Podcasts about digitalundivided

In this episode of Jar of Genius, host Russ Perry is joined by Tiffany Hardin, Founder and CEO of Gild Creative Group. Together, they dive into Tiffany's journey in social media and influencer marketing, how today's influencers command attention despite not being NBA or movie stars, the secret sauce to winning audience trust, and how to effectively leverage influencer marketing depending on your business.

Black women, the fastest growing segment of business owners, are the least likely to receive investments from venture capitalists. They account for less than 1 percent of the $424.7 billion raised in tech V.C. funding since 2009, according to the 2018 Project Diane study conducted by DigitalUndivided, an organization that empowers women entrepreneurs of color.To address these disparities, and to provide a one-stop-shop for people looking to buy from Black women, my guest Nikki Porcher founded Buy From A Black Woman, a 501(c)3 that is committed to building the largest community of Black Women Business Owners across the country and around the globe. Through educational programs, an online directory, and financial support and meaningful partnerships, Buy From A Black Woman continues to grow as a trusted resource that helps Black Women in business.  Nikki is a Black Woman Advocate, Business Consultant, DEI Trainer & Speaker. In this episode, we discuss why she created her nonprofit Buy From A Black Woman, how she built it from scratch to secure partnerships with H&M and Goldman Sachs, and how she cultivates a community of passionate supporters and donors.About Nikki PorcherNikki Porcher is the founder of Buy From A Black Woman, the 2023 Gold Stevie® Award's Organization of The Year. She has made it her mission to empower, educate and inspire Black Women Business Owners; and to raise awareness for the need to support and #BuyFromABlackWoman. Through her nonprofit, Nikki equips Black Women with the tools and resources they need to be successful in business. She's helped Black Women Founders generate over $2.7 million in revenue in the last year alone, in addition to providing educational programs, funding and increased visibility through the highest-ranking online directory of Black Women-Owned Businesses in the world. The directory places these brands in front of an average of 4,000 consumers a month, and Buy From A Black Woman is also home to one of the largest communities of Black Women Business Owners in the US and across the globe.Connect with Nikki on LinkedInVisit Nikki Porcher's websiteBuy from a Black Woman InstagramVisit Buy from a Black Woman's websiteTune in on A Black Woman's podcastTake my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts

Kontji Anthony is the CEO and co-founder of Youdle. Before Kontji became a technologist, she was the main co-anchor at WMC-TV in Memphis where she worked for 17 years. Kontji sits down with Ena Esco for a live podcast recording at the historic Cossitt Library. She shares that her goal is to scale the tech industry and make Memphis a destination for all things tech. With only 3% of AA in this industry, Kontji makes it her mission to advocate on the importance of teaching kids to code at an early age. In this conversation, you'll hear about Kontji's transition from news to tech, her relationship with family and why she chose Memphis as her home.

We talk a lot about what holds us back, what keeps us from having the life that we dream of. And our guest today has a really beautiful and unique perspective on this.   Sam Cartagena is the founder of Ambition + Mischief, a community of ambitious women doing their inner work. As a certified mindset coach and breathwork facilitator, Sam helps women redefine their relationship with success, create more ease and freedom, and embody their inner power.    Sam has worked with women in organizations such as KIND Snacks, National Public Radio, VaynerMedia, and Deloitte, as well as founders of cutting-edge startups being supported by accelerators such as Techstars and DigitalUndivided.   Take the Inner Rebel Quiz yourself - ambitionandmischief.com/quiz Intuition Incubator Deck: ambitionandmischief.com/intuition-incubator-deck   Ambition + Mischief Community Membership: ambitionandmischief.com/community   ------------------ The Be You podcast is hosted by Jill Herman, a champion of women's empowerment, personal development, women helping women, and being yourself without apology. Each episode features Jill's experiences with personal development and her journey to being yourself, sometimes featuring guests who are prime examples of women helping women.    Being a boss no longer just refers to achievement in the workplace. Personal development and prioritizing being yourself are key ingredients in the women's empowerment movement. Jill has built a community of women helping women so that each one can reach their full potential as the badass bosses they are.    Whether you're already a champion of women's empowerment, you're interested in personal development, you'd like advice on being yourself, you're looking for a community of women helping women, or you're just here for Jill's lessons and entertainment, the Be You podcast is for you.    ------------------   Lisa Bilyeu on women's empowerment:  “Cheer for your girls like you got pom-poms at a pep rally.” - Lisa Bilyeu    Lisa Bilyeu on women helping women:  “Choose your life's board members like you're building a Fortune 500 company.” - Lisa Bilyeu    Lisa Bilyeu on being a boss:  “Be brave. Fearless. Be badass at 15 years old. Be badass at 80 years old.” - Lisa Bilyeu   Lisa Bilyeu on personal development:  “If you're still looking for that one person who will change your life, take a look in the mirror.” - Lisa Bileyu   Glennon Doyle on women's empowerment:  “People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don't need help.” - Glennon Doyle   Glennon Doyle on being yourself:  “Every girl must decide whether to be true to herself or true to the world.” - Glennon Doyle   Glennon Doyle on personal development:  “What if pain - like love - is just a place brave people visit?” - Glennon Doyle   Glennon Doyle on being yourself:  “I have met myself and I am going to care for her fiercely.” - Glennon Doyle   Mel Robbins on personal development:  “You need to hear this loud and clear: No one is coming. It is up to you.” - Mel Robbins   Mel Robbins on being yourself:  “There will always be someone who can't see your worth. Don't let it be you.” - Mel Robbins   Mel Robbins on being a boss:  “You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.” - Mel Robbins   Rupi Kaur on being yourself:  “Loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself.” - Rupi Kaur   Rupi Kaur on being a boss:  “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you” - Rupi Kaur   Rupi Kaur on women's empowerment: “If you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise” - Rupi Kaur

