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In just a few years, the face of the American C-suite will change forever,” said Patricia Mota, Board Chair of digitalundivided and CEO, HACE. " We're proud to stand with our partners at Cosmopolitan and amplify these extraordinary women entrepreneurs. They are the future of the C-suite".
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Jessica Giles
Editor-in-Chief, Cosmopolitan
Lisa Burton
Vice President & Investor, HearstLab
Patricia Mota
Board Chair of digitalundivided and CEO, HACE
Leah Williams
CEO, digitalUndivided
Editor-in-Chief, Cosmopolitan
Jessica Giles
Jessica Giles
Jessica Giles is the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, the largest young women’s media brand in the world. In this position, Giles is committed to serving Gen Z and millennial women the information they need to live their fullest lives—timely breakdowns of what's happening in the news, smart advice on everything from 401Ks to fashion trends to sexual health, deeply reported original features, and more, overseeing all editorial content across print, digital, social, video, and innovative brand extensions.
Giles has been named Editor of the Year by Adweek (2019) and among the Women to Watch by AdAge (2019). Under her leadership, Cosmopolitan has been celebrated as the Hottest in Fashion by Adweek (2021) and was the only media brand named to the inaugural Fast Company Brands that Matter (2021) list recognizing companies and nonprofits that continue to have an undeniable impact on business and culture.
Prior to becoming Cosmopolitan’s youngest editor-in-chief in October 2018, Giles served as the digital director of Cosmopolitan, where she led the site to its highest readership of all time. Earlier in her career, she worked as the digital director at Marie Claire, features editor at Teen Vogue and held various editorial positions at Glamour.
A prominent speaker, Giles has presented at events including the Forbes Women’s Summit, Matrix Awards, Marie Claire Power Trip, and NYU Summer Publishing Institute and has appeared as a guest on podcasts and television programs including Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Vice President & Investor, HearstLab
Lisa Burton
Lisa Burton
Lisa Burton Ph.D. is the Vice President of HearstLab, where she provides investment and support for early-stage, women-led startups that innovate across media, data and technology. At the Lab, she identifies prospective startups to invest in and supports the portfolio companies in residence, including advising on data science and product.
Lisa built data science teams at multiple startups before founding a startup that leveraged social media data to help brands understand and connect with their customers online. She holds a Ph.D. and master's degree (S.M.) from MIT and B.S. from Duke, all in Mechanical Engineering. Lisa volunteers to support women in business and STEM through NYU Summer Launchpad, Springboard Enterprises and the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation. She is an Advisory Board Member of Duke University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and serves on the NYU Innovation Fund’s Investment Review Board. Lisa has received a number of awards recognizing her work in engineering and entrepreneurship including the ASME Kate Gleason Award for distinguished female leaders, the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award, and the MIT Luis de Florez Award for Outstanding Ingenuity and Creativity.
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Board Chair of digitalundivided and CEO, HACE
Patricia Mota
Patricia Mota
Patricia is an innovative trailblazer, start-up entrepreneur, author, connector, public speaker, and compassionate leader with a particular strength that exemplifies the mission of the Hispanic Alliance of Career Enhancement (HACE) to positively impact the workforce by cultivating the pipeline of Latinx/a/o and underrepresented talent and providing insight, access, and support to their careers. Patricia serves as the President & CEO for HACE, leading strategy, fundraising & development, leadership programs, and expanding organizational reach on a national and international scale. Patricia’s story of transition is one that is representative of many of the stories of those positively impacted by programs and opportunities through HACE.
When she was asked to step in as the interim CEO in 2014, her mission was clear: maintain the programs, lead by example, and create a new path for the future CEO. She built the strategic plan and deployed it that same year. Less than 1 year after accepting the interim CEO opportunity, she was the likely choice as she identified with the members, learned from colleagues, was creative at turnaround and assumed the role as CEO. In her first year, she grew new partnerships by $1.5M, increased membership by 67%, expanded the Mujeres de HACE women’s leadership program from one to eight cities, broadened the spectrum of the El Futuro High School program, and kickstarted a pilot of the HACE Leadership Academy – Nonprofit Series, impacting the lives of over 25,000 students and professionals. Today, the budget has quadrupled, membership has tripled to nearly 100k, with an expanded reach across 35 states and 7 countries, and enhanced leadership programming to include senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and multicultural participation.
