Rob Lalka is a business
school professor,
entrepreneur, author,
and board director.
Rob Lalka is a business school professor, entrepreneur, author, and board director. His new book, The Venture Alchemists, will be published by Columbia University Press in 2024.
He was previously an American diplomat, serving in both Republican and Democratic administrations as a Presidential Management Fellow. He served in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships and was on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. For his work advancing global entrepreneurship, he was recognized with the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and its Meritorious Honor Award; he also received the State Department’s Group Award and USAID’s Superior Group Award during his career in government.
He then became a director at one of the world’s most active venture capital groups, which has supported more than 1,100 entrepreneurs in 28 countries over the past decade. He was also a senior advisor at a foundation with one of the world’s largest annual grantmaking budgets, which provides over $150 million each year to philanthropic causes, journalists, and activists in 40 countries. In 2012, he co-founded a consulting firm that supported leading impact investors, social enterprises, and corporations to grow their businesses while measuring and maximizing their impact. It was acquired in 2019.
Lalka is currently Professor of Practice in Management, the Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, and Executive Director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. During his seven years at Tulane, he has received the A.B. Freeman School’s Excellence in Intellectual Contributions Award three times.
Lalka is an advisor to CNBC for the Disruptor 50, its annual list of the innovative companies best able to disrupt established industries and public companies, and is a founding member and advisor to Nieux, a community formed to make a positive impact on New Orleans through technology and innovation.
Lalka serves on the boards of Public Democracy, Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and Venture For America in New Orleans. He is chairman of the board of Public Democracy, and at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, he is the founding chairman of the cybersecurity committee, is the secretary of the governance committee, serves on the investment and finance committee, and has served on the audit committee.
He graduated from Yale University, cum laude with distinction in both history and English, holds his master’s degree in public policy from Duke University, and earned executive education certificates from Harvard Business School.
Supporting new businesses at one of the world’s top schools for entrepreneurship.
The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Freeman School of Business brings together scholars, inventors, investors and students to solve problems and build businesses. Their programs provide direct support for Tulanians, New Orleanians, and communities across the Gulf South.
Improving the health and lives of Louisianans, at the state’s oldest, largest health insurer.
Formed in 1934, the company and its subsidiaries currently provide group and individual health insurance plans and services, life and disability insurance, and group voluntary products to more than 1.8 million Louisianans.
On a mission to ensure technology empowers people, to allow people to share in the value of their data, and to align what is right with what works.
Public Democracy is a certified B Corp that has become a leader in the #DataForGood movement, inclusive health, and data trusts. Over the past decade, PD has supported over 100 million Americans to advance their values with technology, to engage in real world projects that matter to them, and to join together in common purpose.
Mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs by supporting a diverse and inclusive community of startup leaders and founders in New Orleans.
VFA is a two-year fellowship program for recent grads who want to work at a startup and create jobs in American cities. Fellows learn startup skills at our month-long Training Camp, apply for jobs within our vetted company network, and work for two years as full-time, salaried employees in one of 14 cities, including New Orleans.
Advising CNBC on identifying the companies best able to disrupt established industries and public companies.
CNBC’s Disruptor 50 Advisory Council — a group of 55 leading thinkers in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship from around the world — advises CNBC on selecting the companies best able to disrupt established industries and public companies. The 50 companies selected using the proprietary Disruptor 50 methodology have raised over $56 billion in venture capital, according to PitchBook, at an implied Disruptor 50 valuation of more than $552 billion.
Exploring the promise of Web3 to inspire New Orleans’ creative culture to realize its full potential.
The Nieux Society is a community formed to make a positive impact on New Orleans through innovation. Started by Tim Williamson, Patrick Comer, and Zach Kupperman, the activities of Nieux are shaped by a group of advisors including B Mike, Gretchen Howard, Big Freedia, Galactic, BoyFriend, Demario Davis, Tara Hernandez, Walter Isaacson, Farrah Appleman, Gil Hildebrand, Lauren Baum, Robbie Vitrano, Ti Martin, Michael Mimeles, and Rob Lalka.