Black women have been the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the US for the past few years with 17% of us in the process of starting new businesses. But in 2020—a record-breaking year for venture capital investment—less than 100 Black women raised $1 million or more for their businesses, which is very small in the VC world.In this episode, I'm joined by Kathryn Finney, Founder and Managing General Partner of Genius Guild, a $20 million venture fund that builds and invests in scalable companies led by diverse founders. She's also the founder of the Duni fund, the founder and former CEO of Digital Undivided, the mastermind of the widely acclaimed project Diane Research, the author of Build the Damn Thing, and a Yale-trained epidemiologist.Together, we discuss the ins and outs of Venture Capital and business funding as well as Kathryn's expertise as a successful entrepreneur and her favorite wellness practices.We Also Talk About…Seeing entrepreneurship as a tool that lets you live a creative lifeFocusing on executing an idea, not just the idea itselfHow not to waste $30k on a businessThe importance of knowing yourself and having a solid foundation as a leaderNot waiting for permission from the entitledThe differences between startups, small businesses, and hobbiesResources:Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. But the job isn't easy— JP MorganBuild The Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business if You're Not a Rich White Guy by Kathryn FinneyVisit Kathryn's WebsiteSubmit Your Pitch to the Genius GuildListen to the Build the Damn Thing! PodcastFollow Kathryn on InstagramConnect with Kathryn on LinkedInSponsor:Open | If you're looking for a mindful meditation, breath work, and movement app I can't recommend Open enough. They have a beautifully curated collection of guided meditation, breath work, and movement exercises to support you in your practice. Try Open for 30 Days free. Visit open-together.com/**BALANCED.**balancedblackgirl.com ◉ IG: @balancedblackgirlpodcast @balancedles 〆Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/balanced-black-girl/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/balanced-black-girl/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Taking risks can be the catalyst for immense scale or dire straits. Avoiding taking any risks at all leads to stangnancy and empowered competitors. The key is to know which risks are worth taking, and when and how to take them. This episode highlights the best conversations we've had recently about taking advantage of risk and how fortune favors the brave. Featuring New Georgia Project's Stacey Abrams, Care.com's Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Bankable Productions & SMiZE Cream's Tyra Banks, MetricStream's Shellye Archambeau, Moderna's Stéphane Bancel, Digital Undivided's Kathryn Finney, Ellevest's Sallie Krawcheck, and American Express's Ken Chenault. Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dlirtXSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After 2 years off due to COVID, Essence Fest was back in New Orleans and, boy, we had a time last NIGHT! Join Lyvonne for a reflective take on current events and an Essence Fest 2022 recap that will get you hype for Essence Fest 2023!For this episode's supplemental materials, visit patreon.com/lyvonnebriggs (aka Sensual Faith Academy) and join the tier that's right for you! The Sensual Faith tier supports the podcast and the Lavish Love tier supports the podcast *and* grants you access to bonus content!Other ways to support Lyvonne and her work:Cash App: $PastorBaeVenmo: @LyvonneBriggsZelle/Paypal: Lyvonne.Briggs@gmail.com

Don't wait for the system to let you in—break down the door and build your damn thing. In this episode, our incredible guest, Kathryn Finney digs into how you can build your businesses in a world that has overlooked and underestimated you. She discloses the power of entrepreneurship and why it is essential to understand the value of everyone's work. Let's build a startup and break down the barriers! Kathryn cofounded Digitalundivided in 2012, the first incubator for Black and Latinx women. Her report, called Project Diane, revealed how little venture capital goes to startups founded by women of color; only 24 over two years. She also founded a financial lifestyle blog, The Budget Fashionista, and in 2014, became one of the first black women to sell her site.  Key Highlights:  [00:01 - 10:40] Opening Segment Kathryn shares her experience in high school Always take a risk and win Show people what's possibleWhy the development of your core values is helpful [10:41 - 20:30] The Power of EntrepreneurshipKathryn's emotional response to starting her entrepreneur journey Have your own money and create a life that you controlWhen Kathryn decided to jump in to help other people to navigate entrepreneurshipThe perception of success and its impact [20:31 -31:00] Understand the Value of Everyone's WorkWhere more work needs to be done in how we address the issue of people of color in business The economic output we value The black and brown communitiesKathryn's outlook on the American exceptionalism [31:01 - 38:27] Closing SegmentIntroducing Build The Damn Thing Inspire many people to do the same The random round with Kathryn Want to connect with Kathryn? Follow her on Instagram. Head to Kathryn Finney, break down the door, and build your damn thing! Did you love the value that we are putting out in the show? LEAVE A REVIEW and tell us what you think about the episode so we can continue putting out great content just for you! Share this episode and help someone who wants to connect with world-class people. Jump on over to travischappell.com/makemypodcast and let my team make you your very own show!If you want to learn how to build YOUR network, check out my website travischappell.com. You can connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Be sure to join The Lounge to become part of the community setting up REAL relationships that add value and create investments.Tweetable Quotes: “You're perfect in your imperfection. Who you're is perfect. ” -  Kathryn Finney“Before you start building a company or product, understand who you are and what it is that you stand for.” - Kathryn FinneyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Choosing yourself isn't always easy. But after eight years leading digitalundivided -- an organization that she founded to help Black and Latinx women tech entrepreneurs get the mentorship and support they desperately needed -- Kathryn had to do just that. She chose herself, and her sanity, and decided to walk away from the business. Innovation and the goal of disrupting the industry isn't just about the work, it also requires a significant emotional lift that many don't anticipate. In this episode of Build the Damn Thing, Kathryn openly shares the financial challenges of building DID, why the first cohort was -- in her words, a “hot mess” -- how they “blew things up” to make things better and how initial support from a city or community doesn't always guarantee ongoing support. She also reveals the impact of building her business while starting her new journey as a mom -- a reality many women entrepreneurs have to face. The lessons in the episode will help you understand how to take a step back, honestly evaluate where things are in your business (and your life), and when it might be time to courageously let go and make a fresh start.   Insights from the Podcast: - You have to take an honest look at your business and what's working and what's not working. - Accepting responsibility - How to learn from your missteps - Surround yourself with people who will tell you about yourself. - Go where you're wanted - Your sanity is priceless - You're the prize   Quotes from the show: “What struck me about the no's is that they felt weak… You had to wonder if the space was really ready for the work that [DigitalUndivided] was doing and for the work that Kathryn was doing." -- Danielle Robinson Bell, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 “It was really about supporting other Black women who were building things, but there was no money.” — Darlene Gillard Jones, Guest Speaker, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 “People often want to believe the worst of Black women.” --Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 “Something my mom always taught me was go where you wanted.”--Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 “I could leave feeling empowered because I knew I could build something else.” --Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 “Sometimes we're so afraid to leave things, like: “What if I don't have the next thing...?” But realize that you're the prize. It's not the thing; you're the thing. You're the one who created it, you're the one who built it, you're the one who grew it. So you are, in fact, that prize.” --Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode #6 Stay Connected:   Kathryn Finney Website: https://www.kathrynfinney.com/ Twitter: @KathrynFinney Instagram: @hiiamkathryn Facebook: Kathryn Finney     Genius Guild Website: Genius Guild Twitter: @GeniusGuild Instagram: @geniusguild LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/genius-guild   Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.   _________   Credits: Produced by Genius Guild Content Studios Executive Producers: Kathryn Finney and Darlene Gillard Jones Post-Production Company: Prosper Digital TV Post-Production Manager: Joanes Prosper Post-Production Supervisor: Jason Pierre Post-Production Sound Editor: Evan Joseph Co-Music Supervisors: Jason Pierre and Darlene Gillard Jones Show Music: provided by Prosper Digital TV Main Show Theme Music: "Self Motivated" Written & Performed by Tamara Bubble

