Executive Education
Faculty
Abby Fifer Mandell
Abby Fifer Mandell is a Visiting Scholar with the UVA School of Medicine Division of General, Geriatric, Palliative, and Hospital Medicine for the Fall 2024 semester. She is a senior lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, where she specializes in user-centered research and innovation for older adults. As a professor, academic mentor, and producer of the USC Social Venture Coaching Competition, Abby has coached nearly 200 new ventures. She was the Executive Director of the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab at USC, where she worked from 2008-2022.
Abby co-produced the Aging is Now | Aging is the Future Entrepreneurship Symposium, an annual gathering of practitioners, researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders regarding business opportunities for the emerging market of older adults. In 2018, Abby won the Academy of Management Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award and in 2023 she received the USC Mentoring Award for Faculty Mentoring Undergraduate Students. Outside of the classroom, she performs ethnographic research for corporate and social impact clients and guides organizations on fundamentals of user-centered design and strategic planning. She is a Wexner Heritage Fellow and serves on the advisory boards of United Parents and Students and Seismic Capital.