of the management team at Teach for America Miami-Dade, where she set regional strategy, led execution, and coached over 400 teachers in Miami Dade County Public Schools. Most recently, as Regional Director of Up2Us Sports, Michelle drove fundraising and recruitment to double the number of female youth sports coaches in the Miami network. In addition, as a Class IX Miami Foundation Miami Fellow, Michelle has become engrained in Miami’s local leadership ecosystem, ushering in the first alumni program for the Miami Fellows. Michelle received her Master’s in International Education from Florida International University, and her BA from University of North Carolina. Within these roles Michelle has been responsible for innovating and creating new program models, and the WIN Lab team is excited to work with her to drive the success of WIN Miami.

Spring WIN Lab Miami Finale Event

Thursday, April 26, 2018 WIN Lab Finale 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Join us in a celebration of women's entrepreneurship as we congratulate WIN Lab Miami's second cohort for their completion of the program. The evening will kick off with opening remarks followed by a pitch competition, where preselected WIN Lab companies will take the stage to compete for prizes. A panel of esteemed judges will evaluate each finalist on their growth traction and achievements during their WIN experience. Throughout the evening, guests will have an opportunity to network, explore other startup ventures and celebrate with WINners and stakeholders who made WIN's second year in Miami a success!

About the Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab® at Babson

Created by the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) at Babson College, Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab® provides women entrepreneurs with an inspiring community and a rigorous, experiential process that catalyzes innovative thinking and enables them to successfully launch or transform businesses. Now in its fifth year, WIN Lab has been designated as one of the top two specialty programs for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship; earned BostInno’s designation as one of Boston’s “50 on Fire” innovators and visionaries; and was honored by the prestigious Rosoff Awards for diversity.

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-rankedcollege for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.