Single Digits: The Business Case for WHAM with Carolee Lee, Founder & CEO of WHAM
about the episode
Why Is Women’s Health So Underfunded? Carolee Lee on WHAM, Venture Capital & Healthcare Innovation
In this episode of Innovate & Elevate, Sharon Kedar is joined by Carolee Lee, Founder and CEO of Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM). Carolee shares her journey from fashion entrepreneur to women's health trailblazer, highlighting how her experience building a global jewelry brand led her to recognize the critical need for change in women's health funding and research.
The conversation delves into the reality of the current state of women's health research and investment. Less than 1% of global research funding is allocated to studying women's health and only 2% of venture capital goes to women-founded startups, with an even smaller percentage dedicated to women's health companies. However, organizations like WHAM are making strides in changing that reality.
Carolee outlines WHAM's groundbreaking initiative, "3Not30," which aims to accelerate change in women's health research and investment within three years. The initiative is the first of a series of activities WHAM is spearheading in recognition of the 30th Anniversary of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993, a law which established guidelines that women and minorities should be included in all clinical trials and research which are funded by the NIH. The goals of the program include doubling research funding for women's health, increasing venture capital investment in women-founded companies from 2% to 4%, and improving diversity in clinical trials.
This conversation underscores that women's health is everyone's health. By raising awareness about these disparities, WHAM is driving collaborative efforts across sectors to create meaningful change. Carolee’s parting message is powerful: while individual efforts are crucial, it's the collective power of everyone working together that will ultimately create substantial change in women's health research and investment.
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“Less than 1% of global research funding is allocated to studying women’s health. Think about it: If we’re not spending money on research, we don’t have the data we need to even create the companies to fix the issues we’re trying to address.”
About Carolee Lee
Carolee Lee is an innovative trailblazer dedicated to transforming the health of women. In 2020, she founded WHAM (Women’s Health Access Matters), a non-profit organization. Prior to founding WHAM, as a creative force and visionary leader in the fashion world, Carolee built a preeminent global brand and successfully sold it to Luxottica in 2001.
Carolee has served on numerous public and private boards and currently serves on the boards of: The La Jolla Institute for Immunology; The Women’s Health Advisory Board, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and The Women’s Leadership Board at The John F. Kennedy School of Government. Carolee also was a director on the board of DSW, Inc., the Museum of Arts and Design, NY, and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation for twenty years.
Episode Outline
(02:39) Meet Carolee: From College Startup to Women’s Health Trailblazer
(06:38) Single Digits: The Business Case for WHAM
(08:48) Filling the Gap for Women Founders and in Women’s Health
(11:25) Women’s Health is Everyone’s Health
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Sharon Kedar 00:02
Behind every pioneering idea, method, and device is a fellow human or humans, a trailblazer who is daring enough to ask the questions that push the boundaries and make the impossible possible. I'm Sharon Kedar, co-founder of Northpond Ventures, a multi-billion dollar science-driven venture capital firm, and the host of "Innovate & Elevate." In each episode, we'll have candid in-depth conversations with top doctors, scientists, and innovators about leading edge discoveries and how they impact our lives. It's time for all of us to "Innovate & Elevate."
Sharon Kedar 00:39
Welcome Carolee Lee to the podcast. Carolee Lee is the CEO and Founder of WHAM, Women's Health Access Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the funding gap and addressing the historical exclusion of women in health research and innovation. By raising awareness and accelerating investments in the health of women, WHAM is not only transforming lives, but also economic growth. In 2020, Carolee brought together 25 leading business women to launch WHAM, and commissioned the transformative WHAM Report, the first of its kind that quantified the economic benefits of investing in women's health research. Through her leadership, Carolee has shifted the conversation on women's health, bringing ethics, empirical data, and economic impact to the forefront, and coalescing others to spearhead effective change.