Patricia remains fixed on member needs, revenue turnaround and growth, all the while focusing internally on a staff that had to shift to a remote-only workplace during one of the highest growth years since the inception of HACE. The year 2020 saw her leadership take a front seat to increasing activity around a newly virtual workforce, where she acted with urgency, communicated with transparency, sought diverse opinions from her team and board and led with empathy, ultimately leading a thriving organization during such a tumultuous time. In 2021, Patricia added Co-Founder to her list of accolades, collaborating to build SHENIXTM, a FinTech startup that is leading the development of a financial tool to help close the wealth gap by providing culturally relevant financial education, career development tools, and resources to the underserved, the underbanked or unbanked, starting with Latinas.
Patricia has a strong history of serving in capacities that garner access to education, meaningful jobs, and advancement, also reflected by her service on various boards and accolades; serving on the Associated Colleges of Illinois, Indiana University’s O’Neil School of Public Affairs Distinguished Alumni Council, Chicago Theological Seminary Board of Trustee, Illinois Treasurer Charitable Trust Board and most recently awarded the SHERO award by the Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW) in 2021, the Nonprofit HR Top Leaders to Watch in 2020, and Crain’s Chicago Business Top 20 Most Powerful Latinos in Chicago in 2019.
Patricia earned a double Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University-Bloomington in Spanish and Communication & Culture and a Master’s in Public Affairs (MPA) in Public Management from Indiana University’s School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA)-Indianapolis, along with executive leadership certificates from both Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Patricia is also a certified coach and Insights Discovery© licensed practitioner, and a proud 2022 World Economic Forum Delegate, 2019 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and Aspen Institute Festival of Ideas Scholar.
Patricia is a proud Mexican-American, Latina, daughter of immigrants and first-generation college student. She is a fitness enthusiast, health and lifestyle aficionado. She grew up in East Chicago, Indiana, and currently resides in Chicago.
CEO, digitalUndivided
Leah Williams
Leah Williams, CEO of digitalundivided.
Leah Williams is the CEO of digitalundivided. Leah joins digitalundivided as it shifts into high gear to disrupt the funding pipelines and institutional investment by connecting digitalundivided’s pipeline of Latina and Black women entrepreneurs of ready-to-scale aggressive growth companies. This pipeline has companies ready for angel investing, local investors, and impact investors, along with early-stage, pre-seed, and seed-ready investments. Leah is leading digitalundivided in its next chapter of expanding the entrepreneurial ecosystem to become where Latina and Black women entrepreneurs thrive, and investors maximize social impact and financial returns. She continues digitalundivided’s rich history dedicated to research and serving its founder community while seeking to deepen the educational, leadership, and business services provided to founders.
Leah is an experienced C-level executive. Before digitalundivided, Leah served over 20 years in the C-Suite. She has held titles of CEO, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Executive Director, Co-Founder, General Counsel, and Western Regional Director. Her executive experience spans companies of all sizes, from $200+ million to startups, new ventures, and quasi-governmental organizations.
Leah is a connector of people, initiatives, and organizations. Her career blazes a path in business leadership, entrepreneurship, law, nonprofit excellence, policy, public affairs, strategic communications, and innovative partnerships. Leah’s executive and community leadership spans industries, including the arts, business, education, entrepreneurship, government, law, media, healthcare, public health, and public service. Her curriculum vitae boasts advising judges on California and federal courts, LawMedia Group, Public Health Institute, and WestEd, amongst others. Her dedication to lifting up all communities is highlighted in her leadership as co-founder of the Black Alumni Association of Stanford Law School, her service as a member of Access and Fairness Council of California State Bar Association, and as Commissioner on WASC Senior Colleges and Universities Commission; along with her volunteerism as a board member of many nonprofits, including, World Arts West, Friends of the Children (San Francisco Chapter), Presidio Hill School, and St. Paul’s Episcopal School.
Leah is a nationally sought-after thought leader and author. She has been a panelist on the “Business Roundtable on Student Debt” at the White House and the “America’s College Promise Roundtable” with Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden. Leah has shared expertise on a wide range of topics, from entrepreneurship to economic growth through racial inclusion, to philanthropy, to education, to business and executive leadership. Her publications have graced SFGate.com, The Recorder, Benefit Magazine, and CityFlight Magazine. Ms. Williams previously hosted and produced Benefit Radio on KKGN Green 960 AM, where she interviewed community, civic, and business leaders on philanthropic community impact.
Leah holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Culture from U.C. Irvine. Additionally, Leah has a certificate in Management Development for Entrepreneurs from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. She has clerked for the Honorable Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, and externed for the Honorable Benjamin Aranda, California trial court.
