Ion innovation hub gets new organizational structure – Houston Chronicle
Station Houston CEO Gaby Rowe at the grand opening of Station Houston’s new prototyping lab and office space for the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. Rowe is now executive director of the Ion startup hub.
Station Houston CEO Gaby Rowe at the grand opening of Station Houston’s new prototyping lab and office space for the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. Rowe is now executive director of the
Station Houston CEO Gaby Rowe at the grand opening of Station Houston’s new prototyping lab and office space for the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. Rowe is now executive director of the Ion startup hub.
Station Houston CEO Gaby Rowe at the grand opening of Station Houston’s new prototyping lab and office space for the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. Rowe is now executive director of the
The Ion, Rice University’s $100 million renovation of the former Midtown Sears into a hub for startups, is naming Station Houston CEO Gaby Rowe as its executive director.
Station Houston was originally slated to oversee the Ion’s entrepreneurial workshops, conferences, job training, educational classes and other programming. But Rice Management Co. on Monday said that Station Houston will not be the exclusive provider of startup services as “the Ion plans to house a wide range of incubators and accelerators to serve the broader needs of the innovation ecosystem,” according to a news release.
At HoustonChronicle.com: Rice University-led Ion innovation district breaks ground
Rowe has worked closely with Rice Management Co. since the Ion’s plans was first announced in April 2018. She will now oversee the Ion’s programming and operations as a Rice employee. Stewart Cory, recently named chief of staff at Station Houston, will oversee Station Houston’s day-to-day operations until a new program leader is hired.
“We know that under Gaby’s leadership The Ion will become an innovation hub for not only all Houstonians, but for anybody looking to thrive and collaborate in an entrepreneur-first, tech-forward environment,” Allison Thacker, president and chief investment officer of the Rice Management Co., which manages Rice University’s $6.3 billion endowment, said in the news release.
Rice celebrated the Ion’s groundbreaking in July. The 270,000-square-foot facility is slated to open in the first quarter of 2021 as phase one of a planned 16-acre South Main Innovation District.
Rowe was named CEO of Station Houston in August 2018. She was previously head of school at The Village School in Houston, where she spearheaded school expansions and innovative curriculum updates, such as required coding classes for middle-school students, an entrepreneurship diploma with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a partnership with MIT to enhance Village’s STEAM program. Before Village, Rowe was an education executive, investment banker and management consultant in New York City for more than 25 years.
During her time at Station Houston, Rowe restructured the for-profit organization into a nonprofit. She also worked with Microsoft and Intel to create the Ion Smart Cities Accelerator program, which is aimed at nurturing internet of things technologies that can be used in cities, and advocated for Houston at various events around the country.
“It is a tremendous honor to be given such an incredible opportunity to serve Houston,” Rowe said in the news release. “I look forward to building partnerships and collaborations that will enable the Ion to engage and connect our innovation and startup community with Houston corporations and academic partners, to use the technology we’re building right here in Houston to showcase our homegrown talent and to create platforms for local entrepreneurs to take their offerings to new heights.”