On this week’s episode, we sit down with Oliver Libby, co-founding Managing Partner of H/L Ventures and CityRock Venture Partners. The H/L family of companies represents a new kind of venture firm, dedicated to building high-growth businesses that add value to society, with a strong preference for diverse founding teams.  In addition to H/L Ventures, Mr. Libby is also Chair & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit which works with undergraduate students launching new...

We are back for Season 3 and we are SO excited! We are kicking it off with an amazing entrepreneur, Courtne Smith, founder and CEO of NewNew, a social decision-making app that lets you vote to control the outcome of other people’s lives.  Prior to NewNew, Courtne spent over a decade on Grammy-award winning artist Drake's management team where she handled his business endeavors and special projects. She is a born entrepreneur with a flair for fashion and innovation and attributes her success...

For far too long, implicit bias and systemic racism have created huge gaps in the VC and startup world —favoring white, male founders, while ignoring the brilliant minds of so many others in our diverse world. The data is out there but yet we still aren't seeing capital deployed to the underrepresented.  As a former tech founder himself and a relentless advocate for underrepresented founders, Brian Brackeen has witnessed the difficulties of raising capital while black and has made it his...

We all know you need money to make money but you also need to "bank" money to use it especially as our world becomes more reliant on technology and touch-free. However, many lower-income, immigrants, and even young people do not have access to traditional financial services like banks. This week’s guest, Capway founder Sheena Allen, hopes to change this for the “underbanked” by restoring trust in and a fair banking system with her latest app. Allen, a serial entrepreneur at heart, grew up in...

One of the biggest myths in impact and gender lens investing is the lack of data showing the power of investing in diverse and inclusive ventures or those with a gender lens. Investors tend to think “impact” or “gender specific” means soft and small and pass on these opportunities. Although this mindset is slowly changing, many still need data and facts to change their mind. Well, the data is out there! A new report, Project Sage 3.0, from the Wharton Social Impact Initiative and consulting...

On today's episode, Diana sits down with Vicki Vasilopoulos, co-founder of  TheElysians.com, a platform for the U.S. market featuring exclusive, hand-crafted, fashion pieces, jewelry, and accessories made in Greece. These inspiring creators preserve their renowned Hellenic culture by reviving traditional techniques – like weaving and embroidery -- in a contemporary and sophisticated style that appeals to American consumers. Vicki and Elysians co-founder, Athina, recently received a $4,000...

As with almost every industry this year, barbers and beauticians have been struggling to find creative ways to do business as the pandemic forces shops to close down. Many in the industry have had to pivot but are running out of options. Luckily, our next guest, Shawn Rohder, has developed  the perfect solution for everyone! His company, Nohmad, developed the rohver™ aka the mobile equivalent of the shop or salon. And they will introduce the nohmad™ app in 2021,  a mobile platform that...

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 wrap our series with a very special guest and one of our personal heroes, NYC SBS Commissioner Jonnel Doris. As Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Jonnel Doris is charged with running a...

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! In part two of this series, we sat down with Deepti Sharma, CEO and Founder of Food to Eat,  an online marketplace where local businesses can order team meals from the best local restaurants, food trucks and caterers. Her goal is to help businesses feed employees great food and build...

Over 70 million Americans are credit invisible which leads to financial exclusion and exorbitant interest rates. African Americans and other minorities are predominantly impacted and this issue has only grown with the pandemic.  Where you come from, the color of your skin, and your financial identity should not determine where you end up in life. This is beginning to change due to platforms like Esusu, the credit building app that gives renters credit for making monthly payments.  Esusu...

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

If you are like us, you are a huge fan of Showtime’s drama series “Billions” and secretly wish you were Bobby Axelrod or maybe you are a Chuck fan. We promise not to tell! Either way, you may be afraid of the SEC and a little confused about what they actually do. In this episode, we had the honor of chatting with Martha Miller, Director of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation at the SEC. We discussed how she is making the SEC a “hip” and very helpful place for small...