Leah is most proud of being the mother of two daughters and of the family with her husband that includes her bonus/stepson, two Labradoodles, and close-knit family members from Canada to California, to the East Coast, to many states in between.
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SUMA WEALTH
Beatriz Acevedo & Mary Hernandez
Beatriz Acevedo & Mary Hernandez
Beatriz Acevedo is the CEO and co-founder of SUMA Wealth, a FinTech company dedicated to closing the wealth gap for U.S. Latinos. SUMA Wealth was founded in 2020 amid the disproportionate financial hardships faced by Latinos during the pandemic.
The company’s vision is to bridge the wealth gap and foster financial inclusion within the Latino community. As founder & CEO of SUMA Wealth, Beatriz's vision is to ensure Latinos have access to resources to build wealth. Beatriz believes that being represented in numbers is not enough and until Latinos have economic power they won’t have true power in this country.
Beatriz Acevedo has been recognized as a trailblazing Latina entrepreneur, honored as the Inc’s Top 100 Female Founders and LinkedIn’s Top Voices to follow. Beatriz is consistently featured on Most Powerful Latinas lists for Alpha and Hispanic executives for her outstanding contributions to the Latino community and for driving positive change in her community.
Mary Hernandez, COO at SUMA Wealth, has over 15 years of experience in scaling digital media businesses. She co-founded a startup dedicated to Latinas, was instrumental in growing mitú to own the US Latinx and LATAM markets, and is working hard to do the same for SUMA Wealth, a platform dedicated to building generational wealth for Latinx communities.
MYAVANA
Candace Mitchell Haris
Candace Mitchell Harris
Candace Mitchell Harris is the Founder & CEO of MYAVANA, the world's leading textured hair analysis technology company and the pioneer of personalized hair care. Her mission is to transform the hair care industry through science and technology and help consumers take the stress out of caring for textured hair.
MYAVANA was founded in 2012 after Candace went natural and experienced much trial and error in finding the right hair care products, which led to inventing MYAVANA’s HairAI technology and has analyzed over 5 billion hair strands to date and provides personalized, science-based, data-driven product recommendations to help your unique textured hair thrive. As founder & CEO of MYAVANA, Candace oversees business development, technology development, and strategic partnerships.
Candace believes that when you awaken to self-acceptance and self-love through one’s hair journey, you experience the transformation defined as “hair nirvana” which is the meaning of MYAVANA. To date, Candace has been recognized by the Georgia Tech College of Computing Hall of Fame as a Rising Star, honored as a Top 40 Under 40 Beauty Innovator by WWD, listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 in Retail & E-Commerce, and featured by Inc. Magazine, TechCrunch, ESSENCE, Black Enterprise, and Marie Claire’s Next Big Thing In Beauty.
SEARSHARE
Courtney Caldwell
Courtney Caldwell
Courtney Caldwell is the CEO of ShearShare, an innovative B2B marketplace that pioneered space-as-a-service for the beauty and barbering industry.
ShearShare was founded in 2015 and launched in 2017 when Courtney and her husband were trying to solve their own problem–filling the 40% of salon and barbershop space that goes unused everyday. Their initial goal was to help fellow salon owners monetize their excess capacity and fellow pros access professional space to work on demand. Today, their efforts are redefining the future of work for the salon and barbershop industry worldwide. As co-founder & CEO of ShearShare, Courtney oversees the strategic direction and overall growth of the company. She makes critical decisions that impact ShearShare’s success and provides leadership to drive the business forward.
Courtney believes that access to entrepreneurship for all actually benefits us all. To date, Courtney has been named one of the 82 Black Founders to Watch in 2023, a 2022 Hype Hair magazine 30 for 30, a patent holder, a Woman of Influence in Innovation by Buffalo Business First, a Power 100 Business Leader of Color, is the first African-American female to be inducted into the Texas Military Institute Hall of Fame, Inc. magazine 2019 Female Founders 100, is the first African-American female to be named SMU Cox School of Business Outstanding Young Alumna, Ada Lovelace Female Tech Founder of the Year, Dallas Business Journal Women in Technology, and the L’Oreal Women in Digital NEXT Generation Award winner. ShearShare was named a 2022 World-Changing Ideas App by Fast Company, Tech. Co’s Startup of the Year, and is the first Texas startup to win Google Demo Day. Courtney has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Black Enterprise, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., and TechCrunch, and recently summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, in seven days, alongside her husband and cofounder, Dr. Tye.
