Lesa Mitchell is a vice president with the Kauffman Foundation.

She has been responsible for the Foundation’s frontier work in understanding the policy levers that influence the advancement of innovation from universities into the commercial market and the new relationships between philanthropy and for profit companies. Under Mitchell’s leadership, the Foundation is defining and codifying alternative commercialization pathways, and identifying new models to foster innovation. Mitchell was instrumental in the founding of the Kauffman Innovation Network/iBridge Network, the Translational Medicine Alliance, the National Academies-based University–Industry Partnership and leader in the replication of innovator-based mentor programs across the US. In addition, Mitchell serves on the boards of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation and the University of Kansas Institute for Commercialization.  

Prior to joining Kauffman, Mitchell spent twenty years of her career in global executive roles at Aventis, Quintiles, and Marion Laboratories and ran an electronic clinical trials consulting business in support of global pharmaceutical clients. 

The Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (www.Kauffman.org) works with partners to encourage entrepreneurship around the world. The Kauffman Foundation is working to further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance entrepreneurship education and training efforts, to promote entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better facilitate the commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and others that have great promise for improving the economic welfare of the world.

The Foundation works with leading educators and researchers nationwide to create awareness of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, to develop and disseminate proven programs that enhance entrepreneurial skills and abilities, and to improve the environment in which entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.