Title Co-Founder & Director Company Boston Scientific Bio John Abele is co-founder of Boston Scientific, a leading international innovator of solutions to medical problems. He is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive medicine which has profoundly improved patient outcomes worldwide. His Wisconsin-based Argosy Foundation has contributed more than $100 million in grants and support to enable creative and entrepreneurial approaches that empower and inspire people to make a positive impact on their communities. Because he is sensitive to the risk of financial support producing negative effects such as disempowerment, entitlement, bureaucracy and compartmentalization, he likes to focus on careful design thinking for the implementation of a project to assure that there is continuous learning, effective collaboration and benefits that extend beyond the project itself. He particularly enjoys culture changing projects. One of his favorites is FIRST Robotics, (www.usfirst.org), which runs a range of robotics competitions from grade to high school, for kids to make being science-literate cool and fun. Millions of kids have experienced what it takes to work on a team, with mentors, completing an impossible project with too little time, too few resources and being a gracious professional while doing it. From 2002 to 2010, he served as their Chairman and continues to serve as Vice-Chairman. He lives in Shelburne, Vermont with his wife Mary and dog, Kadie.