The Boston Globe Names Top WHOOP Executives to Tech Power Players 50

News

The Boston Globe Names Top WHOOP Executives to Tech Power Players 50

2024-05-17 00:47 Last Updated At：00:51

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2024--

Will Ahmed, Founder and CEO of WHOOP, as well as Emily Capodilupo, Senior Vice President of Research, Algorithms and Data at WHOOP, have been named to the third annual Tech Power Players 50, a list of the most influential – and interesting – people in the New England technology scene, as ranked by The Boston Globe’s business journalists and an external advisory. This recognition is well-timed as WHOOP has recently expanded its global footprint to over 56 markets worldwide with further launches anticipated in the coming months. The company has also recently welcomed new C-suite leaders to deliver on the WHOOP mission of helping people achieve their goals by providing best-in-class wearable technology, actionable feedback, and personalized recommendations across recovery, sleep, strain, and health.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240516796391/en/

The Tech Power Players 50 recognizes leaders in software, cybersecurity, AI and robotics, climate tech, health tech, crypto, and beyond. The list examines their career impact on technology and business, taking into account their tech-specific contributions and innovations that have kept the sector vibrant in a challenging economic climate. This is the third consecutive year that Will Ahmed has been honored and the first year Emily Capodilupo was recognized in this extraordinary list of leaders.

“I’m honored to be recognized by The Boston Globe again on this annual list,” said Will Ahmed, Founder and CEO of WHOOP. “WHOOP is proud to be based in Boston which is home to so many pivotal research and medical centers and a dynamic start-up ecosystem. It’s also great to be joined this year by Emily Capodilupo, one of our earliest team members and our SVP of Research, Algorithms, and Data. WHOOP would not be where it is today without her.”

"It is important to recognize the leaders of our innovation economy who are developing technologies that are transforming our world," said Linda Henry, CEO of Boston Globe Media. “The Globe is committed to telling the story of this remarkable community and its incredible impact on our region and beyond through our everyday reporting and by recognizing the pioneers who are driving this innovation with this list.”

The Globe convened local leaders in business and technology to serve as advisors alongside the Globe's newsroom, including Dave Balter, Larry Bohn, Paul English, Yasmin Cruz Ferrine, Aisha Francis, Yvonne Hao, Linda Henry, Scott Kirsner, Youngme Moon, Eric Paley, and Katie Rae. The committee and the Globe's newsroom submitted over 200 nominations and scored candidates based on their business impact – value created, revenue, number of jobs – and their broader influence in the tech community – in terms of ideas, reputation, and mentorship. A few committee members were included on the list; these decisions were made by Globe staff alone.

"Boston is a leader in tech and innovation, and we're seeing a lot of opportunity even in a challenging economy," said Greg Huang, the Globe's Business and Tech editor. "In our third year, we wanted the Power Players list to both stand alone and reflect broader trends in the industry, including the surging interest in fields like AI and climate tech."

“I am truly honored to be recognized among New England's Tech Power Players alongside Will. This distinction reflects our collective effort at WHOOP to pioneer transformative technologies that enhance personal health and fitness,” said Emily Capodilupo, Senior Vice President of Research, Algorithms, and Data at WHOOP. “It's a privilege to contribute to the dynamic innovation landscape that thrives here in Boston.”

Readers are invited to explore the list and accompanying business and tech content at Globe.com/Tech50 and to follow social chatter on X (formerly known as Twitter) at #GlobeTech50. To stay in the know on the latest tech news, sign up for the Globe's Innovation Beat newsletter and follow @BostonGlobe on X and Boston Globe Media on LinkedIn.

ABOUT WHOOP

WHOOP, the human performance company, offers a wearable health and fitness coach to help people achieve their goals. The WHOOP membership provides best-in-class wearable technology, actionable feedback, and recommendations across recovery, sleep, training, and health. WHOOP serves professional athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs, executives, fitness enthusiasts, military personnel, frontline workers, and anyone looking to improve their performance. WHOOP Unite is a comprehensive solution dedicated to supporting organizations across a wide range of industries with coaching, organizational insights, and health programs. Studies show WHOOP can positively change behavior, increase sleep, and improve physiological biomarkers. Founded in 2012, WHOOP is based in Boston and has raised more than $400 million in venture capital. The latest round of financing made WHOOP the world's most valuable standalone wearables company. Visit WHOOP.com for more information and connect with WHOOP on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

About Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC ("BGMP") is a locally owned, award-winning media company serving Boston and New England. The cornerstone of the brand is The Boston Globe, a 27-time Pulitzer Prize winning news source and one of the most successful metro news organizations in the United States. The Globe is headquartered in Boston with regional bureaus in Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The Globe has one of the highest daily print circulations among metro newspapers and more than 245,000 digital subscribers. As part of Boston Globe Media’s growing portfolio of brands, the Globe hosts events that connect community members to its journalism and provides a range of digital and home-delivered advertising solutions that reach more consumers than any other New England media brand. Boston Globe Media's properties include The Boston Globe, Globe.com, Boston.com, STAT, The B-Side, Globe Publishing Services, Globe Events, Studio/B, and the weekday news program Boston Globe Today on NESN and online.

'Beyond the Gates' is renewed as veteran Black soap actors cheer its success

2025-05-15 08:06 Last Updated At：08:10

When CBS' soap opera “Beyond the Gates” premiered in February, soap opera fans and veterans alike hailed it as a win for Black history and culture.

On Monday, the first soap to feature a majority Black cast was renewed for a second season. Its creation was both a savvy business move and an acknowledgment of Black viewers' passion for the genre as broadcast ratings have declined.