Calling All Disruptors! In this episode of Build The Damn Thing, you get to hear how friends, associates and the early attendees of Kathryn Finney's FOCUS event were positively influenced by the Genius Guild CEO's visionary thinking as a disrupter in the tech space. Kathryn shares how her “co-conspirators” — such as the founders of BlogHer and her business partner Darlene Gillard Jones — helped her build a powerful company based on her mission of empowering Black and Latina women in technology and helping them raise money through Digital Undivided. She also pioneered the groundbreaking research study, Project Diane, which exposed the disparities in venture capital investing in Black women businesses and went viral. But while all of this was going on, Kathryn not only had to combat some people misunderstanding her as a Black woman visionary who was often one step ahead, she had to overcome an unexpected health challenge and make some major decisions about her business and her personal life. Kathryn Finney is known as a pioneer in the fashion blogging community thanks to her blog “The Budget Fashionista” which has helped thousands of women dress chic and cheap. Kathryn not only has built a huge blogging community but also has been featured among "America's Top 50 Women In Tech" by Forbes and is greatly recognized by books like How to Be a Budget Fashionista and The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less. In fact, Kathryn is the living definition of a businesswoman who is always trying to generate new ways to share her knowledge about fashion and entrepreneurship just like she does through her platform the Genius Guild which, apart from having the podcast “Build that Damn Thing”, invests in companies led by Black founders. Insights from the Podcast: - How to build your team - How to leverage relationships - How to cultivate a work environment that creates a winning  organization - Women of color often have to face tough decisions in their journey - How to know when to walk away - How sharing the data about the disparities in venture capital investing in Black women's businesses helped change an industry Quotes from the show: “One of the hardest things as an entrepreneur is to sell others on your big idea. That's exactly what I did when I started Digital Undivided.”— Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “They not only gave us the check, [BlogHer] literally gave us the manual for how they run events.” — Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “She asked me if I'd be willing to partner with her on an organization called Digital Undivided, that will…support Black women in technology. and I haven't looked back since." — Darlene Gillard Jones, Guest Speaker, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “Because of that relationship because of the trust and the friendship that we were able to grow and establish, we were able to, create something special and my life personally has changed because of it.”— Darlene Gillard Jones, Guest Speaker, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “But when we realized it was too early, like most things in my life and being a visionary — being a Black woman visionary — that's not necessarily celebrated. I see things many steps ahead.” — Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “Oftentimes, the people who are the strongest and who have it together are the very people that you need to check after.”— Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “Before ProjectDiane was released, the experiences of women in color in entrepreneurship were purely anecdotal—so whether you were a person of color or not, you had some idea that things just weren't the same for people of color in particular women and women of color in the startup space; but it wasn't until Kathryn and Digital Undivided came along to quantify that experience that really blew the lid off of that entire dynamic and conversation.”— Danielle Robinson Bell, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5 “The hope was that Project Diane would be a catalyst. What I did not know was that Project Diane was going to fundamentally change the venture capital space in ways that still vibrate to this day.” —Kathryn Finney, Build the Damn Thing, Episode 5   Stay Connected: Kathryn Finney Website: https://www.kathrynfinney.com/ Twitter: @KathrynFinney Instagram: @hiiamkathryn Facebook: Kathryn Finney Genius Guild Website: Genius Guild Twitter: @GeniusGuild Instagram: @geniusguild LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/genius-guild Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.   __________   Credits: Produced by Genius Guild Content StudiosExecutive Producers: Kathryn Finney and Darlene Gillard JonesPost-Production Company: Prosper Digital TVPost-Production Manager: Joanes ProsperPost-Production Supervisor: Jason PierrePost-Production Sound Editor: Evan JosephCo-Music Supervisors: Jason Pierre and Darlene Gillard JonesShow Music: provided by Prosper Digital TVMain Show Theme Music: "Self Motivated" Written & Performed by Tamara BubbleSpecial thanks to Baratunde Thurston, Champions of Change: Tech Inclusion, and The Obama Administration

digitalundivided (DID) founder and former CEO Kathryn Finney talks about how the social enterprise supports Black and Latinx female entrepreneurs through data and resources. An Echoing Green fellow and Obama administration White House Champion of Change, Kathryn leverages her background in political science and epidemiology to spearhead innovative, systemic change in the business world. After the onset of COVID-19, Kathryn founded The Doonie Fund with a $10,000 personal donation, ultimately working with DID to provide over $150,000 worth of micro-investments to more than 1,500 Black women-owned businesses. Kathryn and Aaron also discuss what diversity and inclusion hires need in order for their roles to actually have an impact, the hope that Gen Z inspires for the future of leadership, and why we all have to get comfortable having uncomfortable conversations. Learn more at digitalundivided.com and kathrynfinney.com.    Production Credits: Aaron Kwittken, Jeff Maldonado, Dara Cothran, Lindsay Hand, Julie Strickland, Nina Valdes, and Mathew Passy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is one word that dominated the media landscape this past year, it’s diversity. The Black Lives Matter movement brought to light a whopping disparity in startup funding: Black women have received only 0.06% of all Venture Funding since 2009. In this power-packed fireside chat, we meet the powerhouse woman leading a movement to change that: Lauren Maillian, CEO of Digital Undivided. Join us in this intimate conversation, to uncover the story of a woman who started a successful Winery when she was still not even old enough to drink, and went on to become the first Black woman to start an early-stage venture capital fund.Listen to Lauren’s inspiring advice, as she invites us to challenge people’s expectations and to find that hidden voice inside.READ THE SHOW NOTES: JOIN THE STARTUPS WITHOUT BORDERS GLOBAL FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/362573027500677/ JOIN OUR PODCAST FB GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/314557545818551/ FOLLOW STARTUPS WITHOUT BORDERS: https://instagram.com/startupswithoutborders/ READ THE INSPIRING STARTUP STORIES OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS: https://startupswb.com/Photo Credit: Ahmed Najeeb.Song by: Funky Music, by Dj Quads. Dj Quads:https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quadshttps://twitter.com/DjQuadshttps://www.instagram.com/djquadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCusF...Music from SoundcloudMusic provided by RFM: https://youtu.be/lNrAAAb2JvI

In This Episode…We talk with digitalundivided’s Christina Brown. She is the director of content at digitalundivided and we discuss branding, successful comm campaigns, and content creation.Show Notes· [00:43] Are you a coffee or tea drinker? · [00:54] Do you have any favorites? · [01:08] Can you explain a bit about what digitalundivided is all about? · [01:55] Is a inclusive way of getting people’s awareness about people’s voices? · [02:06] What do you see as the growing trends in branding for nonprofits?· [03:01] Less talk from the organization and more talk from the people within the organization?· [03:41] What has been the results using this comm strategy?· [05:04] What have been some of your successful comm campaigns?· [07:42] Where do you see content going in 2021 and the future?· [08:59] Do you think PR pros are going to have to be audio and video editors?· [09:46] Do you have any favorite tools you use for creating content?· [10:53] Has COVID-19 impact your organization?· [12:16] What’s going to be your messaging for 2021?· [14:27] If you could meet anyone live or dead, who would it be? · [14:45] Final thoughts People and Companies, We Mentioned in the Show· Chrsitna Brown was our guest today. Learn more about digitalundivided.Episode Length: 16:12Thanks so much for tuning in. Join us again next week for another episode!Download Options· Listen and subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, or your favorite podcast player for free!· If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review!Contact Us! ● If you want to get involved, leave us a comment!● Visit us and give us a ‘like’ on our Facebook page!● Follow us on Twitter.Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kathryn Finney is one of the most influential woman in tech, an entrepreneur, a social media visionary, an investor, writer, and advocate for women. Having her on the side of women is a big deal, I'm a huge fan! On this podcast episode she's sharing her unconventional journey to motherhood and what she's doing to help the women around her and support them as she grows in motherhood and life. Key takeaways Taking pauses helps to manage anxiety and decide who needs you the most at the moment It's helpful to remind moms that our kids will be okay and we are doing our best every day, things don't have to look perfect Accepting and offering support can be hard, especially in the early days, but you need to take it