Sharon Kedar 01:35
Prior to founding WHAM, Carolee built, and eventually sold, her preeminent global fashion brand to Luxottica in 2001. Carolee serves on numerous public and private boards, including the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, the Women's Health Advisory Board at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Women's Leadership Board at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. This fall, WHAM is launching two major initiatives, the WHAM Investment Collaborative, a consortium of global investment leaders poised to be the industry leading catalyst in doubling VC investment for women, and the WHAM Report in collaboration with KPMG U.S. and the KPMG Foundation, which will offer a deep-dive into the current state of women's health investment, and offer concrete solutions to closing the funding gap. Carolee, welcome to the podcast.
Carolee Lee 02:31
Well, Sharon, I'm just delighted to be here, and thank you so much for inviting me.
Sharon Kedar 02:40
My first question is, why do we have to make the business case for women's health? And, you know, I'm a venture capitalist, I don't see compelling investments come across my desk often enough, like how did we even get into this position where somehow, someone thought the bar would be different?
Carolee Lee 02:59
My journey into the health of women really started when I grew my company many years ago, and it was a phenomenal experience. It was 85% women. It was fantastic. I loved building that company. It was such an extraordinary moment for me, and I always had a very deep interest in the health and wellbeing of my workforce because it was 85% female. So I'm your quintessential entrepreneur starting a company from my kitchen table and building it into a multinational global brand, having the huge great fortune to sell it to a large multinational firm. That's unusual, as you know, even by any standards, and of course I didn't even realize that, but let's start by saying I understand business, I understand investment, I understand how companies get built, and that's part of my passion. Now that's being centered around the health of women. And women were at the heart of my company both as not only employees, but consumers as well. Because my role led me to think a lot about the economic impact of whether it was my consumer who I wanted to be healthy and well and I wanted her to feel good about owning anything that I could produce, but also my employees who I understood if they were healthy and well and working happily, there was a greater return to the company.
Carolee Lee 04:15
And the other way that I understood the health and wellness of women was through serving, from the day it really began, on the board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for about 25 years. I finally dropped off the board after 25 years, which is an insane amount of time, as you know, to stay on a board. But I was so committed, and so interested, and so involved, and so devoted to the great work that that organization did. And at some point, we should talk about how marketing created an influence and an awareness in breast cancer. Not enough, you know, there's not enough in any of the areas affecting women health, but let's face it, it's one of the few areas that did create a change in many women's lives. So research was important to me, and I did learn about the disparities in research, and also, you know, it furthered my commitment to women's health, understanding that the disparities were so great.
Sharon Kedar 05:05
To have been a successful entrepreneur as the backbone for WHAM is rare and special, what were you selling? Like, what was the company?
Carolee Lee 05:15
Yeah, no, it was mostly fashion jewelry and it was distributed in a thousand different points of sale from Neiman Marcus, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdale's, you kind of name it and it was there, and it was global. Mitsukoshi in Japan and Harrods in London, and so I was very fortunate, not only to figure out how to manufacture in China very early, but also to have global distribution and get to understand the international marketplace.
Sharon Kedar 05:41
Did you literally start your business on your kitchen table?
Carolee Lee 05:43
I did. Actually, I started a little bit earlier in college while I was stringing all kinds of interesting beads that I was buying on leather cord to make money, because I grew up with basically very little money and in a very middle-class environment. And that was an incredible experience that obviously, A, there's a creative side of me, but there's also a business side, which is a good thing. I think the business side might have won out, which is also okay, but the creative side understood what created happiness for me and a sense of achievement, accomplishment, or more fulfillment. And the business side, I think, understood there had to be a profit, which is a good thing. And also that I surrounded myself with people who are much smarter than I am in many different areas, and that takes a skill, which you know and we can talk about entrepreneurship forever because it's one of my favorite topics.