George Cheeks, the CBS chief, told Vulture last year the show was born out of crunching numbers: “One of the things that the data made very clear is that daytime soap operas over index with Black women.”

“I think there’s kind of a renewed appreciation for the audiences that do still engage in broadcast programing, and a recognition that one of those audiences are Black women, and this was a way to serve that audience,” says Elana Levine, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor and author of “Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History.”

Victoria Rowell's “Young and the Restless” character, Drucilla Barber Winters, was introduced in 1990 as “an illiterate thief,” she says. Rowell worked with co-creator and then-head writer, William J. Bell to give the character dimension.

Drucilla became a ballet dancer, like Rowell herself, a storyline that showed “it is possible to be in a lower socioeconomic environment and be aspirational.”

She still receives letters from fans who cite Drucilla as inspiration.

The feeling, Rowell explains is, “Oh my God, I can be a ballet dancer through Drucilla, a pull-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of chick that’s rough around the edges and that can learn how to read and write, perhaps, and meet a Neil Winters and get married and improve her life.”

Rowell says she always understood her role as “so much bigger” than an acting job. She recalls meeting with the then-editor of Soap Opera Digest to advocate for a cover featuring the Black cast members — and it ended up happening.

Rowell's tenure with the show, though, has been up and down. She has only glowing things to say about Bell, who died in 2005. But she sued CBS and producers in 2015 after she says she pushed for the casting of more Black actors and wasn’t hired back on the soap as a result. They later settled. After “Beyond the Gates” was announced, Rowell says she received a letter from CBS acknowledging her place in the show’s DNA.

“I have been contacted with great respect from the powers that be at CBS, thanking me for all of my hard work, recognizing the work that I have done that has influenced this moment and I appreciate that,” she said.

She was “astounded” to be asked to audition for the matriarch role of Anita Dupree, but says she didn't hear back after submitting her tape. The role went to Tamara Tunie, whom Rowell describes as “a brilliant actress.”

CBS did not respond to a request for comment.

Darnell Williams was cast as teen Jesse Hubbard on ABC’s “All My Children” in 1981 to capitalize on younger fans who fell in love with Luke and Laura on “General Hospital.” His fan base exploded after Debbi Morgan was cast as Angie Baxter. Jesse and Angie are regarded as daytime's first Black supercouple.

“Before that, we didn’t see Black love, and what message does that send? It said that it did not exist because it was not reflected,” said Sherri Williams, an assistant professor at American University who studies Black representation in media.

Darnell Williams says he was surprised by the audience reaction.

“I think about the first time we realized the impact we’d had on the audience, we had gone to a movie in Times Square one night, and after the movie, the lights had come back up and we heard this rumbling. We were looking around and all of a sudden we heard our names being chanted,” Williams said.

When he thinks about “Beyond the Gates,” Williams says he's hopeful about the job opportunities the show can provide.

For years, Veronica Redd played Mamie Johnson — Drucilla's aunt — on “The Young and the Restless.” When she tuned into the premiere of “Beyond the Gates,” what she saw got her attention, but what she heard blew her away.

“I was not prepared,” laughs Redd. It begins with a women driving a Mercedes-Benz through the gates of an exclusive country club. The Emotions' “Best of My Love” is playing — something that told Redd the production value was top notch.

Daytime isn't usually Redd's favorite genre even though she acknowledges “it's paid the bills for many decades.” “Beyond the Gates,” though, has earned a spot in Redd's TV time.

“They got me hooked,” she says.

If “Beyond the Gates” can open the doors to new conversation, that's a good thing, says Kimberly McGhee, a Tennessee viewer.

McGhee appreciates how one of the main characters is a psychiatrist. Mental health can be viewed as taboo within the Black community and McGhee believes incorporating it into storylines could help beat the stigma.

The soap also addresses Black history: Clifton Davis plays the Dupree family patriarch, a civil rights activist whose advocacy efforts are often mentioned. Bringing in the civil rights generation is “pretty significant,” said Sherri Williams, but “not surprising” given the NAACP's producing credit.

“The NAACP is a group that has been fighting for civil rights and for Black liberation for more than a century, and it’s also an organization that has been advocating for authentic images of Black people in television and film,” she explained.

Some have critiqued how the main cast primarily includes light-skinned Black actors, though.

“Now, of the people who auditioned, if they went with the best option, the best talent, totally understand that,” said Atlanta viewer Simone Umba. “But we can still have those talks in regards to colorism because that’s a recurring thing.”

“Black families have to have relatives of all shades, but we don’t see that in this nuclear family. This feels like a missed opportunity to truly be historic and represent Black people across the spectrum,” said Williams.

“Beyond the Gates” may have been created with a Black audience in mind, but a diverse one is tuning in.

Charlene Polite Corley, Nielsen’s vice president of diverse insights and partnerships, says 52% of the total audience is Black.

“It’s bringing folks along for this really unique story being told in a lot of ways for the first time. And so, yes, the Black audience is leading here, but there’s a whole lot of other kinds of folks who are tuning in, too,” she said.

A varied audience is “good for everyone,” says Elle Murasaki, a Black viewer from New Jersey who hosts weekly live chats on Instagram to discuss the show.

“There is this misconception that being for the culture is exclusive. That it’s Black-only and that we don’t want to include any other demographic into it,” she said. “While there is a majority Black cast telling this story, I think everybody can identify.”

Kerry Bulls, a white fan from Baltimore, also does not miss an episode.

“If you like a good storyline and if you like the genre of a soap opera and something that’s soapy and glitzy, then 100%, this is something that you should watch,” she said. “It doesn't matter what color you are.”