# Alexandra Wright-Gladstein

> Alexandra Wright-Gladstein, also known as Alex, is the founder and CEO of Sphere and a co-founder and former CEO of Ayar Labs. Her career connects climate-focused entrepreneurship, optical chip communications, and fossil-free workplace retirement investing. She studied economics and political science at Tufts and earned an MBA at MIT.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Sphere
- **Organizations:** Sphere (Our Sphere, Inc.), Ayar Labs, EnerNOC, MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship
- **Education:** BA in Political Science and Economics, Tufts University, MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management
- **Known for:** Co-founded Ayar Labs and served as its founding CEO., Raised Ayar Labs’ first $27 million in venture funding, plus government grants, according to SEMI., OptiBit team won the 2015 MIT Clean Energy Prize’s two grand prizes, totaling $275,000.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Graduated from Tufts; subsequently worked at EnerNOC for five years.
- **2013-2015** — Attended MIT Sloan and served as energy entrepreneurship practice leader in 2014-2015.
- **2015** — Co-founded OptiBit, renamed Ayar Labs; the team won $275,000 across two MIT Clean Energy Prize grand prizes.
- **2017** — Began seeking a climate-friendly investment option for Ayar Labs employees’ 401(k) plan.
- **2019** — Publicly identified as Ayar Labs chief strategy officer and co-founder.
- **2021** — Founded Sphere to expand access to fossil-free retirement investing.
- **2025** — Discussed Sphere fund availability on Fidelity and Schwab in an August Kingscrowd interview.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Ayar Labs and served as its founding CEO.
- Raised Ayar Labs’ first $27 million in venture funding, plus government grants, according to SEMI.
- OptiBit team won the 2015 MIT Clean Energy Prize’s two grand prizes, totaling $275,000.
- Received a Siebel Scholar award at MIT Sloan.
- Founded Sphere in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Appeared on Coffee with a Founder with Beck Bamberger to discuss Sphere and the workplace-retirement problem that prompted its creation.
- **2025-08** — Appeared on Kingscrowd’s Inside Startup Investing to discuss Fidelity and Schwab approvals and future adoption milestones.

## Links

- Website: https://oursphere.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwrightgladstein/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ga1ex
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ga1ex.bsky.social

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alexandra-wright-gladstein
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12