Lecturer | Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor | Executive Director, UC Berkeley Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Berkeley Changemaker
Management of Organizations

Leadership & change expert | Co-creator of Berkeley Changemaker®

About

Laura Hassner is a professional faculty member at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and is the Strategic Advisor to Chancellor Richard K. Lyons. She is also the Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Hassner co-created and co-leads the Berkeley Changemaker® (opens in a new tab) academic program at UC Berkeley. The Berkeley Changemaker’s identity-making curriculum activates students’ passions and helps them develop a sharper sense of who they want to be and how to make that happen. Hassner also teaches in the Berkeley Changemaker suite of courses, including the gateway course “The Berkeley Changemaker” and “Berkeley Changemaker: Living with Agency” and the new “Berkeley Changemaker: Openness to Opposing Views“.

Prior to Berkeley Haas, Hassner led innovation for a national nonprofit as a member of its founding team. Previously, as a Big Five consultant, Hassner was a financial advisor to publicly-traded and privately-owned businesses in the $100 million through billion dollar market segment.

She holds a BA, with honors, from Stanford University and an MBA, with honors, from Berkeley Haas.

Expertise and Research Interests

  • Leadership & Communications
  • Product and Program Design
  • Cross-Sector Collaboration
  • Project Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Strategic Planning
  • Innovation
  • Marketing