Sharon Kedar 06:39
Somehow, a lot of women feel like they don't have permission to create sort of a real business or to sort of audaciously earn. I have never used those words before, but I didn't get that memo. Why can't we send the message of like, "It's okay to earn,"? I mean, even in 2021, just a brief story, we sponsored, Northpond sponsored a future founders competition at MIT because MIT, to their credit, realized women were under-starting businesses compared to their equally-qualified male counterparts, like substantively under-starting. And there were nine candidates, and one of the candidates who ended up becoming a finalist, I spoke with them all and she was like, and you would've loved what it is vis-a-vis your women's health, and, you know, she was like, "Well, I think that I'd like to start a nonprofit." And I basically was like, "Hold on. We just met each other, but permission to earn." And I basically said, "Go make so much," and I inserted a word that my 9-year-old shouldn't use, "money, that you can then create this virtuous cycle." And, you know, money's a powerful place, so with that little rant, what do you think?
Carolee Lee 07:52
So the approximate number of venture capital investment in female startups is 2%. The approximate number of startups in women's health is much smaller, it's about 1%. The amount of research globally that's invested, forget investment, just the amount of research dollars globally that's spent, is less than 1%. Think about that. If we're not spending money on research on women, we don't have the data that we need to even create the companies to fix some of the issues that we're trying to address. Start there. That was why we started with the research collaborative and started with research. In other words, the first WHAM Report that we did was focused on research or the lack of investment, with the idea to show is there an economic benefit to spending more money on research? And by the way, does anyone know how much money is spent on research?
Sharon Kedar 09:21
So I guess, Carolee, just to like put a fine point on it, when you're talking about more female-founded companies, are you talking about it on behalf of women's health? Are you talking about it in terms of entrepreneurship? Or both? And to be clear, you know where I sit, you know I'm a fan of both, so I'm genuinely seeking to just understand.
Carolee Lee 09:41
I think both. And I think we have to start with both because women need to be encouraged to start businesses. Women-owned businesses employ more people than the Fortune 500 companies combined. There's a lot of data that women drive, let's just start, women drive the economy. And the more women starting businesses, the healthier the economy is. So at the moment, when I give that 2% number, that's all women, that's all companies started by women. We can ask in that too, is it also companies run by women? Can a woman and a man run the company? And then you start getting into splitting the data in a lot of different ways, right? And then we get into just companies focused on the health of women. So let's just say all of these numbers vary somewhere between 1% and 3%. It's still pitifully small, however we want to talk about it. We're now working on that in order to identify the exact numbers, and how we eventually want to approach creating change. But just bear in mind that we said that we would double that number of investment from the VC community, which is approximately 2%, to 4%. That's one of our three 3Not30 goals. The second goal is to have more women in clinical trials because as you might know, less than 5% of participants in clinical trials are Black women. Is that acceptable? I don't think so. And the third goal is to create, and you'll love this one, is to create accountability indexes. How do I hold everyone accountable? So for example, what kinds of tests should women have for what kinds of diseases? And who am I going to hold accountable if those diseases don't get approved by the insurance company? Interesting thoughts about who should we hold accountable for health? Well, let me give you some good news because, you know, the data is incredibly important and that was why the WHAM Reports were so extraordinary. The report that we're doing now came out of a gift that KPMG, who's one of our partners, gave WHAM, this million dollar gift, which was fantastic from KPMG U.S. and the KPMG Foundation. And part of what we are working with with them is the same thing that we did in research, but the question that we asked in research is, if we were to accelerate research, what's the impact on the economy? The report that we're working on with KPMG is, if we're to accelerate investment, what's the return to the economy? What's the impact on society? How does that affect women and their families?
Carolee Lee 12:07
I think the number one thing for us that we need to be focused on, it's what we did pretty much with the first report, which is, are you aware of this data? Is this acceptable to you? And, you know, if you start there, the answer should be no, obviously. So now let me share with you... Wait, you have a daughter? How about I want your daughter to be able to start this company, and if she's going to be turned down 9 out of 10 times, is that acceptable to you? I don't think so. We're going to have to get both sexes, men and women, on board to support this. It's not just about women. Women have to feel, obviously, compelled to want to create change because it is about their body. And without this information, whether it's the research or the investment, it affects their health. Yes. But men, who love women, should be just as upset because women are an integral part of their life.