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:Founders Livethe global venue for entrepreneurs to experience events, content, and community.Check out founderslive.com to join and to find a live event streaming from your city.In this episode Bee and Dan discussed:Being the only young black girl who liked Japanese AnimeWhat derailed her journey to be a doctorHow blogging uncovered a community, and a businessQuirktastic's reset from COVID-19Working with HBO's Lovecraft CountryEpisode Shout Outs:Digital UndividedSnap's Yellow AcceleratorUNC Charlotte5-star reviewer: Jean-Que, Artiste ProBee Law is the Founder and CEO of Quirktastic (soon to be QuirkChat), a networking platform where geeks and hobbyists can join fandom communities and create collaborative social video. If you are into Manga, Marvel Universe, or Cosplay - they have a place for you. It's no wonder Bee created Quirktastic (from quirky + fantastic). She grew up in North Carolina as the only young black woman she knew who liked Anime and metal rock. Bee felt the sting of bullying and the struggle for acceptance. As an adult, she tapped into her uniqueness, and once online she realized there were large communities who wanted to connect and share the joy of their fandom. This epiphany led her to start Quirktastic - a community now 200,000+ strong. Bee and her company have been featured in TechCrunch, Essence, and Forbes. And she's been backed by Digital Undivided, SoGal Ventures, and Snap Inc's prestigious accelerator Yellow.Come hear Bee's journey, which goes from Anime enthusiast and non-profit pioneer in high school, to cytogenetic scientist and aspiring doctor, and now to fast-moving tech founder. Her energy and positivity are simply inspiring. Listen in!MORE on BEE AND QUIRKTASTICBee:twitter.com/bossassbee_instagram.com/bossassbeelinkedin.com/in/bryanda-lawQuirktastic:quirktastic.cowefunder.com/quirktastictwitter.com/QuirkChatinstagram.com/quirkchatFollow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!PODCAST TRANSCRIPT See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kathryn Finney is an author, researcher, investor, entrepreneur, innovator and businesswoman. She is the founder and CEO of digitalundivided, a social enterprise that leads high potential Black and Latinx women founders through the startup pipeline from idea to exit.

Explore the first part of our special International Women’s Day and Women's History Month podcast series, where were met with Kathryn Finney, also known as the Fairy Godmother of tech startups, to discuss the key topics around: pinkwashing, impact of diversity, transparency in corporate governance and capital rising for women of color (WOC).Guest speaker: Kathryn Finney, American author, investor and entrepreneur, one of the most influential women in tech according to Inc Magazine and founder & CEO of Digitalundivided.Access the latest report that uses Refinitiv ESG data to analyse the governance & sustainability aspect of modern corporations: https://www.refinitiv.com/en/resources/special-report/corporate-governance-analysisKeesa's email: keesa.schreane@refinitiv.comPodcast hashtag: #RSPodcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Darlene Gillard, founder of Digitalundivided, talks to Constance White about the state of women in black entrepreneurship and how at some point black women were only able to raise on average 36,000 dollars for their companies, whereas tech companies that were started by white males that were failed companies raised over a million dollars. But what did Darlene do to help this situation and create a positive change for black and Latino women? Find out in this episode of How to Slay!

Check out Episode 11 of She Leads Podcast Season 3 for Leadership Empowerment with Kathryn Finney, Advocate for WOC in Tech, Echoing Green Global Fellow, and White House Champion of Change. In this episode of She Leads Podcast, Kathryn Finney founder of Digitalundivided (DID) shares insight on: Mindfulness Following Your Gut Useful Business Applications Being a Mentor Listen in to learn about Kathryn’s experiences and lessons on her quest to be an Ultimate Leader! And, Don’t forget to share and subscribe to She Leads Podcast for first access to future episodes. “Be Empowered and Empower On!” ~ Nicole Walker

There’s little question that technology – software – is shaping the future of our work, our play, and even how we form opinions. But who is shaping that technology?  It’s been quite an economic run. The stock market’s been climbing for a decade, and in that time, tech companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook have gone from underdogs to overlords. Even as that’s happened, employees and observers have settled on a nagging question: Is there room for more women and minorities on the campuses and in the startups where this future is crafted?   With me in New York this week, Anu Duggal, founding partner at Female Founders Fund. Joining me from Atlanta, Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director at Digital Undivided, which encourages entrepreneurship among black and Latina women. And from San Francisco, Ruben Harris is CEO of Career Karma, host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ETHINKSTL-110--Episode 9.1 Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the “real unicorns”, Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more: Website: https://www.digitalundivided.com digitalundivided

ETHINKSTL-110--Episode 9.1 Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the “real unicorns”, Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more: Website: https://www.digitalundivided.com digitalundivided

ETHINKSTL-110--Episode 9.1 Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the “real unicorns”, Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more: Website: digitalundivided

February 11, 2019 Black History Month digitalundivided Kathryn Finney and 1000 Angels Erica Duignan Minnihan

In this episode Iman is joined by Kathryn Finney , founder and CEO of DigitalUndivided , who is paving the way to an innovated ecosystem by empowering and encouraging women of color to own their own economic security through entrepreneurship.  Finney talks about her early career choices,  what brought her to create the first incubator for Black and Latina women, her advice on how women can approach the world of fundraising, and her goals on expanding the social enterprise of DigitalUndivided. 

Who is Tawana Murphy Burnett?   Tawana Murphy Burnett, former consultant turned startup employee and entrepreneur, is now a global marketing leader at Facebook helping the top 30 Global Advertisers like Estée Lauder and Johnson & Johnson become the best mobile marketers. Prior to Facebook, Tawana led brand and product teams at Intuit, LeapFrog, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, leading P&L, Brand Growth, integrated marketing strategies and new product innovation for brands like Listerine, Advil, and ChapStick.   Since 2017 Tawana has become an active investor in women and women of color owned businesses primarily through Portfolia and as a Member and Due Diligence Lead with Pipeline Angels. She has served on numerous Diversity and Inclusion councils, most recently joining Digital Undivided as an Advisory Board Member for StartUp Newark.    Show Highlights  Tawana talks about being inspired to get involved in angel investing because of what Terri shared with her about her desire to get more capital into the hands of female founders when they met in the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt.  Tawana joined Pipeline Angels and shares her experience learning about angel investing, leading a deal, and getting more involved to invest in more women of color.    Tawana has made 9 investments since she started less than two years ago.  She talks about being excited about the community building piece, hosting more events, and getting involved with Digital Undivided in Atlanta and Startup Newark.    Terri talks about leveraging AngelList as a ‘poor woman’s VC’ to be able to bring deals together and give women who are leading these deals some sort of compensation for the work associated with this.  She also talks about the importance of building the ecosystem but also finding ways for women to get compensated for all the work we are doing for free.    If Tawana could wave a magic wand, she would improve the public education system in the US and make sure it is financially supported.    Terri’s Key Takeaway  Be open to conversations with people; be open to new ideas; be open to education.    References in the Podcast  4YFN: https://www.4yfn.com/  Mobile World Congress: https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/  Joanne Wilson (Gotham Gal):  https://gothamgal.com/  Portfolia: https://www.portfolia.co/  Pipeline Angels: http://pipelineangels.com/  Kishau Rogers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kishau/  Mented:  https://www.mentedcosmetics.com/pages/ourstory  Sephora Stands Accelerator:  https://www.sephorastands.com/accelerate/  Nancy Hayes:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhayes2/  Fempire:  https://www.fempiregroup.com/  Digital Undivided: https://www.digitalundivided.com/  Project Diane: https://www.inc.com/kathryn-finney/innovating-inclusion-digitalundevided-and-project-diane.html  AngelList:  https://angel.co/  Lynn-Ann Gries: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-ann-gries-44440/  Contact  Tawana can be reached through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tawanaburnett/  You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:  https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.   Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com.  To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife. 

