Kara M., columnist, Boston Globe; founder, Laurel Way Productions at Laurel Way Productions

Kara M.

columnist, Boston Globe; founder, Laurel Way Productions at Laurel Way Productions

Media Production

Education: B.A., Yale - Ph.D., Tufts

Boston, MA, USA

Biography

Kara writes “The Big Idea” column for The Boston Globe, which examines game-changing ideas in everything from traffic to dating to housing. She frequently speaks about innovation, and has moderated events hosted by The International Women's Forum, PBS Digital Media for STEM, Harvard Medical School, and The Museum of Science Boston. In 2015 and 2016, she ran and hosted a live series for Google and MIT, interviewing experts about thorny problems.

Kara has worked across radio, TV, and print for the past 15 years. From 2011 to 2021, she hosted and served as the executive editor of the public radio program Innovation Hub, which she launched. The program aired on more than 100 stations, including New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington, D.C. It spotlighted compelling thinkers - from Sal Khan to Sherry Turkle to Yo-Yo Ma - and received the 2021 Clarion Award for Radio Talk or Interview Program.

She has served on the Advisory Committee of the Lemelson Foundation since 2016 and previously taught at Babson College and at the University of Massachusetts.

Passion

Innovation, How to think innovatively, How work is changing, Enhancing productivity

I am willing to travel

Up to 50 miles

When it comes to payments

I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions

Topics

innovation innovation culture barriers and enablers of innovation and change politics wisdom at work productivity career change success in life emcee

Best Story

I spent a decade interviewing the world's great innovators, and my focus is on how to make you more innovative.

I mold my stories to the audience, but I talk about everything from the unorthodox creators of modern surgery to the no-confidence vote that Jerry Seinfeld got when he tried to launch a TV show. People learn though - and love - stories. So that's where I focus my talks.

Do innovators have to create a thing? No. Is reinventing a process truly innovative? Yes. Can a manager promote creativity, even if a topic is outside their area of specialization? Yes. Can you trade burnt-out days for idea-generating days? Yes.