Sharon Kedar 13:12
It's up to us to really, you know, if you want to create change, part of it is up to us. That's why I come back to say to you, yes, there's bias, I might not be able to change that. But what can I change? What can I make different? What can I improve? What can I move? What needle can I move? So what I would say to you is what we have to be focused on, I think, is the kinds of things that we can create a shift or a change and make and improve upon, make different.
Sharon Kedar 14:03
Well, thank you, Carolee, for being on the podcast. You are such an inspiration. You're a force of nature. I think that you can get pretty much anyone to do anything, so thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Carolee Lee 14:13
No, it's my pleasure, but I can only do it with you, this is the thing. So, I so appreciate those very kind words, but let me be very clear. I need you. I need the power that we all bring to be collective. So I as an individual can only do so much, but imagine if we add it all up, what we can all do.
Sharon Kedar 14:38
Thank you for tuning in. Please connect with me, Sharon Kedar, on LinkedIn, for additional innovative content. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to like it. And don't forget to subscribe to the channel by clicking the button below this video. The views and opinions of the host and podcast guests are their own professional opinions and may not represent the views of Northpond Ventures.
About Your Host
Sharon Kedar, CFA, is Co-Founder of Northpond Ventures. Northpond is a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm with a portfolio of 60+ companies, along with key academic partnerships at Harvard’s Wyss Institute, MIT’s School of Engineering, and Stanford School of Medicine. Prior to Northpond, Sharon spent 15 years at Sands Capital, where she became their first Chief Financial Officer. Assets under management grew from $1.5 billion to $50 billion over her tenure, achieving more than 30x growth. Sharon is the co-author of two personal finance books for women. Sharon has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a B.A. in Economics from Rice University, and is a CFA charterholder. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Greg, and their three kids.
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FAQs
Why is women’s health underfunded?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee explains that women’s health has historically received disproportionately low levels of research and investment funding. The conversation discusses how longstanding gaps in research, venture capital allocation, and healthcare priorities created structural inequities.
How much research funding goes to women’s health?
In this Innovate & Elevate conversation, Carolee Lee discusses estimates showing that less than 1% of global research funding is allocated specifically to women’s health. The episode explores why this gap has downstream effects on innovation and treatment development.
Why do women-founded companies receive less venture capital funding?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee discusses disparities in venture capital funding and explains that women-founded startups historically receive a small percentage of overall VC investment. The conversation examines how those patterns may also affect women’s health innovation.
What is WHAM?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee explains that Women's Health Access Matters (WHAM) is an organization focused on accelerating research, investment, and awareness around women’s health. WHAM aims to address inequities that affect scientific discovery and healthcare outcomes.
What is the WHAM 3Not30 initiative?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee discusses WHAM’s 3Not30 initiative, which aims to accelerate improvements in women’s health research and investment within three years rather than waiting decades for change.
Why were women historically excluded from clinical research?
In this Innovate & Elevate discussion, Carolee Lee explains that women were frequently excluded or underrepresented in medical research for decades. The conversation references the 1993 NIH Revitalization Act and ongoing efforts to improve representation in clinical studies.
Why is women’s health considered a business opportunity?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee argues that investing in women’s health has implications beyond medicine alone. The conversation explores how improved health outcomes may create broader economic benefits and opportunities for innovation.
Why does women’s health affect everyone?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee explains that women’s health influences families, workplaces, healthcare systems, and economies. The episode reinforces the idea that women’s health should not be viewed as a niche issue.
How can healthcare innovation improve women’s health?
On Innovate & Elevate, Carolee Lee discusses why improving research funding, increasing investment, and building collaborative ecosystems may help accelerate progress in women’s health.