In this spirited episode Charlene speaks with tech veteran entrepreneur & founder, Sheffie Robinson about how to easily create your MVP, minimum viable product, teaching the lean startup method and the value of being a self-taught developer. We also take a deep dive into the shortcomings of supposed diversity and inclusion in the technology space. Sheffie speaks candidly on her thoughts about the state of the black tech ecosystem making an impassioned plea for all parties to connect more intentionally and often. Sheffie encourages us to do more work directly with small minority startups instead of ONLY choosing the Big tech silicon valley brands. An interesting admission from Sheffie is her wish to have failed far more than she did early on by taking far more calculated risks in spite of her fears of starting as a women in tech, an industry dominated by men. Sheffie gives props to tech titans UrbanGeekz, ThePLUG, Blavity, the Atlanta Black Tech ecosystem, Technologists of Color, Goodie Nation, Digital Undivided, Batunium Labs and Ascend 2020. Sheffie currently serves as founder & CEO of Touco Direct, managing director of Founder Institute, Atlanta Chapter along with founder and mentor of Bantunium Labs. You can connect with Sheffie on IG @SheffieRobinson or Twitter @SheffieCochran and Charlene @ceocharlene. #techentrepreneur #blacktech #blacksintech #tech #womenintech #toucodirect #INCbuildr #mobilebuildr #founder #technology #mvp #leanstartup #blackwomenintech #nerds #blerd#blacknerds #selfcare #founderinstituteatlanta #founderinstitute #digitalundivided #saas #BantuniumLabs #Diversity #Inclusion #Ascend2020 #Urbangeekz #ThePlug #Blavity #Atlanta #Startups --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startupandthrivepodcast/message

Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the "real unicorns", Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more: https://www.digitalundivided.com/

Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the "real unicorns", Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more:

Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn transition from hobby to business to exit. What is the FOCUS Fellowship and the BIG Innovation Center? What is a technology-enabled company? What did the #Project Diane research project tell us about the "real unicorns", Black and Latina entrepreneurs? What we can do to encourage Black and Latina entrepreneurs see the opportunities for themselves in tech vs. other types of entrepreneurship. Learn more: https://www.digitalundivided.com/

The Startup Catalyst® Podcast is back! Sultan Ventures is launching Season 2 with an important and timely theme: inclusivity in the startup and venture capital community. We're kicking things off with one of the most influential women in entrepreneurship and tech: Kathryn Finney, founder of digitalundivided. Kathryn has been a changemaker in the industry for nearly two decades via her roles as a tech entrepreneur, social media innovator, and investor. In today's episode, we'll hear how she got her start in entrepreneurship at a young age, from her lucrative friendship bracelet business in elementary school, to cornering the hair-braiding market at Yale, and her pioneering fashion blog in the early days of the internet. Kathryn risked her career and personal finances to create digitalundivided (DID), an incubator focused on accelerating entrepreneurship for black and latinx founders. Tune-in to find out why she's so passionate about the power of women owning their work. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/startup-catalyst-podcast/support

There are just a handful of women whom I consider my modern-day writer sheroes. NY Times bestselling author and entrepreneur Denene Millner is one of them. If you're in Atlanta on Thursday, April 26th, 2018, come out to the headquarters of Digital Undivided at 6:30PM for a fireside chat where I will get to ask Denene -- who was also episode SIX of the Support is Sexy podcast -- all my writer questions! 

On this episode of Support is Sexy, DigitalUndivided CEO Kathryn Finney talks about dispelling the myths about Black and Latina technology founders, what DigitalUndivided is doing to make a BIG difference in the industry and why she says getting an investor for your startup is NOT ideal. (Apply now for the BIG Incubator, if you're a tech founder who needs support with your vision! Go to digitalundivided.com.)

Interview with Kathryn Finney of the Budget Fashionista, the blog and best seller, and Digital Undivided, an incubator program for Black and Latinx women business founders. Kathryn takes some time to chat about the BIG Incubator program (in it's third year), share some great insights about the state of Black and Latina entrepreneurship + anecdotes from the cohort participants who have started the program with a mere idea and graduated as full-fledged founders. But first, we chime in on the H&M ad and Revolve drama. Get more information here: https://www.digitalundivided.com Apply for the BIG Incubator here: https://www.f6s.com/bigcohort3/apply Find them on Instagram @digundiv Follow us on social: Instagram @curlsculturecouture Facebook.com/CurlsCultureCouture Twitter @curlsculcouture Got topics? Hit us on social or email us at curlsculturecouture@gmail.com!

Darlene Gillard Jones is the Chief Community Officer, a Partner and founding team member of digitalundivided (DID), a social enterprise that fosters economic growth through the empowerment of Black and Latina women entrepreneurs using innovation as a tool. In addition to providing leadership to DID’s staff and key stakeholders, Darlene oversees all community partnerships and events for the organization. She is part of the leadership team behind some of DID’s signature programs and events including the recently launched BIG Innovation Center and BIG Incubator program - the first and only space and tech accelerator program dedicated to the training and support of Black and Latina women founders of high-growth tech companies.Darlene has more than 20 years of experience managing large-scale projects for brands such as Disney, eBay, BlogHer, Conde Nast, Time Inc., and the International Downtown Association. Prior to DID, Darlene was the founder Gillard Jones Agency, a public relations and event planning firm offering a full range of services devoted to image development, increased brand awareness and effective marketing and has held senior leadership positions at several national media outlets for women including Women’s Wear Daily, W, Essence, and Elle Magazine.Additional Links:Website: https://www.digitalundivided.comTwitter: @digundivLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlene-gillard-86500baTwitter: @gillardjones