CURAMIA TEQUILA
Dafna Mizrahi
Dafna Mizrahi
Dafna Mizrahi is the co-founder and CEO of Curamia Tequila. Her mission is to reclaim the spirit of Mexico, Tequila in the most beautiful and authentic way one that is accessible to all while being mindful of our earth and the people of Mexico.
Curamia was founded in June of 2021 in the middle of a pandemic when Dafna as a professional chef and event planner decided to make tequila out of an uncertain time. Her goal of bringing true Mexico and every aspect of her culture to life along with her passion for food and hospitality presented themselves through Curamia. Curamia Tequila stands for My Cure. As a founder and CEO of Curamia, Dafna’s responsibilities extend beyond making major corporate decisions, managing overall operations, and setting the company's strategic direction. Not one day is ever the same in the world of Dafna as she wears many hats to ensure the success of Curamia and the growth of every member of her team.
Dafna believes that Curamia Is much more than Tequila, it is a breakthrough in the spirits industry as well as an opportunity to share an authentic Mexican lifestyle and the beauty of her culture. Curamia Tequila is her quest to bring American consumers the highest quality, smoothest tasting tequila free of additives at an affordable price. She is doing so in a unique way, creating a company that is female-founded, with an investment group comprised of only women and employing over 95% women in the distillery back in Mexico. She wants to disrupt a category long-known for being male-dominated and empower women in the spirits business with the introduction of Curamia. Dafna has been recognized by Forbes magazine among many others for her drive and ambition as she changes the spirits industry and the perception of tequila one bottle at a time.
SUNTHETICS
Daniela Blanco
Daniela Blanco
Daniela Blanco is the founder and CEO of Sunthetics, a company commercializing AI software for 15x faster development of new medicine and chemicals. Her mission is to bridge the gap between AI and chemistry to make the chemical industry more efficient and sustainable.
Sunthetics was founded in 2020 when Daniela did her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and recognized the need for innovative AI solutions. As founder & CEO of Sunthetics, Daniela is the inventor of Sunthetics' technology and currently leads its commercialization in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Daniela believes that the ideas everyone thinks are too crazy, are precisely the ones that will change the world. To date, Daniela has been named Forbes 30 Under 30 North America, Top Innovator Under 35 by MIT Technology Review, Top Female Founder by Inc Magazine, and more. Daniela has been an invited speaker at the TED stage and the United Nations. Her story is featured on NatGeo's documentary Own the Room, streaming on Disney+.
CHERRY BLOSSOM INTIMATES
Jasmine Jones
Jasmine Jones
Jasmine Jones is the CEO of Cherry Blossom Intimates, the only direct-to-consumer, insurance-billable post-mastectomy care brand. You can think of it as Warby Parker but for boobs. Jasmine is on a mission to revolutionize the post-mastectomy shopping experiences of all women across the country.
Cherry Blossom Intimates was founded in 2018 after Jasmine watched her grandmother battle breast cancer with limited shopping options. She teamed up with a breast surgeon to create a more dignified space for women to shop. During the pandemic, she launched Myya, the next step in the company’s evolution, connecting women across the country with certified mastectomy fitters. Myya offers breast cancer survivors a completely customizable virtual post-mastectomy bra fitting, ensuring that all women get the perfect fit. Myya is the only online boutique that can bill insurance directly for its customers, making the shopping process seamless for them. As founder & CEO of Cherry Blossom Intimates, Jasmine designed a collection of post-mastectomy bras and recovery products that won the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Design Entrepreneur of the Year award. A Certified Mastectomy Fitter, Jasmine listens to the needs of her patients and adapts products to meet their needs. The company’s vertical integration allows for speedy and innovative product rollouts.
Jasmine believes that every woman deserves to feel beautiful and is on a mission to impact the lives of 1 million survivors, patients, and previvors. To date, Jasmine, Miss District of Columbia USA 2016, has been recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 in Retail and E-commerce, Best of Intima’s Trailblazer of the Year, and Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. Jasmine has been featured in WWD, Coveteur, The Washington Post, Fast Company, and the upcoming documentary, Show Her the Money, where she shares the journey of raising venture capital while pregnant.
PALADIN
Kristen Sonday
Kristen Sonday
Kristen Sonday is the Co-Founder and CEO of Paladin, a pro bono management platform. Paladin’s mission is to increase access to justice by helping legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs.
