We Are The
Purpose Company
We Are The Purpose Company
Helping People Be Their Best Selves
Building Stronger Organizations
Helping People Be Their Best Selves.
Building Stronger Organizations.
Purpose is Foundational
Our greatest innovations and deepest passions are propelled by individual and collective quests to find meaning in our work and purpose in our lives. At Kumanu, we help people and organizations build authentic connections to deeper purpose because:
Purpose powers corporate strategy
Bringing purpose to life inside an organization is a transformational experience that drives positive outcomes for a broad spectrum of stakeholders including: employees, customers, shareholders, and society.
Purpose powers people strategy
Research finds purposeful organizations outperform their peers – dramatically. Purposeful people are more open to diversity, have greater energy, are more engaged , and show greater resilience to change.
Purpose powers wellbeing strategy
A growing body of evidence proves that people with purpose live more fulfilling lives and have more resilient minds and bodies — right down to their DNA. A deep sense of purpose sparks intrinsic motivation, eliminating the need for financial incentives.
That’s Why We Built Kumanu
We are behavior designers, data scientists, technologists, and psychologists. We are researchers, communicators, innovators, and consultants.
We fuse advances in AI and machine learning, the latest behavior change and habit forming models, cutting-edge digital experience design, and real-time predictive decision support to create positive change in a way that’s both scalable and enduring.
About Our Name
We were founded as JOOL Health in 2015. As we prepared to launch our completely redesigned purpose activation platform in 2019, we began looking for a unique name — free of sound-alike confusion — that could serve as a vehicle for a global purpose movement among organizations.
Kumanu is rooted in several cultures and traditions. In Sanskrit, “manu” signals the birth of humanity. In Hawaiian, “kumu” invokes purpose. And in Maori, “kumanu” means to nurture and cherish.
To us, Kumanu is Purpose in Action.
Purpose is Foundational
Our greatest innovations and deepest passions are propelled by individual and collective quests to find meaning in our work and purpose in our lives. At Kumanu, we help people and organizations build authentic connections to deeper purpose because:
Purpose powers corporate strategy
Bringing purpose to life inside an organization is a transformational experience that drives positive outcomes for a broad spectrum of stakeholders including: employees, customers, shareholders, and society.
Purpose powers people strategy
Research finds purposeful organizations outperform their peers – dramatically. Purposeful people are more open to diversity, have greater energy, are more engaged , and show greater resilience to change.
Purpose powers wellbeing strategy
A growing body of evidence proves that people with purpose live more fulfilling lives and have more resilient minds and bodies — right down to their DNA. A deep sense of purpose sparks intrinsic motivation, eliminating the need for financial incentives.
That’s Why We Built Kumanu
We are behavior designers, data scientists, technologists, and psychologists. We are researchers, communicators, innovators, and consultants.
We fuse advances in AI and machine learning, the latest behavior change and habit forming models, cutting-edge digital experience design, and real-time predictive decision support to create positive change in a way that’s both scalable and enduring.
About Our Name
We were founded as JOOL Health in 2015. As we prepared to launch our completely redesigned purpose activation platform in 2019, we began looking for a unique name — free of sound-alike confusion — that could serve as a vehicle for a global purpose movement among organizations.
Kumanu is rooted in several cultures and traditions. In Sanskrit, “manu” signals the birth of humanity. In Hawaiian, “kumu” invokes purpose. And in Maori, “kumanu” means to nurture and cherish.
To us, Kumanu is Purpose in Action.
In the News
OUr leadership team
Vic Strecher
Founder and CEO
Vic Strecher (PhD, MPH) is a leader and visionary in the fields of purpose and wellbeing, creating new solutions that operate at the intersection of the science of behavior change and advanced technology. In 1998, Vic created Health Media pioneering Web-based “digital health coaching.”
Since January 2014, Vic has given keynote presentations about the role of purpose in life, energy, and willpower to over 1,500 organizations, providing him the opportunity to not only respond to the growing interests of the market, but to also continue to help shape it. In late 2015, Kumanu (formerly JOOL Health) was launched as a major paradigm shift in how individuals engage in the pursuit of purpose, meaning and wellbeing while offering organizations a more insightful means to support positive culture and behavior change.
OUr leadership team
Vic Strecher
Founder and CEO
Vic Strecher (PhD, MPH) is a leader and visionary in the fields of purpose and wellbeing, creating new solutions that operate at the intersection of the science of behavior change and advanced technology. In 1998, Vic created Health Media pioneering Web-based “digital health coaching.”
Since January 2014, Vic has given keynote presentations about the role of purpose in life, energy, and willpower to over 1,500 organizations, providing him the opportunity to not only respond to the growing interests of the market, but to also continue to help shape it. In late 2015, Kumanu (formerly JOOL Health) was launched as a major paradigm shift in how individuals engage in the pursuit of purpose, meaning and wellbeing while offering organizations a more insightful means to support positive culture and behavior change.