There’s been a lot of debate and controversy around the lack of women and minorities being represented in tech companies from entry-level to the C-suite and board room. However, what isn’t showcased is how there is sisterhood within tech, where women are helping each other out, and enacting change at every level from schools to the board room. To talk about how women are investing and encouraging each other, I’ve invited Samantha Walravens who is the co-author of the new book Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech. If you’re a woman, minority, or male ally you’ll learn from Samantha how: Women like Maria Klawe at Harvey Mudd have tripled the number of women graduating with Computer Science degrees Women are connecting female founders to female angel investors and influencers to grow their startups Corporations are changing and disrupting the dynamics of the boardroom   This is the last episode of FemgineerTV but don’t worry it’s not the end... After hosting FemgineerTV and listening to audience members like you for the past 2 ½ years, myself and my sponsor Pivotal Tracker decided it was time for a fun format! Starting next month, I’m going to be launching a new show called Build. I think you’ll enjoy the new format for Build. Each week you’ll receive a short video on a topic to help you build a product, company, and career in tech. So stay tuned for the launch of Build :) Want to help us get the word out about Build? Please take a moment to leave a review on iTunes here. If you’ve never left a review, here is a quick tutorial on how to do. -- Poornima: Welcome to another episode of *Femgineer TV*, brought to you by Pivotal Tracker, I'm your host, Poornima Vijayashanker, the founder of Femgineer.                                 In this show, I invite innovators in tech, and together we debunk myths and misconceptions related to building tech products and companies.                                 One of the most heated topics today is the lack of women and minorities represented in tech; from entry level, to the C suite, to the board room. While we all know this is already a problem, in today's episode, we're going to be talking about some of the solutions, and showing how there are companies and organizations enacting these solutions.                                 And to help us out, I've invited Samantha Walravens, who is the coauthor of the latest book, *Geek Girl Rising: Inside The Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech*. Thanks so much for joining us today, Samantha.   Samantha: Thanks for having me!   Poornima: Yeah, it's wonderful.                                 Let's start by talking about why you and your coauthor, Heather Cabot, decided to write this book.   Sharing The Unspoken Narrative of Women In Technology   Samantha: The inspiration for this book was a conversation I had about three years ago with a friend of mine, who's been in Silicon Valley for 20 years. She's a woman, she's the VP of sales in business development, and she's worked in a number of tech startups, and we were having coffee, and she said, "Sam, I cannot tell you what just happened in my performance group review, it was last week, and my manager commented on what I was wearing, the color of my dresses, the jewelry I wore, and he told me that I was too aggressive, and too bossy, and I needed to tone it down a bit." Meanwhile, she is the head of sales, and she was rocking her number out of the park. So she said, "Sam, you've got to write something." She knew I was a journalist. She said, "You've got to write something and you have to talk about this kind of discrimination and this kind of sexism in Silicon Valley."                                 Mind you this is before the *Newsweek* article came out, "What does Silicon Valley really think of women," people were discussing women in technology, but it really was not a top of mind—and so I started to do a little digging, and researching and interviewing women. And what I found was, yes, there's sexism, there is harassment, there's discrimination, there's unconscious bias, it's there, it's a problem we need to talk about it and deal with it.                                 But there was another narrative, another discussion that wasn't being told, which was: these women want to talk about the companies they were building, the technologies they were creating, the women who are supporting them and helping them along the way in their careers. There was this whole other narrative that was missing from the conversation that was happening in the national news media about sexism in Silicon Valley.                                 And I thought, "we have to discuss this." So, Heather Cabot, who's my coauthor, was in New York, I'm in San Francisco, we talked, and she said, "Sam, I've been researching this topic," it was kind of a coincidence, it was like one of those weird moments of weird fate. And she said, "I've been researching this topic, let's work together." So we put our heads together and we just started digging into the topic, and it's been three years now, and finally the book is coming out!   The Sisterhood That Is Supporting Women In Tech in Silicon Valley And Beyond   Poornima: So one thing I experienced early on in my career, and it keeps me motivated, is the women who inspired me. So, early on, when I was a college student in engineering school, I had a professor, and she had twins, and she was doing her research, and she was teaching, and she was leading the department, and I thought, "If she could do it, I could do it." And as I was reading the book, I noticed the theme of the sisterhood kind of coming up again and again.                                 Tell us how you discovered this theme as you started writing or as you were doing your research.   Samantha: Of course. Well, I too had a mentor back in my Silicon Valley days when I worked for a software startup during the dotcom boom in 1998 to about 2003, so I saw the dotcom boom and the bust happen, I was living through it, our company went public, stock went to 130, then went down to two, so I lived and breathed the dotcom boom and bust.                                 My manager/boss at that point was Carol Carpenter, who has since gone on to become—she was the CEO, actually CMO of ClearSlide and then CEO of ElasticBox, so she's a prominent woman in Silicon Valley, and she really pulled me up. She really, when I was lacking confidence, and I thought, "I can't do this," I'd just had my baby, my first baby, we were going public, and I thought, "I can't do this, this is crazy." We're working 24/7 and I have a newborn at home. She was the one who said, "Sam, you can do it, you can do it." And having that kind of mentorship and that kind of woman who was going through it herself pulling me up, really encouraged me.                                 So as we were researching the book, we started noticing these pockets around the startup universe, women who were supporting each other, investing in each other, encouraging each other in their careers and inspiring the next generation of girls and young women to pursue technology and continue their careers in technology.   Encouraging The Next Generation of Women To Consider Careers In Tech   Poornima: Yeah, that's great. I think you're absolutely right, that is a narrative that's missing from the media and more women need to know that that's out there as well, so that they don't feel like all there is is just what the media portrays.                                 Now, the first place that you write about change happening is at the primary school up to the high school level, so walk us through what that looks like.   Samantha: Well, fortunately, before Obama left office, he did create an initiative, a $4 billion initiative called "Computer Science for All" that is encouraging and putting funds towards creating computer science curriculum in schools throughout the country. I was so excited to read about Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, in the Chicago public schools now, computer science is a requirement for all high schools in Chicago. So I think we're going to see more of that.                                 When you look at the numbers, though, we still have a long way to go, cause 25% of high schools in the U.S. offer computer science, I think it's like 22% of girls, of students taking the computer science AP exam are girls, so we still have a long way to go.                                 What we noticed, though, it's sort of this grassroots movement of women who are encouraging the younger generations to start building, to start creating, to start coding. For example, we start our book talking about Debbie Sterling, who's the founder and the CEO of Goldie Blocks, and she's got this great—I have two little girls, we have it at home, it's a great toy that encourages girls to build, and there's a really fun, positive role model, Goldie, who builds a spinning machine and she has all these sorts of engineering—you wouldn't even know it's engineering, it's really just building Ferris wheels and building merry-go-rounds and all these fun things, along with the story, talking about Goldie and her friends, and how she's building these different fun games and amusement park rides. We have that in our household.                                 These are the kinds of things that women are doing to try to inspire the next generation. There is a woman in our book who started a company called Bitcode, she's actually working with the public schools to get them to use video to teach girls how to code. So if you have kids you know that they're on video, they're on YouTube, and they're really tech savvy. I have four kids, they can get around YouTube, and iMovie, and they're all over it. So, this tool is used in the public schools, to teach coding, using videos, to make it fun.   How Colleges Are Changing The Ratio Of Women Graduating With Computer Science Degrees Poornima: It's great, yeah, it's good to see these grassroots efforts, so that even if there is kind of a gap in terms of change for public schools or the school system in general, there's ways in which parents and teachers can supplement that.                                 So, the next place in which a lot of women and minorities drop off is at the college level, tell us who's working on changing that.   Samantha: Well, we had the most amazing experience at Grace Hopper in 2015. I believe you were there, and Heather and I, my coauthor and I went, and just to see, I think it was 12,000 women there in computing, and it is a true celebration. And to see the enthusiasm and the excitement and the bonding between these young women, it was so encouraging.                                 When you look at specific colleges, there's a lot being done to encourage more women in to pursue technology and computer science. I met with Maria Klawe, who's the president of Harvey Mudd, and wow! What a firecracker she is, she skateboards around campus, she's just a really fun, wonderful woman, and she implemented a program along with her colleagues a few years ago, where there are two tracks for computer science, so as a freshman you can take the gold track or the black track.                                 The gold track is for students who have not had any computer science experience in high school; the black track is for students who've had some experience. So, by doing this, the students who have not had experience don't feel so impostered, they don't have the confidence cause no one's had this experience, so they get through this year and I spoke to a couple of students who have taken these classes, and they say that by the end of the year, everyone's pretty much at the same level.                                 So, she, Maria Klawe, and her team has tripled the number of women graduating with computer science degrees at Harvey Mudd in the past ten years, and the number is, I hate to throw in all these numbers, cause they get little mind boggling at times, but 55% of the computer science graduates at Harvey Mudd are now women.   Poornima: That's great, it's a nice change to—the numbers go up.   Samantha: There's also Stanford. Another example of what's going on to encourage women to pursue computer science is Stanford University, of course a top institution, but they have a Women in Tech group called She++, which was started by Ayna Agarwal, and who was not even a computer science major by the way, but she started this group to encourage women and they had a Gala, every year, which gathers all the women in technology, not just Stanford. What they do is they go out into the communities and they take on high school students in different communities around the country and they support these young high school girls to start programs in their communities. For example, I live out in Marin County, and there is a girl who started a robotics happy schooler box program in Marin City, which is an underserved community in Marin County, and she runs this afterschool program in Marin City.                                 