Ready to Return: The Inside Scoop on Getting Back into the Workforce

Carol Fishman Cohen, Chair and Co-founder of iRelaunch, builder of corporate career re-entry programs and leader of the 75,000 person strong iRelaunch #returntowork community, is a pioneer in the career re-entry space, having presented over 400 times on career reentry topics for more than 50,000 people. Her viral TED talk "How to get back to work after a career break," has nearly 2 million views and has been translated into 30 languages. She is the host of the popular 3,2,1 iRelaunch! podcast, and is the author of the seminal Harvard Business Review article "The 40-Year-Old Intern." Cohen and the iRelaunch team produce the iRelaunch Return to Work Conferences and work with over 70 global companies on career re-entry programs, primarily involving mid-career internships. iRelaunch co-leads the STEM Re-entry Task Force with the Society of Women Engineers, which has 25 corporate members. Nearly 400 “relaunchers” have participated in Task Force member return to work programs to date, and 85% have been hired. iRelaunch co-leads a similar initiative in the financial planning sector with the CFP Center for Financial Planning, that now includes 11 companies. Cohen relaunched her own career when she returned to work at Bain Capital after an 11 year career break before co-founding iRelaunch. Her relaunch is documented in a Harvard Business School case study. A graduate of Pomona College and Harvard Business School, she lives in greater Boston. Website: iRelaunch.com. Twitter: @iRelaunch