Sisters (and Allies) Connecting with Sisters
The Columbia female founders network is strong, growing, and has terrific allies. I had the pleasure of meeting up with my student founders and mentees for a chill exchange of ideas on getting traction and navigating the entrepreneurial journey in NYC.
Lena Arkawi, Founder & CEO of Sourceable, shared news about the difficult and tragic circumstances of her journalists and front line responders in the earthquake impacted zones of Southern Turkey and Northern Syria. Yet they continue reporting live in dangerous and uninhabitable circumstances so the rest of the world can be properly informed of the situation and respond to this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Sourceable, a member of the Columbia Startup lab, is a platform that empowers citizen journalists from places of conflict and crisis to document, verify, archive, and share newsworthy data directly to media and human rights groups. Sourceable has raised over $160,000 in grant and prize money to expand its good work.
Kristen Kammerer, Founder & CEO of Gen E (Generation Environment), talked about her micro-philanthropy app that integrates into payment apps to round up change to donate to the user’s choice of nonprofit recipients. Gen E curates climate and environmental news as well to inform and guide the micro-philanthropy journey.
Lizzy Martin, Founder of MuseLabUX, an education venture bringing hands-on creative spaces into communities, discussed different milestones in her personal journey.
Brooke Zhang, Co-Founder of EarthOne, a climate and sustainability news platform, talked about what she learned as a founder and what is next for her.
Jackie Young, Founder of CaraCaro, talked about the skin care coaching platform she is preparing to launch.
Grace Mammen, NYC Chapter lead of the Columbia Venture Community (CVC) and Founder of Grace Designs, let everyone know about the monthly happy hours the CVC sponsors to keep the conversations going. Thank you for the Eventbrite tutorials, Grace! I will put them to good use for the CVC.
Mixed into our group of female founders was an ally, investor, and cool corporate CEO.
Rich Mokuolu, Co-Founder & CEO of Partsimony was one of our superb presenters at my H4H impact venture incubator course at Columbia (along with his twin brother Roland Mokuolu). Trained as an engineer, aviation specialist, and banker, Rich and his banker brother Roland launched Partsimony, a software platform to better serve purchasers of parts across far flung supply chains faster, more sustainably, and at a cost savings compared to existing processes. The special sauce is an intelligent platform that begins the parts sourcing process at the design phase.
Elta Kolo, Vice President at Huck Capital, talked about how her journey as an expert in micro energy grids, research and analytics led to her role in venture capital and private equity for climate and sustainability solutions. Elta is also a yoga instructor and makes baklava from scratch. Can’t wait to try it.
Superstar Columbia alumna, CEO Sharon Price John (Build-a-Bear Workshop) joined us between stops on her book tour (Stories and Heart: Unlock the Power of Personal Stories to Create a Life You Love). Sharon shared her own entrepreneurial journey mixed in with her path as a corporate leader which led to her taking on the reigns of a public company from its founder. Sharon leads collaboratively and compassionately.
Separately, I met with the power duo, Samantha Arthur and Krystal Eimunjeze, Co-Founders of Villa from my Columbia H4H impact venture incubator course. Villa is a maternal health platform where patients can find community, learn and share information, and have easier access to services. The platform’s immediate objective is to reduce the unacceptably high maternal morbidity rates in the US which disproportionately impact women of color.
This ongoing social and professional collaboration of founders from across Columbia’s various schools, programs, and extended communities is a meaningful and enjoyable part of building an inclusive ecosystem of promising and investable solutions positively affecting people and the planet.
Keep up the great work everyone! So happy that I can be a continued part of your individual and collective journeys!
Photos: J Fairbanks