Female VC Lab

Corinne Bortniker is a Director at Cohen Circle where she supports SPAC deal execution and venture capital investments. Previously, Corinne was a Vice President at Wells Fargo Securities, focused on Technology, Media, and Telecom Equity Capital Markets. She has extensive experience executing equity capital markets transactions, raising proceeds for public and private companies. Prior to Wells Fargo Securities, she was an Equity Capital Markets analyst at Cowen Inc. Corinne holds a B.A. in Business and Psychology from Brandeis University.

Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, the global nonprofit devoted to giving more low-income women access to the financial tools and resources they need to achieve security and prosperity. Ms. Iskenderian has led the Women’s World Banking global team, based in New York, since 2006 and also serves on the Investment Committees of its two impact investment funds.

Previously, Ms. Iskenderian worked at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, and the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Ms. Iskenderian is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a member of the Women’s Forum of New York and the UN’s Business and Sustainable Development Commission. She

Ms. Iskenderian holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Recently, she was recognized in the Forbes 50 over 50: Investment list, which highlights female investors and financial leaders. Her first book, There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women, was published by MIT Press in April 2022.

Madhu is a managing partner and co-founder of Rocketship.vc. Prior to Rocketship, she was Chief Data Officer for Gojek, contributing to its growth into a $10 billion unicorn. She served as an operating partner at a $150M PE fund building startups across Southeast Asia and was a member of Intuit’s Quickbooks Lending Platform founding team.

Nicole Valentine is the FinTech Director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute with over a decade of financial services, international Mergers & Acquisitions, technology and innovation experience. She leads the FinTech Program with a focus on access to capital, financial inclusion, compliance and transparency.

Michael Phillips is a trailblazer in the realm of social entrepreneurship and impact, devoting his life to the relentless pursuit of empowering individuals for positive change. Serving as the Chief Operating Officer at T.D. Jakes Enterprises, he spearheads innovative initiatives across Content Creation, Cultural Change, Community Development, and Capital Investments.

Alice Pomponio is Vice President of Innovation and Impact Investing at American Cancer Society and Managing Director of BrightEdge —ACS’s mission-driven venture capital and impact investment arm. She’s an impact investor, social innovation entrepreneur, and patient advocate with extensive experience in life sciences and business and passion for health equity.

Seasoned entrepreneur and resource mobilizer for positive social and environmental change.

As CEO of the Investor Leadership Network Secretariat since 2020, Amy Hepburn is charged with designing and delivering the long-term strategy of the ILN and representing the Network in collaboration with global stakeholders. Amy is a recognized impact investing expert and social entrepreneur with deep expertise on gender lens social investments and the care of children in crises. In this capacity, she has spent 20 years driving social change globally in the private, non-profit, and public sectors through the creation of unique public/private partnerships and investing for high impact social returns.

Genia Xasis is the CEO & Co-founder of Berkana.VC, a global community aimed at enhancing gender diversity in VC and tech. She assists seed and Series A companies with raising capital in MENA and is an angel investor focusing on pre-seed, female-led companies with an emphasis on impact and AI. Holds a PhD in Biochemistry.