Maria Blekher

Dr. Maria Blekher is the Founding Director of YU Innovation Lab and a Clinical Associate Professor of Digital Strategies, teaching at the Sy Syms School of Business. Working at the intersection of the startup economy and academia, she help emergent businesses validate and accelerate into market. Her work leverages a unique background in marketing research and consumer psychology to help startups surface and transform deep insights into business value. She is a startup mentor for Cyber NYC Inventors to Founders Initiative and an Advisory Committee Member for Maccabee Ventures. Upon joining Yeshiva University, Dr. Blekher developed a unique course focused on the Israeli Business Environment and founded a non profit online educational platform MadeInIsrael.Info that connects the American Jewish community to Israel by providing information about Israeli business and brands. Dr. Blekher holds an MBA and a PhD in Marketing from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and was a Visiting Scholar at NYU, Stern School of Business.

EDUCATION:

• 2015 Visiting Scholar, Stern School of Business, New York University
• 2013 Ph.D. Marketing, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• 2009 MBA, Marketing, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Research focus: The impact of applying consumer behavior frameworks on early stage startups value creation; the link between consumer and pro-social behavior. Interplay between entrepreneurial practice and education; how to transfer practices from the startup world into the academia and the future of entrepreneurship education.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Consumer Behavior, Early stage startups, Pro Social Behavior, Strategic Marketing, Marketing Research