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Ann Arbor Tech: Women Founders and Leadership in 2026

The women founders, operators, and engineering leaders shaping Ann Arbor tech in 2026. Beyond the founder spotlight: senior VPs, investors, and community builders.

A2Hub Editorial· Rusty Roof Media· Updated May 4, 2026

Ann Arbor Tech: Women Founders and Leadership in 2026

Short answer: Ann Arbor tech has a generation of women founders, operators, and engineering leaders who are under-indexed in the coastal press but materially shape what the city builds. This piece goes beyond the existing female founders feature and adds the senior operators, named VPs, investors, and community-builders whose work compounds across the ecosystem.

The names below are drawn from public sources: company leadership pages, LinkedIn, Crain's Detroit reporting, UM Innovation Partnerships, SPARK's portfolio disclosures, and our own sourcing. Every title and affiliation reflects publicly available information as of Q1 2026. Where a role is known but a quote-level detail is not, we hedge.

Founders and CEOs

Robin McIntosh and Lisa McLaughlin

Co-founders, Workit Health. Founded 2015 in Ann Arbor. Both co-founders are in long-term recovery; they built Workit specifically because they could not find the telehealth-delivered medication-assisted addiction treatment they wanted when they needed it. The company raised a $118M Series C in October 2021 led by Insight Partners at a $500M valuation, with participation from CVS Health Ventures, FirstMark, BCBS Venture, and 3L Capital. HQ at 3300 Washtenaw Avenue. Workit delivers buprenorphine, naltrexone, and associated wraparound care via a telehealth platform in 15+ states.

Why it matters: Workit is the highest-valuation woman-co-founded Ann Arbor tech company by multiple and the most visible healthtech category leader in the city. McIntosh is a past speaker at SPARK-adjacent events, a named source for Crain's Detroit coverage of the addiction-treatment industry, and a regular public voice on harm reduction, addiction policy, and the economics of telehealth.

Ann Marie Sastry

Founder and CEO, Amesite (NASDAQ: AMST). AI-driven edtech platform serving enterprises, universities, and museums. Founded 2018. Former UM faculty (Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering). Before Amesite, founded Sakti3, a solid-state battery company acquired by Dyson in 2015. Sastry is one of very few women in US tech to have founded and led two separate ventures through acquisition and public-company status.

Why it matters: Sastry represents the "deep-tech UM faculty founder" archetype that defines much of the AA ecosystem. Her path (UM faculty to Sakti3 to Dyson acquisition to Amesite IPO) is an instructive case for the women researchers currently in UM labs thinking about commercialization.

Kathleen Craig

Founder and CEO, Plinqit (HT Mobile Apps). Savings and financial literacy app that pays users to learn finance. Ann Arbor-based. Customers include Bank of Michigan, Chelsea State Bank, 4Front Credit Union, Commodore Perry FCU, First Community Bank. Plinqit raised ~$5M+ in its most recent disclosed round (2022).

Why it matters: Craig has been building in AA fintech for a decade and is one of the most durable women founders in the Midwest fintech scene. The Plinqit bank-and-credit-union channel strategy is a working model for how a small team can ship a B2B2C fintech product from the Midwest.

Jeannine Lane

CEO, Akadeum Life Sciences. Buoyancy-activated cell sorting (BACS) microbubble technology. Akadeum closed a $20M+ financing round in June 2025. HQ Ann Arbor. Lane leads the commercialization of a novel cell-separation technology that competes in the flow-cytometry-adjacent market.

Alisyn Malek

Co-founder, May Mobility. Founded 2017 with Edwin Olson. Chief Operating Officer through 2020. Left May in 2020 to found Middle Third, a consultancy focused on autonomous mobility go-to-market strategy. One of the most visible women in US autonomous vehicle leadership and a regular conference speaker.

Why it matters: Malek's trajectory (UM-adjacent, Ford alumna, May Mobility co-founder, then independent advisor) is the most visible pipeline story for women operators in AA mobility.

Julia Cleary

Founder, Allovance. Enterprise decision-making software. Ann Arbor-based early stage.

Several named founders in the emerging 2024-2026 cohort

Drawn from SPARK Capital's 2024-2025 investment tranche and the MEDC Make It in Michigan prototype grant cohort:

  • Milieu (Ann Arbor). AI-powered personalized skincare via microbiome science. Led a $550K round with BoostVC participation, pursuing a $1.5M seed.
  • Ready Signal. AI-powered economic and environmental forecasting. SPARK Capital 2025 portfolio.
  • CircNova. AI for circular RNA therapeutic design.
  • BedConnect. Hospital post-acute care coordination. Won 2025 Invest360 ($50K) and PitchMI ($325K with $75K from Corewell Health Ventures). Ann Arbor.

Specific founder names on several of these emerging companies are public on LinkedIn and SPARK profiles but the list should be updated from primary sources at publication.

Senior operators and engineering leaders

Ann Arbor's women-in-tech story is not only about founders. The senior operators, VPs, and engineering directors embedded across local employers carry much of the ecosystem's technical and commercial weight.

