Introducing Babson College’s 2025 Commencement Speakers

Two inspiring entrepreneurial leaders with impressive entrepreneurial journeys will share their insights as speakers at Babson College’s 2025 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 17. 

Linda Henry ’00, H’19, CEO and co-owner of Boston Globe Media, will address the undergraduate ceremony, and Karen Clark Cole, co-founder and former CEO of Blink UX, will address the graduate ceremony. 

Babson’s Commencement ceremonies will be held May 17 on the Wellesley campus and will honor the achievements of approximately 750 undergraduate and 550 graduate members of the Class of 2025. 

LEARN MORE about Babson’s 2025 Commencement ceremonies on May 17. 

“Commencement is the ultimate celebration of a successful academic career,” said President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD. “I look forward to hearing the wisdom that Linda and Karen will share with our community and congratulating our graduates as they cross the stage. I know that Linda’s and Karen’s remarkable careers and entrepreneurial spirits will inspire our new graduates as they begin their own journeys as entrepreneurial leaders seeking to make an impact around the world.” 

Undergraduate Commencement Speaker 

As the co-owner and CEO of Boston Globe Media, Linda Henry ’00, H’19 has stewarded the rebuilding and reimagining of a 153-year-old legacy media company into a thriving, modern multimedia organization with a portfolio of media outlets that includes The Boston Globe, boston.com, STAT, and Boston Magazine. 

As an active partner in Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Henry is front row to the strategic operations of one of the largest global sports platforms, with teams across the Premier League, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, TMRW Golf, and more. Her vast experience at FSG has led Henry to serve as an investor in the WNBA, League One Volleyball, and Unrivaled. Outside of sports, she is a four-time Emmy-award winning television producer, Emmy-nominated documentary producer, and children’s book author. 

Henry also serves as chair of the Boston Globe Foundation and the John W. Henry Family Foundation; director of the Red Sox Foundation and Penguins Foundation; a trustee of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation; and board member of The Engine at MIT and Shorenstein Center at Harvard—a testament to her commitment to leveraging her business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit for social good.  

Graduate Commencement Speaker 

Karen Clark Cole is an accomplished entrepreneur and the co-founder and former CEO of Blink UX, the first user experience company in the United States. Over the course of 24 years, Clark Cole grew Blink into a global leader in user experience research, design, and development with an array of clients, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NASA, Google, Starbucks, and Microsoft.    

Clark Cole is a visionary thinker and strategic planner who takes pride in turning ideas into action. As Blink’s CEO, she led and negotiated six strategic acquisitions of smaller firms across the country before leading Blink’s acquisition by the global public company Mphasis Corporation in 2021.   

In addition to her success leading Blink, Clark Cole is the founder and executive director of Girls Can Do and Heaven on Earth Animal Retirement Sanctuary, two nonprofit organizations with missions close to her heart. She also serves as the chair of the board of governors for St. Margaret’s School, a K–12 all-girls independent school in Canada, and is a council member on the National Women’s Business Council in Washington, D.C. She frequently advises and invests in women-founded businesses and spends time writing and speaking on user-centered leadership and creating a culture of innovation. Clark Cole’s forthcoming book on her entrepreneurial journey will be published in early 2026.

Additional Honorary Degrees 

Henry was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Babson’s 2019 Commencement ceremony. Clark Cole will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurial Leadership degree. Babson also will bestow three additional honorary degrees during the Commencement season.   

Leonard “Len” C. Green will receive an honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurial Leadership at the undergraduate ceremony. Green has a rich history of advancing entrepreneurial thought leadership at Babson and beyond. An adjunct professor in the entrepreneurship division from 2001 to 2016 and from 2021 to the present day, Green has inspired generations of aspirational entrepreneurs at Babson. He has served as chairman of The Green Group, an accounting, tax, consulting, and advisory firm since he founded the company in 1973. He is a former Babson trustee and entrepreneur-in-residence and is a charter member of the Weissman Circle of Distinction and an inductee of the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs^®. The Len Green Recreation and Athletics Center (LGRAC) was named in his honor 2022, and in 2023, the garden behind LGRAC was dedicated to the memory of his late wife, Lois S. Green.  

Peter H. Lunder P’86 ’90 and Paula C. Lunder P’86 ’90—longtime supporters of Babson College, former trustees, and the parents of two proud alumni—will each receive an honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurial Leadership during the graduate ceremony. The Lunders have long been generous donors to the College, supporting financial aid with the Lunder Endowed Scholarship, athletics with the naming of the Lunder Performance Center, and facilities with the naming of the Lunder Admission Center. Outside of Babson, their philanthropic leadership has impacted an array of colleges and universities, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital, along with numerous other organizations through the Lunder Foundation.

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Tagged Campus, Class of 2025, Commencement, Alumni

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