VCs Off the Record with Gayle Jennings-O'Byrne

Our next episode is part of our bi-monthly podcast between the WOCstar Fund and the NYC Department of Small Business Services’ WE NYC Initiative featuring the stories of women entrepreneurs in the NYC community! As WE NYC celebrates their 5th anniversary this month, we will highlight a few of the instrumental figures of this incredible initiative beginning with a very special guest, Diana Franco, Executive Director of WE NYC. We sat down with Diana to discuss the many programs and resources they offer for women entrepreneurs like virtual events, mentorship, educational workshops, legal assistance, and capital access products at no cost. As huge fans of WE NYC, we cannot wait for you to hear more! 

Listen now and check out we.nyc for more information!

It is a known fact that families need wealth to be economically secure and create opportunities for the next generation. A close examination of wealth in the U.S. finds evidence of staggering racial disparities between black and white households. Recently, the Institute for Policy Studies and Prosperity Now reported that if all things remain the same, the median African-American household wealth will be zero by 2053. Sadly, this has only been made worse with the pandemic and the many challenges of the past year. 

Living Cities, a non-profit dedicated to providing “economic security for all,” recently commissioned Figure 8 Thinking to conduct their study – Radical Collaboration for Black Wealth Creation - examining philanthropy's role in addressing this disparity. Join us for an insightful discussion with Natalie Nixon and Peri Higgins about the report and the power of partnership and creativity.

Natalie W. Nixon, PhD, is a creativity strategist, global speaker and president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC. She emboldens companies to apply creativity and foresight for transformative business results. She is the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work and Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services Experiences and Beyond.

Peri Higgins' experience spans the investment banking, private equity, real estate and consulting industries. She is currently the President of Evolve Advisors, a management consulting firm that advises corporate and non-profit clients. Prior to her work in consulting, Peri raised $10 million to establish two real estate funds and managed the private equity portfolio of a privately held company.

Listen now to our discussion with these fabulous WOCStars! 

In this episode, we join Matt Rickard, COO and Co-Founder of Task.io, a tech company focused on creating positive impact.

With over 20 years working with early stage, fast growing companies, Matt has become a bit of a serial entrepreneur but always maintained a focus on positive social impact. He attributes this to a 2008 trip to a tsunami orphanage which inspired Matt to get involved in the social sector.  With his extensive experience working with early stage, fast growing companies, he has launched a number of social enterprise projects including his recent project, Task.io. The mission of Task is to provide tools that support the social and environmental missions of socially aware businesses & organizations. As businesses change their models around the globe this year, the Task team continues to help businesses connect to their mission and expanded their efforts around the globe. 

Join us as we chat with Matt about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur while still making a difference with his work. Entrepreneurs, investors and allies - listen up to learn how you can make a difference!  

In her role as Senior Manager of Global Impact at Salesforce.Org, Samira is focused on impact measurement and the SDGs and has worked on global social impact and innovation across corporations, governments, and the social sector for over twelve years. Samira's work spans the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia. She is a former strategy /management consultant at Accenture; and while with A.T. Kearney in Southeast Asia, played a leading role in starting their social impact organization. Samira is also passionate about youth empowerment toward the SDGs and gender.

We sat down with Samira to chat about social entrepreneurship and the power of using both technology and philanthropy to make a significant difference. Listen in as we discuss some of her #BigIdeas2020 and how we can get there with technology and innovation.

“Entrepreneurship plays an essential role in solving major social and environmental issues, but the way we support it limits us.”- Dustin Shay

Over 90% of VC goes to male-founded teams; less than 75% of US VC is deployed outside of CA, NY, and MA; and less than 3% goes to Black or Latinx founders. Entrepreneurs are problem solvers, but the path to success is only open to a select few people - and most of those people are white, male, and urban. If we want entrepreneurial innovation to make progress on big social and environmental issues, we have to change how supporting entrepreneurship works. As Dustin stated, "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?" 

Join us as we sit down with Dustin Shay to discuss how he is creating and scaling equitable pathways to success for entrepreneurs working on the biggest challenges society faces today.

Investors, allies, entrepreneurs - listen up for how you can really make a difference! 

In our second episode of the series, we sit down with Beatrice Dixon, founder of the popular plant-based, black-owned feminine care brand The Honey Pot Company. Dixon is 1 of the first 40 women of color to raise $1 million in venture capital. It all started with a dream and a $21,000 loan! Today, The Honey Pot is a multi-million dollar company that sells plant-based feminine care products such as affordable natural washes, wipes, tampons, panty sprays, pads, lubricants and other herbal products at Target, Walmart, and multiple retailers.

As Dixon continues to grow her Honey Pot empire, she reflects on the challenges of spearheading a company through these challenging times and shares her experience fundraising as a Black female founder.

Join us as we chat about her entrepreneurial journey and the philosophy of amplifying your business and your voice “in stereo.”

Latinos currently represent 17% of the population in the United States, yet they are vastly underrepresented in the tech industry, where they only make up roughly 8% of the workforce? Although LatinX entrepreneurs are creating new innovations every day, the face of tech remains the same.

To kick off Season 2, we’ve teamed up with WE.NYC to showcase tech entrepreneurs from all backgrounds who are defying these odds, and taking new routes to enter this sector. In our first installment of the series, we chat with LatinX entrepreneur Alexandra Zatarain, the co-founder and CMO of Eight Sleep, a technology company focused on helping people sleep better through data and connected home products. The company makes high-tech mattresses and sleep products to turn bedtime into recovery time—filled with healthcare insights and analytics–with hope of sleep quality translating to life quality.

Join us as we talk w/ Zatarain about her journey as a LatinX entrepreneur and how she is giving back to other Latin entrepreneurs through her mentorship with WE.NYC.

If you are an entrepreneur,  investor, or an ally, this is one episode you do not want to miss

In this episode, we join Alberto Gomez-Obregon, former Global Director of Portfolio at Acumen and recently announced CEO and Managing Partner of CO_Capital. We chat with Alberto about how he is helping to develop organizations that are creating change in a sustainable, scalable, and hopefully one day, profitable manner. He is very passionate about shaping the impact sector through conversations around innovative financing structures and the role of later stage investors in the space. And as we know, this conversation is more important than ever in today’s changing world! Listen up for some great tips on how you too, can be a tool for change!

In this episode, we sit down with Angela Barbash, CEO of Revalue, an independent registered investment advisory firm founded in 2013, and is located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ms. Barbash is active in various economic development and entrepreneurship initiatives, including providing mentorship and guidance to entrepreneurs and apprenticing new financial advisors. Join us as we discuss Angela’s unique journey into value-based investing and how her company is challenging conventional investment and redefining wealth, for good.  Whether you are a new investor or entrepreneur or ally looking to make a difference, this is one episode you won’t want to miss! Listen now!

In this episode, we sat down with Noramay Cadena, co-founder of MiLA Capital, a LA-based seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in tech you can touch. With MiLA’s extensive experience in manufacturing and supply chain, they are helping startup founders tackle production challenges and get to market in a capital-efficient manner. In 2020, she was named one of 50 renowned women globally in robotics and one of the top 100 influential Latinas in the United States. We chatted with Noramay about her journey as both entrepreneur and VC and her excitement at the growing intersection of technology and manufacturing. Listen in for some fabulous advice from this badass WOC!