So all of these girls around the country who are starting these programs through She++ gather together for this gala, and I am telling you, if you could be there to see these college women, these high school girls who came, they were dressed to the nines, they were glamorous, I mean, talk about debunking the myths and breaking stereotypes about what a woman in tech looks like, I mean, we could have been in an LA nightclub, not to sound like—but they were so beautiful and wonderful and smart and excited to talk about their programs, and they were so excited to be in technology. And again, this is why Heather and I said, "This is a story that no one sees," you don't see this kind of enthusiasm around technology, you see, "Oh, it's so hard, numbers are dropping, it's all doom and gloom." And so we really wanted to tell that other story.   The Angel Investors And Others Who Are Supporting Female Founders   Poornima: OK. That brings us back to industry, and I know there's a lot going on at the corporate level, as well as startups. I'm of course partial to startups, so let's start there and talk about how the ecosystem is changing for women and minorities.   Samantha: There's a lot of momentum behind supporting female founders. For example, there are accelerator programs like the Women Startup Lab, which is down here at Menlo Park; there's MergeLane, which is in Colorado; there's The Refinery in Connecticut. These programs focus on female founders, and really giving them the tools, the skills they need to grow their company into a venture, fundable company. And they give the tools to learn how to pitch venture capitalists, and we all know the venture capital world is very male dominated.   Poornima: Yeah, it is a challenge. I know I've had my fair share of doing the fundraising.                                 So, there's a very common problem around women and minorities getting up and pitching their business to VCs, either male VCs not getting their idea, or they don't think it's a big enough market, or there's a lot of unconscious bias around it, so how are women getting their training to get over all of that?   Samantha: Well, you've started a company, so you know what it's like. The founders that we've met, that I've met in my journey with this book, are so passionate about their idea. But you can have an idea, and it's not going to go anywhere—you have to have the product market fit, you have to test the idea, you have to build your team out—and so these programs are really teaching women what they need to do to get to that level, to actually pitch to investors. But when you look at the numbers, I think it's 10% of the venture funding, globally, goes to female founders—it's still a really small percentage.                                 We've also noticed that there's women who are angels. So angel investors who fund companies at the early stages—for example, Joanne Wilson, aka Gotham Gal, who has a tremendous momentum in New York City, who has invested in a number of really great companies; Caren Maio, Nestio, Shanna Tellerman, Modsy—she finds these women, who have ideas that are big, that are scalable, and she nurtures them, and she's like the fairy godmother to these women. And there are other women that we talk about, we'd had to read the book to learn about all of them, but there are women who really take these female founders under their wing and support them on their journey.   Poornima: I think it's great that there are women like Joanne Wilson out there. Do you have a sense of how many companies she's invested in?   Samantha: Joanne Wilson has invested in around a hundred companies, and they're doing fantastic. One of them, Shanna Tellerman, started the company Modsy, which is an immersive, 3D environment for home décor, home design, and she told us that she created this project called “The Pinnacle Project,” at Park City, Utah, and it was Wednesday through Sunday, I think. And she invited Joanne, and Susan Lyne, and a bunch of angel investors, as well as a number of female founders, to come gather, network, ski, and have fun, and she said it was funny, because all the women were thinking, "We should be home, we should be working, we should be with the kids, we have so much to do," and she said she had to tell and remind people that, "This is what the guys do. They have a boys call and they pick off and it's all about business, whereas women don't have that sense of, “Let's go out to ski, or golf,” and that kind of networking, so it was an example of this pinnacle project, which is going to happen recurring every year, of, "OK, women, we can get together, have fun together, network, introduce each other to investors and influencers, and have fun while we're doing it. It's OK."   Poornima: Yeah. That's fantastic. And I think another thing you had mentioned pipeline ventures, or pipeline angels?   Samantha: Pipeline angels, yes, yes. Natalia Oberti Noguera is a force of nature and she started this angel investing group for women and I went through it and Heather went through it. I did it in San Francisco, Heather did it in New York, and basically it's a training, it's a bootcamp or a training program for women who are credited investors, to learn how to invest in female and minority-led companies. So it walked us through the process of how do you set evaluation on a company, what do you look for in a startup that you're investing in, what kind of traits you want to look for in the team, what's going to make this a good investment. So it trains women to invest as angels, and then you actually make an investment at the end.                                 We made an investment in a great startup—which I believe is still hush hush, underground at this point—but I believe we made a great investment and we're following the course of these early stage female founders, and it's really her goal to change the face of angel investing, to increase the amount of money going towards these early stage female founders.   Poornima: As we were doing research for your book and when I was reading it, I noticed that there was some astonishing findings, like only 11 companies that were founded by African-American women have received funding over a million dollars. So walk us through who is working to change this.   Samantha: Well, that number has actually increased, it's now 13 companies that have received more than a million dollars, but the numbers are still really low. One woman who is really on top of this problem is Kathryn Finney, who is the founder of DigitalUndivided, which is an organization whose main purpose is to increase the number of women, minorities in the tech world, latino women, and black women founders, and she just recently launched an accelerator, in Atlanta, Georgia, called the Big Innovation Center, and I think their first cohort is gathering this year to help skill up and prepare these minority founders to raise money.   How Tech Companies Are Growing Up And Changing How The Nature of Work   Poornima: So let's switch gears, and talk about corporations. We previously had Lisen Stromberg on the show, talking about the changes that were happening for parents—what have you seen?   Samantha: Well, what we've noticed is that Silicon Valley is growing up. They are trading in their ping-pong tables and foosball tables for nursing rooms, which is inspiring to see. When I started out, I had my Medela Pump in Style in a cold bathroom out of the courtyard of our startup, so it wasn't pretty, but we spent a day at Eventbrite not too long ago, and Julia Hartz, who's now the CEO of Eventbrite, it's very focused on woman, developing women in leadership positions and allowing for work-life balance. And I say that word, “work-life balance,” a term that is loaded, what she's trying to do with that company is focus on the whole person, not just the employee self.                                 For example, they have a program called “Take the time you need.” So if you need time to care for a child or to care for an adult, you can work from home, you can take time off, so she's really interested in her employees, and telling her employees, "You can do what you need to do, so you can live a life and you can be an employee."                                 And she also tells the women who are having babies at her company, she says, "You know what? You can get through the first six to nine months," it gets a lot easier, because a lot of women when they have their babies early on, they think, “I can't leave this poor creature alone with a daycare with a babysitter,” and she says, “If you can just get through that”—she's got two little girls herself—”If you can just get through that time, stick with it, come back, and we will support you while you're doing it,” which is fantastic.   Poornima: You also showcase companies like Power to Fly. Walk us through what Power to Fly is.   Samantha: Yeah, Power to Fly was started by Milena Berry and Katharine Zaleski. Katharine actually wrote an article apologizing to all the mothers out there. Before she had children, she was a little bit judgemental of mothers taking time off and having to leave work early, and then she had her first baby and she thought, "Oh, my gosh, this is really hard," so she and Milena got together and started this company, Power to Fly, which connects women with remote and flexible job positions, so they can actually care for their family and pursue careers in technology. The great thing about technology is that it can be done remotely. Especially if you're in coding, you don't have to be in an office 24/7, so Power to Fly works on that.                                 Another great program is Tina Lee started a program called MotherCoders, and she's based in San Francisco, a fabulous woman, her program retrains mothers in tech skills, so they can go off and they can—either they've taken time off or they have background in some other field, they can skill up in technology, and go out and get the tremendous amount of jobs that are available in technology as they get back to work.   Disrupting The Boardroom   Poornima: Well, that brings us to the boardroom, so walk us through what changes are happening there.   Samantha: The number of women holding board seats in our country is still very, very low, I think the number is 18% of board seats at Fortune 500 companies are held by women. So we still have a long way to go.                                 One real pioneer in this area is a woman, her name is Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, she's fabulous, she is the CEO and founder of a company called Joyus, a tech company, and she, a few years ago penned an article called "Tech Women Choose Possibility." And she really wanted to profile the women in Silicon Valley, in the startup world, who are doing great things, just founding great companies. There was a lot of positive response to that article, and so she created an organization called #choosepossibility.                                 Part of that organization is a group called, or an initiative called "The Boardlist." And basically it's a matchmaking tool that matches qualified, board-ready women with startup, tech companies, looking to fill board seats with women, so she made that happen, and they placed three women on the board, which it seems like it's very low, but what they're doing is they're connecting the VCs and the startup companies with these women, and a lot more placements have been made not directly through the platform, but just through the connections that have been made on this platform.   Poornima: OK, great, so it's good to know that there is some change happening at the board level as well.                                 Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Samantha, I know our viewers out there are going to enjoy reading your book, *Geek Girl Rising*. And for our viewers who are women, minority, and allies, is there anything else you would like to share with them in terms of resources?   Samantha: Yeah. I would love to see everybody come to our website. We have a gazillion resources on how you can join the digital revolution, just take a peek.   Poornima: Thanks for tuning in today and special thanks to our sponsor, Pivotal Tracker, for their help in producing this episode of *Femgineer TV*. If you've enjoyed this episode, then please be sure to share it with your friends, your teammates, your boss, and everyone so that they get to benefit from all the great resources, and subscribe to our channel to receive the next episode.                                Ciao for now! -- FemgineerTV is produced as a partnership between Femgineer and Pivotal Tracker. San Francisco video production by StartMotionMEDIA.

