Linda Darragh

Linda Darragh oversees one of four strategic initiatives at Kellogg. In this capacity she has revised the curriculum, expanded the faculty and increased the engagement opportunities for students and alumni with respect to entrepreneurship since the fall of 2012. Darragh also teaches several courses focusing on launching student businesses, and serves as the executive director of the Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice and the Heizer Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital.

Darragh also co-founded and has invested in Impact Engine, an accelerator program that supports for-profit businesses making the world a better place. Prior to joining the Kellogg faculty, Darragh served as the director of Entrepreneurship Programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She started her academic career at Kellogg in 1999 when she started as an adjunct professor and later became Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship.

Before that she was Vice President of the Women’s Business Development Center, she piloted innovative lending programs that created collaborations with foundations, banks and all levels of government. Ms. Darragh also organized Springboard: Mid-West, a nationally recognized investor forum for women entrepreneurs, in 2001 and 2003. The forums raised more than $85 million for participants. Another outcome of Springboard was the establishment of the Ceres Venture Fund in which she is an investor.

Linda serves on the boards of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center/1871 and the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition. Darragh received a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University.