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Senior Advisor, Vice President of Strategy & Operations
Indiana University Launch Accelerator for Biosciences (IU LAB)
Jillian Turner describes her role at the Indiana University Launch Accelerator for Biosciences as “the convener.” In her new position, she develops partnerships and provides the framework to “identify the new biomarker, commercialize the next device and train the life science leaders of tomorrow.” In her previous job at the Indiana Economic Development Corp., she built Indiana’s economic development strategy for Korea. Over many trips there from 2019 to 2024, “We built a strategic Indiana-Korea economic partnership that brought billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs to our state.” Also at IEDC, she developed and implemented a foreign direct investment strategy to grow key industries—including semiconductors and life sciences—resulting in over $39 billion in capital investment.
Getting here: Turner always wanted to be a diplomat, “but growing up in Shelbyville, I didn’t have connections in Indianapolis, let alone D.C.” After graduating from IU, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for a non-governmental organization, or NGO, before working for the State Department. There, she joined the secretary of state’s advance travel team, focusing on conflict and multiparty negotiations. She returned home to Indiana in 2019 as director of international programs for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., working her way up to senior vice president of global investments and partnerships before joining IU Lab.
First job: Babysitting kids from church “when I was way too young to. I recall a mom telling me not to put dish soap on a pizza stone, and I thought, ‘I’m not allowed to use the oven.’”
Givebacks: member, IU Hamilton Lugar School Emerging Leaders Council, IU Center for International Business Education and Research, and Indiana Council on World Affairs
Meaningful moment: Designing and leading former Gov. Eric Holcomb’s trip to Ukraine in September 2024. “We drafted, negotiated and ultimately signed the first state-level memorandum of understanding on economic, academic and cultural programming in Kyiv.”•
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