Meet the Science Behind the Movement

Michael A. Freeman, M.D. is a psychiatrist, a fourth-generation serial entrepreneur, an executive coach, an entrepreneurship researcher and a behavioral health systems architect — the founder of Econa, the global center of excellence for entrepreneur resilience, wellbeing and mental health, and a former Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF.

Dr. Freeman, the Econa team, Econa's academic colleagues, and researchers around the world have spent decades building the evidence base for entrepreneur mental health. His landmark studies — co-authored with researchers at UC Berkeley and Stanford — helped change how the world understands the relationship between entrepreneurial drive and mental health differences. The science is collegial and collaborative by design.

His research has been covered by The New York Times, Fortune, Bloomberg, CNN Money, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Inc., Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fast Company, TechCrunch, and dozens more — across a body of press coverage spanning more than a decade.

Dr. Freeman's research has previously been funded by the Kauffman Foundation and conducted in collaboration with the Gallup Organization, and is conducted in collaboration with UC Berkeley. He has collaborated with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and has been instrumental in building the FounderScreen Initiative — a UC Berkeley–Econa collaboration aiming to screen 5,000+ entrepreneurs for free.

Prior to founding Econa, Dr. Freeman was Founding CMO of United Behavioral Health, a UHC subsidiary, and Past President of the Institute for Behavioral Healthcare. He provides psychiatric care and executive coaching to entrepreneurs, with 12 years of previous CEO experience.

He serves as Chief Science Advisor and Board Member at Connected Mind. He is based in Mill Valley, California.

Adrienne Heinz, PhD is Econa's Wellbeing Solutions Specialist, bringing deep expertise at the intersection of clinical psychology, mobile health, and behavioral intervention design.

Dr. Heinz is a Research Psychologist at the VA National Center for PTSD and Stanford University School of Medicine, where her work focuses on the development and evaluation of digital and mobile interventions for high-stress populations. She has authored or co-authored 60+ scientific papers spanning trauma, stress resilience, technology-assisted mental health, and clinical innovation.

Her work with Econa focuses on bringing evidence-based digital therapeutics principles to entrepreneur wellbeing and mental health — ensuring that Econa's tools and programs meet clinical standards while remaining accessible and practical for entrepreneurs.

Beth K. Jaworski, PhD serves as Econa's Wellbeing Solutions Lead, overseeing the design and deployment of digital health tools and program content across Econa's product ecosystem.

Dr. Jaworski is a researcher at the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, formerly of the VA National Center for PTSD, with an extraordinary track record in mobile mental health: she has contributed to 20+ mobile applications with a combined download count exceeding 5 million, and has published 25+ peer-reviewed scientific papers. Her expertise spans digital therapeutics, behavioral activation, and clinical-grade app design for diverse and high-need populations.

At Econa, Dr. Jaworski leads the development of app-based and digital-first wellbeing tools — ensuring they are both scientifically grounded and built for the realities of entrepreneur life.

Rylee Neville, BA is Econa's Project Manager, responsible for cross-functional coordination across research programs, digital platform development, stakeholder communications, and initiative delivery.

Rylee is completing her Psychology degree (with honors) at UC Berkeley, where she developed a strong foundation in research methodology, behavioral science, and academic project management. She has worked as a Research Coordinator on key Econa studies, supporting data collection, participant management, and protocol compliance.

In her role, Rylee is the connective tissue between Econa's research, clinical, and program teams — ensuring that complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives move forward with precision and care.

Sheri L. Johnson, PhD is Econa's Co-Investigator and the academic anchor of the UC Berkeley–Econa collaboration at the heart of the FounderScreen Initiative.

Dr. Johnson is a Distinguished Professor and Chancellor's Professor at UC Berkeley, where she leads research at the intersection of emotion regulation, bipolar spectrum, and behavioral science. She has published 275+ scientific papers with more than 22,000 citations — a body of work that has fundamentally shaped understanding of goal pursuit, emotional variability, and high-performance psychology.

Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NARSAD, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Dr. Johnson's collaboration with Dr. Freeman on the Entrepreneur Wellbeing Check (EWC) represents the first time her foundational research on goal dysregulation and emotional variability has been applied directly to the entrepreneurial population — producing the first peer-reviewed, validated mental health screening instrument built specifically for entrepreneurs.

Cristina Poindexter, BA is an Econa Advisor, supporting partnership development and philanthropic strategy — with a particular focus on scaling the FounderScreen Initiative.

Cristina brings a rare combination of entrepreneurial, corporate, and mission-driven experience. She has founded four companies, two of which were venture-backed, and has previously worked at Google and Headspace — giving her both an entrepreneur's intuition and an operator's discipline. She holds a degree in Sociology from Yale University.

At Econa, Cristina advises on the institutional partnerships that fund the FounderScreen Initiative — relationships with VC/PE firms, accelerators, business schools, economic development authorities, and Donor Advised Funds — and serves as one of Econa's featured speakers.

For partnership inquiries, use the Partner With Us form.

Johan Wiklund, PhD is one of the world's leading scholars on entrepreneurship, neurodiversity, and organizational behavior — and a cornerstone of Econa's academic advisory council.

Dr. Wiklund holds the Al Berg Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. He has published 100+ peer-reviewed papers with more than 30,000 citations, making him one of the most-cited entrepreneurship researchers alive.

He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, the leading academic journal in his field. His research on ADHD and entrepreneurial performance has been foundational to the scientific case that neurodiversity is not a liability in entrepreneurship — it is often a driver of innovation.

Dr. Wiklund's advisory role at Econa helps ensure that Econa's research agenda, publications, and frameworks are positioned at the forefront of academic entrepreneurship science.

Dustin D. McMahon, Ed.M. is a serial entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for entrepreneur mental health — bringing a practitioner's perspective to Econa's advisory council.

Dustin is a Techstars mentor and a serial entrepreneur who holds graduate degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard. He was featured in Peacock's documentary series about founders, and is the creator of the Centering Well-Being series — writing and conversations pairing rigorous research with real life insights on founder wellbeing.

His advisory work with Econa focuses on program relevance and community reach — ensuring that Econa's tools and workshops reflect the lived realities of entrepreneurs across backgrounds, geographies, and venture stages.

Brad Feld, MS is one of the most recognized names in venture capital — and one of the entrepreneurial ecosystem's most outspoken advocates for entrepreneur mental health.

Brad is the co-founder of Techstars and Foundry Venture Capital (formerly Foundry Group), and holds a degree from MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been an investor, author, and builder in the startup ecosystem for more than three decades.

Brad has been public and personal about his own struggles with depression, and has used his platform to destigmatize mental health conversations in the venture and entrepreneur community — making him a natural and powerful ally for Econa's mission.

His connection to Techstars is also why Techstars is an ecosystem sponsor of the FounderScreen Initiative. Brad's advocacy helps Econa open doors at the highest levels of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Stacey Tisdale advises Econa on issues related to growth mindset, resilience, wellbeing, and mental health among entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities. She is the Founder and CEO of Mind Money Media, Inc., a multi-media content provider. Stacey previously served as a financial contributor/reporter/anchor for Dow Jones' Wall Street Journal Television, CNN, CBS MarketWatch, PBS News Hour, Black Enterprise, The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC's Today Show, and Good Morning America.

As a financial literacy educator, Stacey created an award-winning personal finance curriculum for college students on behalf of the White House, and wrote The True Cost of Happiness: The Real Story Behind Managing Your Money (John Wiley & Sons). She creates financial education programs for entrepreneurs, sports teams and corporations. These include our complex relationship with money, and how socioeconomics, gender, race, age, orientation, and culture, play out in our financial experiences and careers.

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