# Carol Fishman Cohen

> Carol Fishman Cohen is the CEO and co-founder of iRelaunch, an author and a career-reentry advocate whose own return to finance after an 11-year break became a Harvard Business School case study. Since co-founding iRelaunch in 2007, she has helped employers build return-to-work programs, co-led a decade-long STEM re-entry initiative, hosted the 3,2,1 iRelaunch podcast and argued that a career break can be treated as a talent signal rather than a defect.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at iRelaunch
- **Organizations:** iRelaunch, Bain Capital, Sankaty Advisors, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Flextronics, Society of Women Engineers
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Economics, Pomona College, MBA, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Built iRelaunch's career-reentry community to more than 125,000 members., Worked through iRelaunch with more than 350 clients on career-reentry programs and programming., Delivered a TEDx talk with nearly 3.8 million plays and translations into 30 languages.

## Career timeline

- **1985** — Completed an MBA at Harvard Business School and subsequently worked at Flextronics.
- **1987** — Joined Drexel Burnham Lambert's Boston Corporate Finance Group.
- **1990** — Began an 11-year career break after Drexel collapsed while she was on maternity leave.
- **2001-2002** — Returned to full-time work in a financial analysis role at Sankaty Advisors, a Bain Capital division.
- **2003** — Her return became the subject of the Harvard Business School case Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry.
- **2007** — Co-authored Back on the Career Track with Vivian Steir Rabin and co-founded iRelaunch.
- **2012** — Published The 40-Year-Old Intern in Harvard Business Review.
- **2015** — Delivered the TEDxBeaconStreet talk How to get back to work after a career break and co-founded the STEM Re-entry Task Force with the Society of Women Engineers.
- **2021** — Published Return-to-Work Programs Come of Age in Harvard Business Review.
- **2023** — Shortlisted for a Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Award in the Ideas into Practice category.
- **2025** — Completed nearly ten years of co-leading the STEM Re-entry Task Force, which involved 44 employer members.
- **2026** — Continued leading iRelaunch and promoting its 40th Return to Work Conference, scheduled for October 6-8.

## Achievements

- Built iRelaunch's career-reentry community to more than 125,000 members.
- Worked through iRelaunch with more than 350 clients on career-reentry programs and programming.
- Delivered a TEDx talk with nearly 3.8 million plays and translations into 30 languages.
- Addressed more than 1,500 audiences as a speaker.
- Co-founded and co-led the STEM Re-entry Task Force with the Society of Women Engineers from 2015 to 2025; 44 employer members participated.
- Named to the 2017 Thinkers50 Radar and shortlisted for Thinkers50 awards in 2017 and 2023.
- Received the 2017 Society of Women Engineers President's Award, the 2018 National Military Spouse Impact Award and the 2019 Target Storyteller's Award.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — iRelaunch plans to hold its 40th Return to Work Conference from October 6-8, 2026.
- **2026-08** — Her current iRelaunch biography reports a community of more than 125,000, over 350 client organizations and nearly 3.8 million plays for her TED talk.
- **2023-10** — Published Tips for Navigating a 60-Year Career in Harvard Business Review Ascend.

## Links

- Website: https://www.irelaunch.com/about/our-team/carol-fishman-cohen
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolfishmancohen
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/iRelaunch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iRelaunch

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/carol-cohen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26