Jessica Martin Eckerly

CEO & Co-Founder, Forward BioLABS

Jessica has over 20 years of successful management, strategy, and operations experience, largely in science and medtech. Her work spans settings that include start-up, international company, and non-profits.

She is currently CEO and co-founder of Forward BIOLABS, a premier Midwest co-working life science lab for early-stage startup companies, which has served ~50 startups garnering over $360M in investment and grants. With Forward BIOLABS’ robust repertoire of shared equipment and operational support, startups are launched with immense capital efficiency, and they join a nurturing environment where they cultivate relationships and collaborate with other companies advancing cutting-edge technologies.

Forward BIOLABS is part of the 18-member private and public Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium, which spearheaded the effort leading to Wisconsin receiving a coveted federal Tech Hub designation as a national leader in personalized medicine and biohealth.

Active in the startup ecosystem, Jessica teaches corporate strategy as an Adjunct Professor for the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, and serves on the Advisory Board for Venture Home, a program of the tech transfer organization WiSys. A double Badger, she earned an Executive MBA and a MS in Biotechnology, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.