The company was founded in 2015 after Kristen saw first-hand how difficult it was for individuals to navigate our justice system on their own while she was at the U.S. Justice Department doing international criminal work. As Co-Founder and CEO, Kristen works with top law firms like Clifford Chance and Dentons, Fortune 500s, Bar Associations, and legal services organizations to increase pro bono engagement while decreasing administrative costs.
As the first ecosystem-wide pro bono infrastructure, Kristen believes that streamlining the pro bono workflow will help millions of low-income individuals get better access to legal services that will impact their lives. As a result of her work to close the justice gap, Kristen has won awards from the American Bar Association, Forbes, Fast Company, and the Chicago Business Journal, and has been featured in Techcrunch, Chicago Inno, Law.com, LawSites, Reuters, and more.
BIOBOT ANALYTICS
Mariana Matus & Newsha Ghaeli
Mariana Matus & Newsha Ghaeli
Mariana Matus is a Mexican biologist and the CEO and co-founder of Biobot Analytics, a startup that aims to help governments tackle the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing sewage samples.
Matus co-founded Biobot Analytics in 2017. She performed a genomics and metabolomics analysis of wastewater sampled in residential sewage and was able to identify thousands of bacteria and metabolites that were the result of human activity over the course of a 24-hour period. Biobot is currently analyzing wastewater from 150 treatment plants in 30 U.S. States.
Newsha Ghaeli is President and co-founder of Biobot Analytics, the first company in the world to bring wastewater epidemiology to market. Biobot's customers include federal, state, and local governments, Fortune 100 companies, and International Aid Organizations. In North America alone, Biobot has worked with over hundreds of communities generating data to help better track and manage COVID-19. In 2022, Time Magazine named Biobot one of the 100 Most Influential Companies of the Year.
The startup has competed in a number of startup competitions, winning prizes at MIT's DesignX startup accelerator in 2017. In 2018, shortly after their launch, Matus and partner Ghaeli raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Ekistic Ventures, Y Combinator, Refactor Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and several other investment firms. Biobot's analysis for coronavirus is supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness.
JOURNEY FOODS
Riana Lynn
Riana Lynn
Riana Lynn is the CEO of Journey Foods, a fast-growing software startup focused on addressing the world's biggest food and supply chain challenges. Her goal is to revolutionize the availability and quality of food in all communities by building the world's most actionable database.
Journey Foods software was founded in 2019 to tackle the complex nutrition issues within global food. After deep research, the innovative software and data service launched in 2020 to further improve nutrition, sustainability, and cost barriers in supply chain systems. As the founder and CEO of Journey Foods, Riana leads the company's strategic direction, overseeing its data vision, operations, and driving growth.
She believes in the power of data-driven solutions to transform the food and supply chain industries, making them more efficient, sustainable, and equitable. To date, Riana Lynn has been recognized as a pioneering figure in food and technology, being featured in prestigious publications such as Inc., Forbes, USA Today, MongoDB Awards, Food Logistics Magazine, and MIT's 35 under 35. She is also a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer.
LUNA MAGIC
Shaira Frias & Mabel Frias
Shaira Frias & Mabel Frias
Shaira Frías is the Co-Founder along with her sister Mabel Frías of LUNA MAGIC, a fast-growing indie beauty & lifestyle brand delivering high-quality cosmetics at great prices. Her mission is to introduce high-performance cosmetics, bold flavor, diversity, inclusivity, and vibrancy to the beauty industry. She is inspired by the rich cultures and music of the Caribbean & Latin America, the hustle and bustle of NYC, and the glamour of Los Angeles.
Mabel Frías is an accomplished entrepreneur and former corporate executive with a winning track record of executing merchandising strategies at fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands like One Kings Lane, Violet Grey, Nordstrom and Savage x Fenty, lingerie by Rihanna. Mabel kickstarted her retail career as an executive trainee in the prestigious Macy’s Executive Training program in NYC.
Luna Magic was founded in 2019 when the sisters saw a void of authentic ownership and representation of Latinas and Afro-Latinas in the beauty retail space. As the Co-Founder of LUNA MAGIC, Shaira oversees the end-to-end of all launched products. She is the Head of Design, Product Development, and Global Sourcing for the brand. As the Co-founder and Chief Visionary of LUNA MAGIC, Mabel led a team to scale the beauty brand into 2,500+ Walmart, Target, and CVS stores nationwide in 18 months.
To date, LUNA MAGIC has been featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, Good Morning America, Allure, WWD, Popsugar, People En Espanol and Telemundo. They are also the recipient of the Glossier Grant program and the Target Accelerator Program.
