Sparking Innovation at LA Tech Week
Mingle, Play, and Work. LA Tech Week instigated an ecclectic collection of thoughtful and fun gatherings for builders and enablers. I was pleased to see my NYC and SF friends and colleagues in attendance.
Executing Change
Great panel promoting women founders and capital allocators in the Batgirl Cave 🦇🏍💥 at Google in San Francisco!
I was joined on the panel by Laura Lucas, GP of L'ATTITUDE VENTURES, Joy Mbanugo, J.D., MAcc., CFO of CXAI (NASDAQ CXAI), Julie Castro Abrams, Managing Partner of How Women Invest/CEO How Women Lead, and Azin Radsan van Alebeek, Co-Founder and GP of Emmeline Ventures. Giselle Valdez Jackson, Executive Director in the Wells Fargo Tech Banking group was a terrific moderator as usual.
Topics discussed ranged from personal journeys as founders, operators, and investors to advice for everyone on the role they can play in facilitating and benefiting from a more inclusive economy.
CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
For sure.
Sisters (and Allies) Empowering Sisters in NYC!
Energy. Education. Empowerment. Friendship.
I loved participating in the second annual Women Business Collaborative Conference in NYC that brought together female founders and investors for two days of excellent content and networking. Great organizing and moderating by Gwen Young, CEO of the Women Business Collaborative, and Judith Goldkrand of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO) & Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking.
STANFORD SUMMIT FOR LATINX FOUNDERS & FUNDERS
We know the numbers. Women and founders of color are dramatically underfunded in their entrepreneurship efforts. While it is a lost opportunity to remedy that only 2% of overall venture funding is going toward women, the numbers are even worse for LatinX founders. Funding for underrepresented founders is not a pipeline problem. It is an opportunity problem which countless talented people face in launching enterprises which require a strong network and extensive external funds to build, grow, and eventually exit.
WOMEN FOUNDERS ARE UNSTOPPABLE!
Great showing at USC’s ATHENA Women’s Entrepreneurial Summit. These talented women and allies are unstoppable!
SHOW HER THE MONEY ROCKS SANTA BARBARA FILM FESTIVAL!
Thoroughly enjoyed the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where Show Her the Money sizzled! So grateful to be an Associate Producer with Portola Valley Partners.
SHOW HER THE MONEY!
So excited that Portola Valley Partners, where I serve as an Operating and Investment Partner, is an Associate Producer of Show Her the Money. Show Her the Money is a meaningful documentary directed by the talented and award winning Ky Dickens, backed by the formidable Catherine Gray as Executive Producer. The film follows the uphill path to the launching and funding of four female founded startups and the women investors who join them on their journeys.
Show Her the Money won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, the Twin Cities Film Festival, and the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and has been awarded several other accolades.
LatinX MBAs = Excellence
Our community sizzles! Last November, I attended the incredibly well-organized, inaugural LatinX MBA alumni leadership summit hosted at Amazon Studios in Los Angeles and sponsored by TPG, Fidelity Investments, Google, Capital Group, Morrison Foerster Foundation, and ServiceNow.
Taking Action on Climate, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice.
The right people in the room can move mountains. I organized a gathering founders, funders, corporates, government, and community stakeholders in Long Beach, California to address climate, sustainability, and environmental justice issues and opportunities to solve them.
LOVE PEOPLE AND THE PLANET?
The Founders and Funders series is an opportunity for startups, investors, and potential customers (corporate and government) to gather to discuss shared topics of interest, articulate opportunities, present solutions, and network to advance their respective objectives.
Founders. Network with investors and customers. Validate your solution with the pain points of the customer and the investment theses of the investor. Learn about pilot opportunities.
Investors. Meet startups of interest to your investment thesis and validate those investment theses with customers your portfolio and target companies seek.
Corporates and Government Buyers. Articulate needs, learn about and influence new solutions, and discuss the possibility of co-creating/partnering with the solution providers.
Community Members. Share lived experiences, insights, and collaboration opportunities with enablers of solutions for your needs and pain points.