Abbie Raikes Seeks Out The Hard Stuff And Makes It Better

Curiosity and challenge have propelled Abbie Raikes ever since she left the stage at Amherst College in 1994 with her diploma in hand and launched her career in public service just five days later. Abbie describes the moves she’s made, from Nebraska to Paris and back again, as a series of deliberate choices to get closer to big, tough, important problems. She’s now tackling early childhood development on a global scale through her company, ECD Measure, and her role as a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

We talk about why she left the law school track, the revelation that hit her while working in a Nicaraguan health clinic, the philosophies that have guided her as a researcher and entrepreneur, and the ways that Amherst nurtured her early instincts. She shares a poignant remembrance of a classmate who left too soon, and offers insights about what she hopes to prioritize in the years ahead.

Highlights:

• Abbie reflects on how a serious injury and a stubborn sense of curiosity led her to choose Amherst College over schools closer to home
• She shares what working for Senator Bob Kerrey and reading constituent letters illuminated how she could best tackle important problems
• Abbie explains what her company ECD Measure does. and why she prioritized cultural adaptability in its tools and output
• She discusses the balance between academic rigor and entrepreneurial agility, and why she seeks out discomfort and challenge
• Learn whom from the class of 1994 she’d like me to interview next

To get in touch with Abbie, you can find her on LinkedIn or through her faculty profile at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.