CEO,
HUED
Kimberly Wilson
Kimberly Wilson
Kimberly Wilson is a storyteller, entrepreneur and professor. Her career has been spent amplifying and working on challenges that facilitate a net positive impact on society, in roles that have included ESSENCE, TheGrio, The Root, Black Enterprise and more. After serving communities of color for over a decade, she grew frustrated with the lack of resources, access and opportunities for underrepresented populations. This frustration led to her founding HUED, a digital health company focused on improving quality of care for Black, Latinx and Indigenous populations through education, access and data. Kimberly received her B.A. in Communications from the University of Maryland and her J.D. from the Howard University School of Law.
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Founder and CEO,
Pepper
Jaclyn Fu
Jaclyn Fu
Jaclyn Fu is the Co-CEO of Pepper, a body positive bra company made for unapologetically small-chested women. Pepper was launched as a 470% funded Kickstarter campaign in 2017 and to date has sold over one million bras. Pepper was inspired by Jaclyn’s own experience of feeling ‘not enough’ as a small-chested woman which led her on a mission now to rally women to embrace the ‘flat’ in flattering. Jaclyn has been recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. Magazine's Top 100 Founders. Before Pepper, Jaclyn led marketing at Etsy in NYC and Mozilla Firefox in SF. She currently lives in Denver, CO..
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CEO, Praxis Labs
Elise Smith
Elise Smit
For Elise Smith, the fight for equity and inclusion is personal. After seeing her parents’ struggle for educational equity, she focused her career on scaling access and opportunity, starting at IBM Watson to build out their Edtech products, and then New Schools Venture Fund to support their Diverse Leaders portfolio. While pursuing her MBA/MA in Education at Stanford University, she co-founded Praxis Labs with the goal of making workplaces more equitable and inclusive through impactful immersive learning. Praxis Labs is an enterprise immersive learning company. Currently focused on DEI topics, they advance equity and inclusion for their clients by providing immersive learning journeys that combine VR-based simulations with actionable insights on their 'learning & listening' platform. They're partnering with organizations like Google, ServiceNow, Morgan Stanley, Uber and others to help make workplaces -and ultimately society- more equitable. Their flagship curriculum, Pivotal Experiences, was featured in Inc. and the Washington Post.
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Founder and CEO, TasselTurn
Shanté Elliott
Shanté Elliott
Shanté Elliott is the founder and CEO at TasselTurn Education, a social entrepreneur and doctoral trained researcher who has combined book smarts with life smarts in founding and scaling social impact businesses. In 2019, Shanté founded TasselTurn, an edtech company matching unhoused and youth in foster care to colleges. TasselTurn’s learning platform provides 24/7/365 online tutoring, connections to mentors, and social emotional learning content to build skills that lead to graduation and successful transitions from foster care. Under her leadership, the company has received multiple six-figure investments from both corporate and philanthropic sectors, to include AT&T and Echoing Green. Before founding TasselTurn, Shanté worked in higher education administration for the University of North Carolina System in the areas of college access and retention. At the community level, Shanté served as a director at Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cook County, where she was responsible for recruiting advocates for youth in foster care. As a scholar, Shanté is developing a healing centered framework for practitioners and foster parents to help youth in foster care heal and experience wholeness.
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Co-Founder and COO,
VegaX Holdings
Natasha Bansgopaul
Natasha Bansgopaul
Natasha Bansgopaul is the Co-Founder and COO of VegaX Holdings, an award-winning financial technology platform building cryptocurrency index technology and automated portfolio rebalancing infrastructure solutions for traditional institutions and investors. Natasha is an experienced financial technology, marketing, research, and M&A professional with more than 10 years of demonstrated leadership through key strategic roles at Fortune100 companies. She is the founder of three fintech companies focused on the digitization of financial services: DarcMatter, Konstellation, and VegaX; representing over $7.0 Bn in assets under management and users from over 65+ countries. Featured in Forbes, Fortune, Black Enterprise, Korea Times, and Fast Company, Natasha was recognized as “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2018 and has led her companies to secure numerous awards globally such as, NextMoney Global FinTech Finals, “Best FinTech Solution for Hedge Funds,” and “Best Blockchain Technology Provider” in the 2019 Wealth Management.com Industry Awards. She is also a 2021 White House Presidential Innovation Fellow (PIF) detailed to The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where she led key research initiatives on artificial intelligence. Natasha graduated with her MBA from Pennsylvania State University, with a focus on entrepreneurship and strategic leadership, and her BS from Binghamton University. With a passion for learning, business development, diversity and inclusion, and universal access to technology, Natasha continues to be a leader and advocate for the development and adoption of FinTech and A.I. solutions globally.
