Editor's note: Each year, DC Inno and the Washington Business Journal spotlight some of the region’s top young innovators under the age of 25, and this year we’re featuring a diverse group of nine disruptors, philanthropists and venture capital enthusiasts determined to shake up the status quo. Click here to read the other profiles.
Jamin Friday, Product strategy consultant, AARP Services
- Age: 23
- Hometown: Burlington, North Carolina
- Current residence: D.C.
- College: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Degree: Bachelor's in management and information systems
- First job: Strategy Lead on AARP Services’ emerging businesses team
What is your role at AARP? At AARP Services (ASI), the for-profit subsidiary of AARP, I am a member of the Emerging Businesses team. In my role, I work on concept testing, intake pipeline strategies, and evaluating new business models to facilitate strategy development. A key aspect of my role is contributing to portfolio system design and program management capabilities at the enterprise level.
You started there as an intern. How did you get to where you are now? In my third year as a university student, I received the opportunity to build on previous internships, leadership roles, and coursework through an internship with the Emerging Businesses team. My contributions as an intern led to the extension of a full-time offer as the subsidiary’s first out-of-college hire.
The emerging business team at AARP is essentially the innovation incubator for the organization. Talk about some of the initiatives you are leading: One of the most recent initiatives that I led was to create a board strategy preview, which involved visualizing and standardizing the AARP Services pipeline of all in-scope projects that follow the [product development] process. The purpose of the initiative was to allow the board greater visibility into the work that we complete on a day-to-day basis to improve operational effectiveness and strengthen strategic vectors of growth. The process required the input of five departments.
While working at AARP you’ve also done fellowships where you’ve worked with investment and venture capital firms. How do you apply what you learned there to your role at AARP? Yes, after graduation, and the subsequent move to Washington, D.C., I completed two fellowships: the Labor Capital Strategies Fellowship at Georgetown University and a venture capital fellowship at IDEA Fund Partners. The value-add of completing external fellowships with firms that have a difference in scope or a different way of impacting their end user is that it has fostered a deep understanding of the importance of process improvement, network effects, and economies of scale. From what I have experienced, businesses have a lot of issues in common, and often it is easier to find major resolutions if you have increased familiarity with overlapping business structures.
Where do you see yourself in five years? I plan to pursue a graduate education in a master’s of business administration program. If the opportunity arises, I would also like to take on adjunct faculty responsibilities at a local university.
How do you unwind? My favorite pastimes include visits to state or national parks, botanical gardens, or attractions such as aquariums, nature preserves, museums and wildlife centers. I enjoy learning about the way things work.
