The nonprofit Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative (UEI) announced the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors, strengthening the organization’s leadership as it expands its mission to empower innovators and entrepreneurs working to improve urban communities.
UEI was founded in 2014 to support innovation in addressing complex urban challenges through entrepreneurship, technology, and community engagement. In 2025, the organization launched the Urban Innovator Platform (urbanei.org), a digital community designed to provide information, inspiration, and connections for innovators working to improve quality of life in cities.
The three accomplished leaders joining UEI’s governing board are Leslie Lynn Smith, Lisa Prasad, and Felipe Sahb Furtado, Leslie Lynn Smith.
“We are grateful to welcome these three exceptionally capable leaders to our board,” W. David Tarver, founder and president of the Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative, said in a release. “Their willingness to serve reflects their belief in our mission and in the role innovation and entrepreneurship can play in strengthening urban communities.”
Leslie Lynn Smith serves as President and CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation and is widely recognized as a national leader in community and economic development. Over the course of her career, she has led major entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives, including serving as President and CEO of TechTown Detroit and as founding President and CEO of Epicenter Memphis. Smith has raised more than $75 million to support entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic development initiatives and has served on numerous national boards supporting entrepreneurship and economic mobility.
Lisa Prasad serves as Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Henry Ford Health, where she leads enterprise innovation and commercialization strategy and oversees partnerships that bring new technologies and ventures into the healthcare system. Before joining Henry Ford Health, Prasad co-founded U3 Ventures, a firm focused on leveraging anchor institutions such as universities and hospitals to drive urban economic development. She has led major initiatives connecting entrepreneurship, real estate development, and innovation ecosystems across the United States.
Felipe Sahb Furtado, MD, is currently completing his MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and will join McKinsey & Company as an associate in Detroit later this year. Furtado previously conducted research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, publishing multiple highly cited papers in cancer imaging and medical innovation. He has also led digital health and AI initiatives in Brazil and has been actively involved with UEI’s research collaboration with McKinsey on the Urban Innovator Platform.
Learn more at urbanei.org.