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CEO,
The Labz
Farah Allen
Farah Allen
Farah Allen is an accomplished media technology specialist with over 20 years of Technology Leadership experience. Allen is currently the CEO & founder of 'The Labz. The Labz is a no-code interactive web platform that creates scalable communication-rich B2B web metaverses. Farah has the honor of being on a shortlist of Black women who have raised over $3M in VC funding, voted startup of the year, women of the Year in technology, and featured in publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Company.
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Founder and CEO,
Nopalera Inc
Sandra Velasquez
Sandra Velasquez
Sandra Velasquez is the Mexican-American founder of Nopalera, an iconic and culture forward Bath & Body brand that celebrates and elevates Latino culture. Velasquez launched Nopalera in the middle of the pandemic from her Brooklyn apartment with no outside funding or savings while working as a CPG sales & distribution manager in New York City. The brand attracted dream retailers like Nordstrom, Credo, Free People, and over 350 influential boutiques nationwide in its first full year and has been featured on NBC's The Today Show, Telemundo, and over sixty national publications. She is the winner of the Valde Latinx Entrepreneur Grant, the Clean Beauty Summer School Pitch Grant, a finalist for the Black Ambition Prize, and won Latino Start-Up of the year at the L’Attitude Match Up Conference. She raised over 2.5Million in her seed round in preparation for partnering with a national beauty retailer. Velasquez hosts The Nopalera Podcast which chronicles her journey of building her brand in real time while sharing the stories of others in her community. In her spare time, she mentors other Latina founders.
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CEO,
Parfait
Isoken Igbinedion
Isoken Igbinedion
Isoken is an MBA graduate from The University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School. Prior to Wharton, Isoken started her career at Target in operations focused on driving in- store process improvement, labor optimization, omni channel distribution and fulfillment strategies, where she developed an interest in last mile technologies. Soon after she moved to Amazon as the Regional Area Manager for PrimeNow, where she designed in-store fulfillment processes for their 1-2 hour delivery offering. After Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods Market, she moved to a PM role on the Whole Foods Operations Integration team, focused on scaling the delivery offering in new markets, and leading product strategy and development of enhancements to Amazon PrimeNow's order fulfillment and workforce management software applications
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CEO,
Rhoshan
Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Hitha Palepu
Hitha Palepu
Hitha is the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, a company developing injectable aspirin aiming to be the first to be approved by FDA. As CEO, Hitha raised a seed round and closed a licensing deal with Hyloris Pharmaceuticals in 2021, who will commercialize the product upon FDA approval. In addition to running Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, Hitha is also an author. Her second book, WE'RE SPEAKING: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris, was published by Little, Brown Spark in October 2021. The book has been featured in Fortune, Vogue India, and Forbes. Hitha is also the creator of the popular #5SmartReads, which curates 5 must-read stories that amplify underreported news and underrepresented perspectives. The series reaches over nearly 70,000 people through Instagram and a daily newsletter. Hitha lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.
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Founder and CEO,
Autumn Adeigbo
Autumn Adeigbo
Autumn Adeigbo
Autumn Adeigbo is the founder of her eponymous colorful and conversational women’s lifestyle brand. Adeigbo draws inspiration from her Nigerian-American roots and her designs focus on culture, color, and conscience. The made-to-order fashion label prides itself on sustainable and ethical practices and aims to create a positive impact in the lives of each person who touches the brand: from maker to community and by connecting women across cultures. As a black female business owner, Autumn is devoted to utilizing female-owned production facilities in the U.S., and providing global artisans with meaningful employment and fair wages. From sourcing to delivery, Autumn embraces sustainable practices by purchasing in limited quantity and producing only what is ordered, minimizing fabric waste, excessive manufacturing, and surplus stock.
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Awkward Essentials
Frances Tang
Frances Tang
Frances Tang is the founder, CEO, and Captain Awkward of Awkward Essentials, an innovative personal hygiene company best-known for its marquee product, the dripstick, that makes post-sex cleanup a piece of cake. She is now on a mission to expand Awkward Essentials’ product portfolio to include more products you never knew you needed that will seriously upgrade your crotch care regimen.
