Fearless Force for Change

01 Sep 2011

Fearless Force for Change

Re: David Linn (MBA 2000); Ted Seides (MBA 1999); Matthew Spielman (MBA 1999)

Topics: Health-Health Care and Treatment Research-Research and Development Innovation-Innovation Leadership Leadership-Leadership Style Sports-Cycling

Jennifer Goodman Linn (MBA ’99) left a legacy of hope to those who knew her and to the thousands who have been and will continue to be touched by Cycle for Survival (cycleforsurvival.org), the organization she founded with her husband, Dave Linn (MBA ’00), to fund research and clini-cal trials. Jen died July 20 at the age of 40.

Diagnosed with a soft-tissue sarcoma (a relatively rare cancer) in December 2004, Linn endured chemotherapy and surgeries during the initial phase of her treatment, a regimen that would have flattened most patients. Instead, she regularly attended indoor cycling sessions at a New York City fitness center. Struck by the lack of research funding for so-called rare cancers, she decided to translate her passion for spinning into a force for change.

Cycle for Survival, the organization born from that resolve, launched in 2007. An HBS case coauthored by classmates Ted Seides and Matt Spielman chronicles how an annual, one-day, grassroots indoor cycling event grew to become a multicity international event that has raised more than $9 million for cancer research.