Dr. Sarah Saska is the Co-founder and CEO of Feminuity. Her team works with innovative companies to embed diversity and inclusion strategies into the core of their business. Sarah ‘s work has been recognized several times amongst multiple publications. In addition, she was named Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

She was famously listed on Culture Amp’s list of “21 Diversity and Inclusion Leaders You Should Know”. And last but not least, Sarah was also featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg Law, and The New York Times. Sarah is a member of the Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Western University. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence.

Marcus Noel is the founder of Heart of Man Ventures and ICON - an innovative entrepreneurship app for Gen Z youth.  Through iCON - youth develop skills, make products, and build successful businesses. He graduated with honors from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA with additional studies at the London School of Economics and Peking University in Beijing, China.

He’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, JP Morgan banking alumni, and a featured speaker at The Obama White House and TEDx Youth. His work with youth has been featured in Forbes, World Economic Forum, Black Enterprise, and Blavity. Marcus was also was named to the 2015 class of “Emerging Innovators” by Ashoka and American Express.  

Marcus is a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum and appointed as the youngest board member of (F.O.C.U.S) Friends of Choice in Urban Schools. Most recently he was honored by the United Nations as one of the " Global 100 Most Influential People of African Descent" in social entrepreneurship.

Sylvester Mobley is the founder and CEO of Coded by Kids. He works to increase access to tech education opportunities for those who are underrepresented in tech. He believes every child should have the opportunity to build the next Google, Microsoft or Facebook, regardless of what they look like or where they come from.

Under his leadership, Coded by Kids has grown from a local recreation center to be able to serve more than 400 students per week. In addition, several organizations recognized Sylvester's work. This includes Philadelphia City Council, the Philadelphia Business Journal, and The Philadelphia 76ers.

Sylvester got his start in technology while serving in the United States Air Force. He is a veteran of the war in Iraq and served in three branches of the United States military. He is also a graduate of Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

Don grew up in Orange, New Jersey and his parents are immigrants from Haiti. He attended high school at Seton Hall Prep and then graduated from Pace University with a BBA in Finance. Donald Fleurantin co-founded Geeks Rule in 2014.

As Co-Founder, he previously held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Director of Community Outreach. He also assisted with launching Speaker Series and Geek-for-a-Day programs which reached over 1000 students.

He is also the Co-Founder of Seedlr Technologies, Seedlr Foundation and committed as an entrepreneur in the for-profit and nonprofit sector. His charitable focus is youth empowerment and education access for students from underserved communities.

Today we have a special episode of Shades of Success. We are on location at the Philadelphia Startup Leaders third annual Diversity Dinner. About a month ago, PSL approached us and offered us the opportunity to sponsor their Diversity Dinner and podcast live from the event. I had the chance to interview over 20 of the brightest minds in the startup community about their perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and creating progression in the workplace.

My goal for this episode was to not only capture great content for the show but to interact with people from all walks of life striving towards similar goals. Penji is located right across the bridge from Philadelphia, which is one of the tech hubs of the country. I wanted to share the story of this diverse community and how it plays a role in the progression of tech as a whole. As a background, Philadelphia has over 1.58 million people. The city is made up of a mixture of different races, religions, and backgrounds. Much of that melting pot was represented at this event and you will hear that during this episode.

During the event I asked 3 questions that I knew would tie this amazing story together. What does diversity mean to you, how can we implement diversity into the workplace, how to be a representation for marginalized people. At first, it was pretty difficult to get people comfortable enough to speak publicly about diversity. However, as we continued to search, some organic conversations were born from these 3 simple questions. These conversations left me optimistic that although we have a long road ahead of us, many of us are committed to taking the journey.

Ebonie believes that black giving is magic. Because of this, her passion for leadership development and black philanthropy have been the framework for her career. Ebonie is the principal consultant of ​Friends of Ebonie, LLC​, and founder of the ​Young, Black & Giving Back Institute​ (YBGB). She uses research, thought-leadership, and expertise on black philanthropy to serve as a bridge - connecting civically engaged black professionals with foundations and nonprofit organizations.

Her work through the YBGB provides safe spaces for philanthropic leaders of color to network. They learn and grow together in their respective roles as donors, board members and social entrepreneurs. She was recognized by ESSENCE Magazine and JET Magazine, respectively, as one of the nation’s top leaders for her innovation around African - American millennial philanthropy. Ebonie’s leadership and achievements have also been featured on CNN’s HLN network, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post Impact.

Liz is the founder of Design Jawn and previously served as CO-CEO & Head of Design at Webjunto. She also recently became the managing director of Backstage Capital an accelerator for underrepresented founders. Liz has a passion for both research and design. Over the past 15 years, she has worked on a wide range of projects, including research on motivation theory and user experience.

After more than ten years of taking on side gigs as a web designer and front-end developer, she earned a master’s degree in information design and technology from SUNY Polytechnic Institute. She then went on to cofound Webjunto a web design agency in Philadelphia. Liz continues to do work in the community as a civic hacking enthusiast, event organizer, and public speaker.

Julie Hancher is Co-Founder & Editor of Green Philly, a local media organization that makes sustainable living easy, economical and fun. In addition, she also created SustainPHL, Philadelphia’s annual sustainability awards, panel discussions, networking events and more. Green Philly advocates for a healthy city. And the initiatives have resulted in plastic bag legislation, career opportunities, and activism. With over 10 years of experience, Julie is a frequent speaker and sustainability expert, and has appeared on WHYY Radio Times, Philly Weekly, Travel & Leisure and more. When she’s not behind a computer, Julie enjoys biking, hiking, & traveling.

Lisa Miccolis is the Founder and Executive Director of The Monkey and The Elephant. I came across an article about the incredible work that Lisa was doing with The Monkey and The Elephant and reached out to her immediately.

Her mission personally resonates with me because I spent time in the foster care system and have been able to make it out. I love to see young people with little to no support accomplishing their goals. In the interview she talked about where the name of the organization derives from, the biggest success stories from her organization, and how she measures impact in her work.

Austin is a an experienced social/digital/Influencer marketing expert with a background in being both a full-time influencer as well as working on the brand/agency side. Helping brands understand the next generation of content and how it intersects culture, both online and in real life. Been a leading voice in the industry pushing for diversity and representation in the social media space and in advertising in general which greatly affects the way I view content and business.