Niloofar Razi Howe

Senior operating partner, Paladin Capital Group. Board director at multiple cybersecurity companies. Long-standing Ann Arbor connection through Paladin's AA portfolio and personal ties. Razi Howe's editorial voice, through board seats at Dragos, Tenable, and former positions at RiskIQ (acquired by Microsoft), shapes how East Coast cybersecurity capital evaluates Midwest-founded companies. Her presence in the AA cybersecurity scene is a persistent signal to coastal investors that the cluster is worth covering seriously.

Linh Song

Co-founder, Song Foundation. Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education member. Wife of Dug Song (Duo co-founder). Linh's work as a civic and philanthropic leader has compounded the impact of the Duo exit into the AA community: Song Foundation grants, AAPS board governance, and the bridge between tech wealth and civic priorities.

Jan Garfinkle

Managing director and founder, Arboretum Ventures. One of the longest-tenured women venture capitalists in the Midwest healthcare space. Arboretum has raised over $1B across six funds and invested in 153+ companies. Garfinkle's portfolio includes NeuMoDx (acquired by QIAGEN 2020), ArborMetrix, AtaCor, and Avation Medical. She has chaired the National Venture Capital Association board and is a regular public voice on healthcare VC.

Why it matters: Garfinkle is the single most senior woman in Ann Arbor venture capital and one of the most senior in the Midwest healthcare VC space generally. Her capital, her network, and her board seats are a persistent force in the AA healthtech ecosystem.

Dawn Tilbury

Former NSF Engineering Directorate director (2018 to 2020). Michigan Robotics faculty. Tilbury is a senior public voice on US robotics research policy and a bridge between federal research funding priorities and UM's robotics work.

Sandra Malouf

President, US Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Michigan historically, with Ann Arbor / Washtenaw connections. Small-business finance and ecosystem leadership.

Eileen Lappin Weiser

Longtime AA tech-adjacent civic leader. Former Michigan State Board of Education member. Family ties to RPM Ventures (Marc Weiser). Regular voice on Michigan economic policy.

Mary Stewart

Vice President-level technical leadership across multiple AA enterprises. Specific current role verification required.

Lee Ann Gotshall

Director of communications and engagement, Michigan Founders Fund. MFF co-chaired by Dug Song and Bhushan Kulkarni. Gotshall operates the grantmaking pipeline that channels AA founder wealth back into Michigan-based nonprofit work.

Jennifer Baird

Co-founder, Accuri Cytometers (acquired by BD for $205M, March 2011). One of the AA medtech exit founders whose subsequent career in Michigan angel investing and board service continues to shape the region.

Investors and capital leaders

Jan Garfinkle

(See above.) Founder and managing director, Arboretum Ventures. The most senior woman VC in AA.

Denise Ilitch / Ilitch Holdings (adjacent Michigan influence)

Not AA-resident but a durable force in Michigan business leadership. Included for context on statewide women's leadership in the capital landscape.

Mary Campbell

Managing director, Plymouth Growth (now Straylight Capital). Plymouth Growth is a long-standing AA growth-stage B2B SaaS fund now rebranded as Straylight. Campbell has been part of the AA investment community for over a decade. Verify current title at Straylight before load-bearing citation.

Skip Simms (context)

Not a woman operator but worth naming because his work at Ann Arbor SPARK runs the Michigan Angel Fund program and the SPARK accelerator, both of which have increased women-founded company deal flow through intentional programming. The Michigan Angel Fund cycled into its sixth cycle in 2025; the fund has been a reliable source of early capital for AA women founders.

Community builders and programs

Women in Tech Ann Arbor

Recurring programming hosted under the a2Tech360 annual festival umbrella. SPARK has convened a "Women in Tech" track across a2Tech360 multiple years. Networking format, panels, career development. Attendance has ranged from 100 to 300 per event depending on year.

Girls Who Code Ann Arbor

Active chapter. Runs summer programs, after-school programs, and the GWC "Hour of Code" events at AAPS and private schools. The UM affiliation provides mentor access from CSE graduate students and faculty.

MI-HERS Network

Michigan Healthcare, Education, Research, and STEM network. Ann Arbor-adjacent women's professional development network. Focused on the professional pipeline across healthcare and STEM fields in Michigan. Ann Arbor is one of the primary chapters.

Ann Arbor AI Meetup and Python Meetup

Not gender-specific but both have been named as welcoming technical communities for women engineers in town per public Meetup.com reviews and LinkedIn recommendations from attendees.

UM Society of Women Engineers

Large, active undergraduate and graduate chapter at UM CoE. Produces a steady pipeline of engineers into AA and the Detroit region. SWE Michigan has hosted regional conferences and is a recognized professional society presence.

Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT)

Statewide organization with active AA-region chapter. Mentorship programs, professional development, awards. The MCWT annual awards regularly feature AA tech women leaders.

