Join Megan and Grace from The Sphere Northampton for an interactive January Link & Learn session, where we’ll share early insights from Breaking Barriers: A Study of Western Mass Entrepreneurs, a Liberty-Bank–funded regional research effort in process with partners Common Capital and LivingLocal413. In this interactive 45-minute session, we’ll walk participants through the top external and personal barriers emerging from more than two months of surveys and focus groups across the 413—including what’s holding entrepreneurs back, what supports they can actually access, and where the ecosystem is falling short. We’ll also invite attendees to weigh in with their lived experience, reflect on what resonates (or doesn’t), and help shape the recommendations that will guide resource allocation, referral pathways, and program design throughout Western Massachusetts. This is your chance to influence data-driven solutions—and ensure that the voices of local founders are heard.
Grace Kim, PhD is a technologist and the owner of Mapping Insight, a technical consulting firm. Through her business, she builds data analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence solutions for local organizations. The Sphere has been an essential resource for her entrepreneurship journey and she is thrilled to give back to this amazing community as an Advisory Board Member of The Sphere Northampton.
Dr. Kim earned her PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences and then worked as a climate scientist and satellite oceanographer at NASA. Then, she found her dream career in technical consulting when she transitioned to a Data Scientist & AI Architect role at a government consulting firm. Now that she has her own business, she has been helping local provider-owned medical practices stay alive (and thrive!) in our community despite systemic headwinds. Through it all, Grace is living out her mission of building technical solutions that make the world a better place.
Dr. Megan Allen is the co-founder and Chief of Momentum for The Sphere Northampton, making sure all the pieces fall in place, deadlines are met, and the team has what they need to succeed. She keeps things moving forward strategically, thoughtfully, and awesomely.
Megan is also the founder and owner/operator of the Community Classroom, a tutoring center in Florence with a team of 30+ certified teachers. An education nerd, she is a National Board Certified Teacher who has worked in several roles in education, including an elementary and special education teacher in Tampa, the Educator in Residence at University of Central Florida, and as the Director of the Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership at Mount Holyoke College. Megan most recently worked as the Director of Partnerships for the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, the professional home for all state teachers of the year (another nerdy fact: she was the Florida 2010 State Teacher of the Year).
Megan is a mom to a spunky four-year-old (Cora), the stepmom to 4 Flynn stepkids, a struggling runner, a striving yogi, a gardener who likes dirt under her nails, a lover of “dad” jokes, 90s rap music, Motown, thunderstorms, bad puns, and The Far Side. She believes firmly in women-supporting women and the power of community, which is why she is so passionate about The Sphere.
Event Description:
Join Megan and Grace from The Sphere Northampton for an interactive January Link & Learn session, where we’ll share early insights from Breaking Barriers: A Study of Western Mass Entrepreneurs, a Liberty-Bank–funded regional research effort in process with partners Common Capital and LivingLocal413. In this interactive 45-minute session, we’ll walk participants through the top external and personal barriers emerging from more than two months of surveys and focus groups across the 413—including what’s holding entrepreneurs back, what supports they can actually access, and where the ecosystem is falling short. We’ll also invite attendees to weigh in with their lived experience, reflect on what resonates (or doesn’t), and help shape the recommendations that will guide resource allocation, referral pathways, and program design throughout Western Massachusetts. This is your chance to influence data-driven solutions—and ensure that the voices of local founders are heard.