Thermaband
Markea & Debbie Dickinson
Markea & Debbie Dickinson
Markea is the co-founder of Thermaband whose mission is to empower midlife women with an equitable solution to navigate spaces and seasons seamlessly, in their comfort zone. Thermaband Zone is the first ever connected device that provides automated cooling or heating relief on demand. Markea partnered with her mother to launch Thermaband, to provide personal summer relief to the 1.1B women expected to reach menopause over the next few years.
Debbie is an experienced Harvard Law benefits attorney and Wharton Business School alum and lecturer, advocate and entrepreneur. As a perimenopausal woman battling hot flashes to no avail, she and her daughter co-founded Thermaband, a fem-tech company aiming to reframe midlife and empower women to control their thermal comfort naturally.
Undefined Inc
Dorrian Morris
Dorrian Morris
A true champion of inclusivity within wellness, Dorian Morris is a beauty junkie with deep expertise across categories from cosmetics to haircare to skincare to food/wellness. She is the Founder/CEO of Undefined Inc which includes Undefined Beauty, a clean, conscious, inclusive lifestyle brand focused on democratizing wellness and destigmatizing plant magic. She believes we all deserve access to high-quality products that don't cost your first born child. Wellness shouldn’t be illusive or exclusive—let’s democratize it.
Neuro Rehab VR
Veena Somareddy
Veena Somareddy
Veena Somareddy is the CEO of Neuro Rehab VR, a VR healthcare start-up aimed at building virtual reality therapy exercises for physical therapy. Her accolades include being recognized as a Top Innovator in North Texas, Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas honoree, Digital Leader finalist in Booking.com’s Technology Playmaker Awards, and featured in Forbes. Using her many years of research and development experience in VR and AR she is helping to connect technology and healthcare to greatly enhance patient care and rehabilitation outcomes.
Tasty Smart
Ailed Gonzalez & Jonelie Velez
Ailed Gonzalez & Jonelie Velez
Ms. González knows firsthand the situations that people with certain conditions go through and are required to follow a strict gluten-free diet among other ingredients. That is why she decided to initiate her life project. Not only is she impacting the lives of many with flavorful and healthy products, but by delivering conferences and chats on gluten-free foods in restaurants and educational institutions.
Jonelie Vélez is a sales and marketing professional with experience in multinational consumer product companies, managing category-leading brands. She has been recognized for developing strategies and programs with double-digit impact in key performance indicators including revenue, net margin and market share. In addition, her experience covers international responsibilities overcoming major challenges and capitalizing on opportunities.
L2E Industries
Sophia Strother
Sophia Strother
Sophia is determined to be an inspiration to anyone looking to break cycles of pain and forge a new path of restoration. She is the founder and CEO of Empowerment Driven by Knowledge Coalition (EDKC), a nonprofit organization, L2E Industries {transportation and logistics company contracted with Amazon}, Meraki Medical Associates {mobile vaccination clinic} and Black Oak Realty Group.
Eskalera
Tolonda Tolbert
Tolonda Tolbert
Dr. Tolonda M. Tolbert is the Co-Founder, and Chief Strategy & Culture Officer at Eskalera, Inc. Eskalera is a people-first software solution that provides knowledge, skills, connections, and data-backed insights to build diverse, inclusive and equitable organizational cultures. Dr. T (as she is affectionately called) has been an expert in the space of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and organizational development for over two decades.
Guardian Lane
Kristina Jones
Kristina Jones
Kristina Jones is an award winning advertising art director who created commercials and content for Disney, Walmart and SeaWorld. Kristina later became a tech entrepreneur and started an online marketplace for legal services in Miami, Florida, eventually scaling it nationwide after raising over $7 Million dollars, becoming the 14th African American woman to raise over $1Million dollars.
Rizos Curls
Julissa Prado
Julissa Prado
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Julissa Prado is the founder and CEO of Rizzo Curls, a clean hair line aimed at embracing and celebrating the beauty of curls, coils and waves everywhere. After years of making her own curly, cocktail and being the “curl whisperer” within the Community, Julissa decided to launch her own hair care line Rizzo Curls. The result is a line of products made with quality natural ingredients that work around a variety of curl hair textures.
Ruby Love
Crystal Etienne
Crystal Etienne
Crystal Etienne, is the Black Female Founder of a $50M Company – Built In Just 4 Years Crystal Etienne, founder and CEO of Ruby Love, is making impressive strides in the female tech industry, including recently securing the fourth largest round of funding in history for a company founded by a black woman. Crystal seeks to continue revolutionizing the Femtech industry and being an inspiration for other black women, especially those looking to launch their own business.