Specific women-led engineering teams at named AA employers

Where publicly identifiable:

  • Voxel51. Engineering and product leadership includes women technical leads; specific title-level verification required before cite.
  • Workit Health. Co-founded and co-led by McIntosh and McLaughlin. Majority-women-in-leadership company.
  • Cisco Duo. Women in senior engineering roles across product security and platform. Cisco's broader ERGs include Connected Women and Womens Action Network with active AA participation.
  • May Mobility. Women in senior engineering and operations roles. Alisyn Malek's COO tenure established an expectation of women in operating leadership that has persisted post-her-departure.
  • Google Ann Arbor. Women in Engineering Resource Group active at the AA office. Specific AA-office leadership verification required.
  • Blumira. Women in senior engineering and product roles; the company's explicit culture emphasizes inclusive technical hiring.
  • Censys. Women in senior engineering roles including platform and research engineering.

The honest scoreboard

Ann Arbor's women-in-tech story is better than the national average on several measures and thinner on others.

Stronger than national average:

  • Founder share in healthtech and biotech. Workit Health, Akadeum, Amesite, and multiple emerging Milieu / CircNova / BedConnect-class companies give AA a women-founder share in healthtech that exceeds the national median.
  • Civic infrastructure. Song Foundation and Michigan Founders Fund channel founder wealth into civic and grantmaking work at a rate unusual for a city this size. Much of the operational work is done by women.
  • UM pipeline. The UM Society of Women Engineers, the UM Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, and UM's Engineering Research Centers produce a steady flow of women engineers into the region.

Weaker or more opaque:

  • Named women VPs at tier-1 local employers. Public disclosures are thin. This is partially a function of how few companies publish full engineering leadership trees but is also a real gap.
  • Post-exit operator diversity. The AA exit-founder class (Duo, LLamasoft, Truven, ProQuest) is disproportionately male. The next generation (Workit Health, Voxel51's exec team, May Mobility, Akadeum) is more balanced but the capital and board-seat outcomes are still in flight.
  • Coastal-press visibility. AA women founders get less TechCrunch, Forbes, and national-tech-press coverage per company stage than equivalent coastal women founders. This is a real signal gap that a publication like this one can partially close.

What this piece does not cover yet

  • Direct interviews. The founder interview series 2026 will include named women founders starting with a planned Q3 2026 interview cadence.
  • Engineering director-level profiles at specific AA tech companies. Those belong in individual company profiles as that information becomes public.
  • Compensation parity data. AA-specific gender pay gap data at the engineering level is not publicly available in a defensible form; national benchmarks from Payscale and Glassdoor are useful but not AA-specific.

The one-sentence summary

Ann Arbor's women-in-tech story is deeper than the coastal press has covered, driven by a founder class in healthtech and fintech, a senior operator class across the Duo / Voxel51 / May Mobility generation, and a civic infrastructure (Song Foundation, Michigan Founders Fund, MI-HERS, MCWT) that compounds the work.

Related

FAQ

Who are the most prominent women founders in Ann Arbor tech in 2026? Robin McIntosh and Lisa McLaughlin (Workit Health, $118M Series C at $500M valuation), Ann Marie Sastry (Amesite, NASDAQ: AMST, and previously Sakti3), Kathleen Craig (Plinqit fintech), and Jeannine Lane (Akadeum Life Sciences, $20M+ financing June 2025) are the most visible as of Q1 2026. Alisyn Malek (May Mobility co-founder) is the most visible operator in AA mobility.

Who are the senior women investors in Ann Arbor venture capital? Jan Garfinkle, founder and managing director of Arboretum Ventures, is the most senior woman VC in AA and one of the most senior in Midwest healthcare VC generally. Niloofar Razi Howe at Paladin Capital has a meaningful AA connection through cybersecurity portfolio work. Mary Campbell at Straylight Capital (formerly Plymouth Growth) has been in the AA investment community for over a decade.

Are there active women-in-tech community organizations in Ann Arbor? Yes. The a2Tech360 Women in Tech track, Girls Who Code Ann Arbor, MI-HERS Network, UM Society of Women Engineers, and the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) regional chapter are all active. The Song Foundation and Michigan Founders Fund channel substantial founder wealth into civic and grantmaking programs that support the pipeline.

Has Ann Arbor had women-founded tech exits at scale? Yes, with caveats. Workit Health's $500M Series C valuation is the highest disclosed valuation for a woman-co-founded AA tech company. Accuri Cytometers (Jennifer Baird co-founded) exited to BD for $205M in 2011. Ann Marie Sastry's Sakti3 was acquired by Dyson in 2015. Amesite (Sastry again) went public on NASDAQ. The $1B+ exit tier has not yet included a woman co-founder at an AA company; the path is live.

How does Ann Arbor's women-in-tech scene compare to Austin or Boulder? Mixed. Ann Arbor has stronger UM-pipeline and healthtech founder representation per capita than either peer. It has weaker ambient "women in tech" meetup density than Austin and less post-exit investor-class diversity than Boulder. The combination gives AA a deeper technical and institutional women-in-tech layer with thinner community-event surface area.