CJSF’s Allison R. Brown speaks with Digital Undivided’s Darlene Gillard Jones, Jerome Hardaway of Vets Who Code and BLOC’s Aminah Yamusah about the social justice hackathon they designed for young people and the role of technology in eradicating inequity.

Kathryn Finney, founder of Digital Undivided, is someone I consider an O.G. -- the flyest O.G. -- in the technology space. Kathryn, who grew up in the midwest learning about computers from very early on, started one of the first big fashion and lifestyle blogs, The Budget Fashionista, back when Google was "a baby," as you'll hear in the episode. She later sold the blog and the brand, and has since moved on to really be an advocate for other women in the technology space. Today, as head of Digital Undivided, Kathryn provides programs and resources -- such as her BIG accelerator program in Atlanta -- to empower women in technology and give them access to the vital tools, knowledge and support they need to build successful, sustainable companies. On this episode of the Support is Sexy podcast, Kathryn talks about how to level the playing field when it comes to the number of Black and Latina women who receive investment, the kind of support network -- and romantic relationships -- entrepreneurs should consider, and how to build a badass brand that people may want to buy. On this episode, you'll learn... What entrepreneurs looking for love should consider.How becoming a parent empowers you to say no and mean it.The shift to the 1099 economy.Her advice for consultants looking to work with big corporations.How she built and sold her blog, The Budget Fashionista.The drawbacks of aligning your brand with yourself.3 ways to decouple yourself from your brand so that it can stand alone.4 reasons that people buy into a tech brand.How to change the disparity in how few Black and Latina women tech founders get investment.Why you should only take investment to get growth not to get started.Other ways your family and friends can invest in you that you may never have considered.And the POWER of asking for support.Why support networks -- especially with people who aren't afraid to tell you about yourself -- are key to your success.  Show notes, links, contacts and resources for this episode may be found at http://supportissexypodcast.com   [Music: "Someone Else’s Memories" by Revolution Void]

This week on Bag Ladies we’re stanning for the First Daughters, talking about Black and Latina women in tech and a new innovative project to get them in the door, and what happens when women drive the conversation and companies listen to them. We’re unpacking the baggage of traveling alone or with 20 of your (not so) close friends. For “Put it in your bag” we’re highlighting a dope woman in comics and the fierce dancers from #prancingelites! And what better way to get to know each other than with one of those tumblr question list, which we answered! (Well partly haha) As always thanks for listening and you can check out all the links to the stories mentioned below! DigitalUndivided’s BIG idea: http://bit.ly/1RmuTMy Obama Girls Dress “Controversy”: http://bit.ly/1VfaB7z How body positivity changed Aerie: http://bzfd.it/1WsKc4w Rad art from a rad woman: http://diningwithdana.net/ The Prancing Elites Project: http://oxygen.tv/1Lsu4zw

On part 1, I talk to Kathryn Finney, founder and Managing Director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Kathryn received the Champion of Change Award from the White House, and served as Editor-At-Large at BlogHer, INC.   I talk to Kathryn about minority participation in accelerators, how her blogging for fun turned into a multi-million dollar opportunities, and black-female tech entrepreneurship.   Part 2 is Dr. Paul Q. Judge - a serial entrepreneur and noted scholar. He’s cofounder and Executive Chairman of Pindrop Security, cofounder of Monsieur (the robotic bartender), a founding partner at Tech Square Labs in Atlanta, and currently serves as Chief Research Officer and VP at Barracuda Networks.   I talk to Paul about  his daily routine, how he got into tech, and his thoughts on the startup landscape. He gives some great advice for founders looking to raise capital.

Today's industrial revolution is digital. Students must have fluency in science and technology in order to see real success in school and in life. Despite efforts to increase access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education for students of color, digital entrepreneurs continue to be overwhelmingly white. My guest, Kathryn Finney, is changing that. Kathy is the founder of digitalUNdivided, which develops programs, projects, and forward thinking initiatives that bridge the digital knowledge gap, particularly for women of color. ______ Host, Allison R. Brown, is a civil rights attorney and founder of Allison Brown Consulting (ABC), which creates education equity plans for schools and works with organizations to promote student equity.