Shaping Innovation Leaders Info Session: Program Design & Value
Discover how IRI’s Shaping Innovation Leaders (SIL) can equip high-potential innovation leaders with better business skills and give them a competitive edge in today’s fast-changing global business environment.
Join us for an information session to learn more about Shaping Innovation Leaders, IRI’s premier executive management program in partnership with Northwestern University’s highly ranked Kellogg School of Management. During this session, you’ll gain an inside look at the curriculum, learning experience, and the value it brings to innovation leaders seeking to advance their business impact. Dr. Marian Powers, the program’s academic director, will be available to share insights into the program’s key themes and benefits and answer questions.
SIL is an intensive 5-day in-person program that delivers the management skills, concepts, and tools that R&D managers and directors need to make more effective strategic decisions and become more confident business decision-makers and communicators. Click here to learn more about SIL and apply for the 2026 program.
 
                                                        Marian Powers
Professor
Kellog School of Management
Marian Powers earned her Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana. She has served on the accounting faculty of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and The Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Since 1987, she has been an adjunct professor of accounting in the Kellogg School's Executive Education program, specializing in teaching financial reporting and analysis to executives. She is also co-author of several college accounting textbooks and in-depth cases on financial analysis. The Text and Academic Authors Association chose Financial Accounting as recipient of the 1998 Textbook Excellence Award. Her research has been published in The Accounting Review, The International Journal of Accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, The Journal of Accountancy, The Journal of Business, Finance and Accounting, and Financial Management among others. Professor Powers has co-authored three accounting and finance interactive multimedia software products. Fingraph® Financial Analyst™ is financial analysis software. Financial Analysis and Decision Making is a goal-based learning simulation focused on how to interpret financial reports. Introduction to Financial Accounting is also a goal-based simulation that uses the Financial Consequences® Model to introduce financial accounting and the financial statements to those unfamiliar with accounting. Dr. Powers has received recognition and awards for her teaching and is a part of a team that developed and delivers The Conference on Accounting Education, an annual conference. She has been active in several professional organizations including the Illinois CPA Society, American Accounting Association, European Accounting Association, International Association of Accounting Education and Research, the American Society of Women Accountants, and The Education Foundation for Women in Accounting.