Eric Zimmerman
Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer
Eric brings global experience in design, launch, and commercialization of breakthrough digital health solutions focused on population health, connectivity, community, and collaboration. Before joining Kumanu, Eric led strategic marketing, product management, business development, and behavior design as Chief Marketing Officer at RedBrick Health. He previously held leadership roles at RelayHealth, Mirixa, Medscape and StayWell. Eric earned his B.A. in Ecology Behavior and Evolution at UCSD's Revelle College, his MPH in Behavior Science and Health Education from UCLA, and his MBA from Pepperdine University.
Lisa Schutte, PHd
Chief Technology Officer
Lisa has a PhD in engineering from Stanford University and extensive experience in the software industry. At Ideomed, she built and led the product development team and served as the company’s initial privacy and security officer for HIPAA compliance. Lisa held product management and product development leadership roles at MSC Software, Mechanical Dynamics, and Engineering Animation and earlier in her career she was a Senior Scientist at Transom Technologies.
John Ternes
Chief Financial Officer
John has extensive financial and accounting background leading startup companies like HealthMedia (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) and LLamasoft (acquired by TPG) through multiple funding rounds, significant increase in valuation, and successful navigation of sell-side and buy-side acquisitions. John holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and is a certified public accountant (CPA).
Robert Carr, MD, MPH, FACPM
Chief Medical Officer
Robert Carr was most recently Senior Vice President & Corporate Medical Director at GlaxoSmithKline and on the faculty at Georgetown University. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Miami School of Medicine and his Masters of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health. Bob also served as the President of the American College of Preventive Medicine.
Uncle Lenny
Chief Energy Officer
Famed for leading numerous team members on brisk walks around the neighborhood, Uncle Lenny's many years of dogged, paws-on experience in energy leadership are foundational to fulfilling Kumanu's purpose. Known for an intense, almost compulsive interest in nutrition (his own), Uncle Lenny leads the team in both daily calories expended and power naps — both essential ingredients for sustained energy. As Chief Energy Officer, his passion for energy is unparalleled and contagious.
Our board of directors
Vic Strecher, PHD, MPH
Founder and CEO, Kumanu
Dr. Strecher has been a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health since 1995. He founded the Center for Health Communications Research and has been leading investigator on over $45 million in grant-funded studies. Currently, as the Director for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, Dr. Strecher is helping the University of Michigan disseminate research to the real world, improving the public's health nationally and globally.
Paul M. Meister
Co-founder, Liberty Lane Partners
Paul Meister is a co-founder of Liberty Lane Partners, LLC, a private investment company with investments in technology, healthcare, and distribution-related industries and Perspecta Trust, a trust company that provides trust and investment services. Mr. Meister previously served as President of MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, a private company that owns or controls a diverse set of companies, including: Revlon, Scientific Games, Harlan Clarke Holdings Corp., vTv Therapeutics LLC, SIGA Technologies, and AM General.
Steve Escaravage
Senior Vice President, Strategic Innovation Group, Booz Allen Hamilton
Steven Escaravage leads Booz Allen’s Analytics practice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Services business, serving clients across the defense, civil, and intelligence sectors. As a leader in the Firm’s Strategic Innovation Group, Steve also leads the Firm’s investments in data science, machine learning, and AI. Areas of focus include machine learning operations, cognitive automation, and high performance computing. He holds an M.S. in operations research from George Mason University and a B.A. in mathematics from Rutgers University.
Robert Boylen
President, Crystal View Capital, L.L.C.
Bob Boylen has over 30 years of investment management experience including managing portfolios of publicly traded securities and investing in early stage privately held companies. Prior to founding Crystal View Capital, L.L.C., he was the General Partner and majority owner of a privately held registered investment advisor with assets in excess of $1.1 billion. He attended the University of Michigan studying economics and psychology.
Jeff Bistrong
Managing Director, Harris Williams & Co.
Jeffery Bistrong founded and heads Harris Williams’ Technology, Media & Telecom Group. He has led mergers and acquisitions for software, SaaS, IT services, internet, digital media, telecommunications, and technology hardware companies, and in verticals including healthcare IT, financial technology, energy and power, transportation and logistics, and not for profit. He earned dual M.B.A. and M.A. Asian Studies degrees from the University of Michigan, studied Politics at the University of York and received a B.A. degree in Government from Colby College.
Robert Carr, MD, MPH, FACPM
Chief Medical Officer
Robert Carr has extensive experience in healthcare, pharmaceutical and consumer products businesses. He was most recently Senior Vice President & Corporate Medical Director at GlaxoSmithKline. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Miami School of Medicine and his Masters of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health.