Jiahong Juda, Partner
Dr. Jiahong Juda is a business executive with rigorous scientific training in astrophysics and a passion for unlocking the hidden potential in the world around her. Acting on her passion, she founded BurnBright Partners, a company that works with traditionally successful executives. She helps them eliminate professional and personal roadblocks, while simultaneously unlocking their long-term potential. By combining leading academic studies, traditional and contemporary wisdom, and her direct and indirect life experiences, Jiahong has developed a practical and customizable strategic framework for successful professional and personal growth.
Dr. Juda has an atypical background. Born in China in the late 50s, she worked as a farmer during the Cultural Revolution, and later taught physics in a junior high school. In 1983 Dr. Juda came to the US, and received her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upon graduating she worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as an astrophysicist.
Interested in working on projects closer to Earth, she joined STAR (Speech Technology and Applied Research), a start-up company, in 1997. While working at STAR, she identified her entrepreneurial aspiration. She believes that an entrepreneurial mindset is a powerful tool for professional and personal development, even for those who do not wish to start their own companies. In 2000, Dr. Juda co-founded WEST (Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology), a non-profit organization committed to helping women become innovative leaders and to enhancing their professional growth.
Dr. Juda has more than 20 years of professional experience in a wide range of business environments, including start-ups, research institutions, and non-profits. She has been a member of the Board of Directors at STAR, since 2001 and is a member of WEST, the Organizational Development Learning Group and Boston Facilitators Roundtable.