Arist Teams Up with Babson Health and Wellness to Deliver Free Text-Message Course

Arist has teamed up with Babson Health and Wellness to deliver a free text-message course
Listen

Better together. That’s what these Babson students, staff, and faculty are saying after launching a new, free, and very timely, e-learning opportunity, collaboratively.

An unexpected partnership brought student-led startup, Arist, and Babson Health and Wellness together to create a text-message course in the startup’s expanding lineup, co-designed by Director of Wellness & Prevention Services Ashleigh Hala and Arist co-founders Ryan Laverty ’20 and Michael Ioffe ’21.

This collaboration provided the Babson team with platform expertise they needed, while also offering Laverty and Ioffe the opportunity to give back to the institution where they established their startup.

“Both Ryan and Michael are brilliant students,” Hala said. “I’m inspired by their interest and commitment to social entrepreneurship, and I’m so glad they saw in this project what I saw.”

Developing a Partnership

While planning the course, Social Connection While Social Distancing, Hala knew student input would strengthen its subject matter.

Cognizant of his platform, she reached out to Laverty, her former first-year seminar student, who responded enthusiastically.

“As our startup has grown, we’ve collaborated with staff, professors, educators,” Laverty said. “For us, we have this way of delivering content effectively. Who are the people we can go to that are experts, and the people with access to audiences?”

The answer this time around was College leadership.

“They treat you like a professional,” Laverty said, recalling the experience. “They’ve got such deep expertise about what works.”

Content in the 20-day course, which went live last week and is taught via a single daily text message, is structured on the importance of social connection to the overall health and well-being of Babson students.

Arist was established following Ioffe’s experience working with Yemen students who lacked the high-speed internet connections necessary to participate in online learning. Earlier this month, the business was named a finalist in TechCrunch’s inaugural Liftoff List, where student entrepreneurs submit their ventures for a chance at $100,000 in funding.

“Their Voice Matters”

The partnership has offered Hala valuable insight into student behavior and needs. Because of this insight, she positioned Restorative Practices as a key strategy to proactively improve student health and well-being.

“Students are happier, more cooperative, and productive when you do things with them rather than for them,” she said. “Their voice matters.”

In the duration of the course, Hala hopes students will learn how they can make authentic connections with those who they may not be currently sharing physical space with.

“Most Babson students are experiencing this pandemic as a social crisis,” she said. “This course is the right tool for the right time.”

To sign-up for this asynchronous course, click here.

Posted in Community

More from Community »

Latest Stories

Wearing Babson-branded hard hats, nine people gather to break ground ceremonially
Babson Breaks Ground on New Executive Lodge and Conference Center Babson College trustees, leaders, and dignitaries celebrated the beginning of construction of the new Executive Lodge and Conference Center with a formal groundbreaking ceremony last week.
By
October 28, 2025

Posted in Community

Composite of four headshots of the new trustees
Four New Members Join the Babson Board of Trustees Rebecca Shaghalian Larkin ’91, Shikhar Malhotra ’04, Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25, and Patty Pytlik ’11, MBA’25 have been elected to the Babson Board of Trustees.
By
October 27, 2025

Posted in Community

Babson students learning financial literacy.
The Credit Habit: Babson Finance Students on Gen Z’s Growing Reliance on 'Buy Now, Pay Later' From Coachella tickets to Taco Bell, "Buy Now, Pay Later" is a growing generational habit. Babson’s financiers of the future warn that without financial literacy, it can turn into costly dependence.
By
Hillary Chabot
Writer
Hillary Chabot
Hillary Chabot is a writer for Babson Thought & Action and Babson Magazine. An award-winning journalist, she is known for her insightful reporting and dedication to detailed storytelling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has covered a wide range of topics, from presidential campaigns and government policy to neighborhood issues and investigative series. As a reporter for The Boston Herald, Hillary earned a reputation for tenacity and integrity. Her work at Babson College fuels her passions—to learn something new every day and conduct thoughtful, empathic interviews. She’s thrilled to be at Babson College, where students, faculty, staff members and classes provide compelling copy daily.
October 24, 2025

Posted in Insights